Is what you wear to church really that important?

Some would argue yes. 

Frankly, what people wear to church has become a topic of increasing discussion over the past decade or two — right up there with the debate between contemporary and traditional worship services and whether youth groups should have sleepovers at the church. 

But here’s the thing: Jesus does not care what you wear to church. Truly. In fact, there are several verses in the Bible that confirm the idea that God looks at our hearts — not at our outward appearance.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” — 1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB)

Before we dive into why this is a debate, let’s confirm one thing loud and clear: Your wardrobe should not ever be a barrier between you and Jesus. When Jesus said, “Come as you are,” He meant it. You can come as you are and wear whatever is on your back, and He will not bat an eye for a second. 

So, where did the argument about what to wear to church come from?

This debate originated with the school of thought that what you wear to church on Sunday is an act of worship. The most common argument or criticism of wearing casual clothes to church is this:

You wouldn’t wear jeans and flip-flops for date night with your spouse, so why would you wear that to meet with the King of kings on Sundays?

Through this lens, you can see where wearing anything less than your best on Sunday mornings would be considered an insult, or reflective of a less than reverent relationship with Jesus. 

However, the flaw with this argument is that it implies that you only have one weekly meeting with the Lord Himself — as if church itself were holy, and we must be holy to enter in. This was true of the Old Testament temple because God literally dwelled in the temple among His people. So what you wore to enter into that temple mattered, and God went through great lengths to describe the exact garments that were appropriate to wear in His presence. For many people who align with wearing your “Sunday best,” these verses are often used to support their argument. 

But we don’t live in a temple system anymore. And we certainly don’t have to walk into church to encounter Jesus. You can experience Jesus sitting in your car in your sweatpants having a heart-to-heart with a friend, and you can experience Jesus on a morning run as you set your mind and soul on Him for the day ahead. Jesus is not confined to a church on Sundays, so the idea of us having to dress our best before we meet with Him no longer aligns with the New Testament belief that God Himself dwells within us. We are now the embodiment of the temple, so by that logic, we’d have to dress our best every second of the day, because we have continual connection with God.

Follow Jesus’ example

And just a quick reminder: The guys who Jesus hung out with were poor, dirty fishermen. They probably didn’t smell great to start with, and they all spent a lot of time walking on dirt roads in the Jerusalem heat. Jesus Himself didn’t wear fine linens when He walked our Earth, and His followers certainly didn’t wear fine linens when they walked with Him, so it’s probably a safe bet that Jesus wouldn’t require that from you either. 

Jesus lives within us, which means it does not matter what we wear into church on Sundays more than it matters what we wear any other day of the week. If you want to wear your “Sunday best,” great! There is nothing wrong with that. But to view it as a requirement? That’s just something that man added into the list of “extra rules to be holy.” Our wardrobe does not define our spirituality, and it should NEVER be a hindrance or barrier to someone hearing the Good News of Jesus.