What do you wear to church?

Dressing has been a burning issue in church today, considering that a number of churches, especially evangelical ones, have now adopted a liberal stance on the issue. But the question on some Christians’ minds is whether the church should have a dress code that conforms to the Bible’s teaching on how one should dress when attending church. Pastor Monique Mutesi of Christ Alive Evangelical Church in Gikondo says that the Old Testament teaching on dressing when attending church should not apply today. “In the Book of Deuteronomy, it’s stated that women should not dress in a man’s clothing when attending church and vice-versa. But modern fashion trends have seen women putting on trousers that conservative Christians view as men’s clothing. And we see women today attending Church wearing trousers!” She says that modesty is needed when one is attending Church. “A woman shouldn’t dress in a cloth that exposes erotic parts of her body. That would be sending wrong signals to other members of the congregation.” She adds that attending church services is not like a prostitute going to the bar to attract clients. “In church, you are in the precincts of the house of the Lord and you should behave in a manner that is both modest and holy.” However, she says that some evangelical churches that are purely driven by money motives have relaxed dressing code and allow women to attend church services in mini-skirts and men with tight dressing that exposes their bodies. “This is a dangerous precedence that should be condemned by all Christians for they are inviting immorality to church.” On his part, Father Marcel Uwineza of Remera Catholic Church says that we are now living in an age where people think they can do anything and get away with it, including in church. “We are in an era which some thinkers have referred to as ‘the age of the dictatorship of relativism’. There is nothing absolute to which people can aspire. Everything is relative. ‘What is good for me is enough; I do not care what other people may think about it’. This is a serious sickness that needs more than just medical attention,” says Father Uwineza. He adds that the New Testament is quite clear on how people should dress in Church, basing his argument on St. Paul’s epistles to Christians. “The point highlighted is that God created man and woman and these two are different. The author of Deuteronomy metaphorically uses the idea of differences in clothing between men and women to highlight their differences and how they should live their sexuality,” he avers. The Father says that St. Paul urges that “in liturgical assemblies people should dress decently in order not to scandalise people from other churches and those with ‘little faith’.” Additionally, , Father Uwineza argues that sometimes our external appearance may be a serious signal of an inside chaos within our spiritual life. He agrees that women should put on modest apparel, with propriety and moderation and not with costly clothing – but which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works as written in the scriptures.