The Phil Files

Growing up, on Saturday night we would shine our shoes and lay out the clothes we were going to wear to church on Sunday morning. My dad operated on the theory that if we were going to a funeral we would dress up and since we were going to remember Jesus’ death — somehow that was kinda like a funeral in my dad’s mind — then we had better dress up in our best.

This line of reasoning didn’t compute in my mind, but then what teens and university students wear today looks a whole lot like what I wore at that time. I don’t usually think much about this, but I just finished reading a friend’s blog and she had me laughing about the whole thing. It was a trip down memory lane, making me wonder how we ever got to the “dress up” point about Sunday in light of some forgotten biblical truths that got tossed for our own version of Sunday dress.

When we think of modesty in the post Victorian age, we normally think about what percentage of the skin is covered and how tight the covering is. While this is part of the truth, go read the references to modesty and you will find there is as much or more about immodesty being the sin of dressing up too much — make up, jewelry, expensive clothing, etc. Somewhere we forgot that element. The biblical sense of modesty is centered on calling attention to ourselves over others and so the percentage of skin quotient and the weight of jewelry quotient and the layers of war paint all are included, as well as the dressing different, I guess.

What may be most troubling for our dress up on Sunday traditions are the words of James 2. James, the brother of Jesus, warns us to not pay more attention and give honor to someone because they are dressed nicer than someone else. His words bite at my heart, because I sometimes get sucked into the quick image valuing game that is so much a part of our culture. It’s hard not to do so. I wonder where we would sit Jesus’ apostles today if they were to show up.

Well, that’s way more serious than I wanted to be on this subject. The reality is that I’m kinda stuck in a Sunday rut — I preach without a tie, but always wear something black or charcoal gray with a nice knit shirt. I’m not sure how it started or why. I know black is supposed to be slenderizing, so maybe I’m fooling myself into thinking that I’m hiding my “Abilene 26″ — the lbs. I gained when first moving to Abilene before Donna got here and I still haven’t lost after 2 years. Maybe it is just easier to match stuff if you have that good old solid black element in the mix. Anyway, I know it’s noticed because one of our elementary school children told me one Wednesday night that she didn’t recognize me without my uniform! I had to laugh, but kids just speak the truth. The emperor isn’t wearing any clothes and the preacher always has on something black.

I don’t wear a tie … okay, I sometimes wear ties for funerals. However, I quit wearing ties any other time because when I showed up at the hospital to visit a dear sister in Christ while wearing a tie, she suddenly developed this panic stricken look. I realized that she thought I was wearing it because they had called me in to be with her in her death. Once she got over the shock and I reassured her that she was fine, she made an amazing recovering and went home two days later. So no ties, unless … I want to scare you and you are one of my friends that needs a good scare!

Oh well, gotta run, it’s Saturday night and I’ve got to lay out my clothes for in the morning and remember to put my orthopedics in my Sunday shoes — the shoes are black, of course, so they match the charcoal gray slacks and the black stripe in my sportscoat. Yes, I guess I’ll put back on the uniform. I wouldn’t want anyone to think I’m trying to show out with something new!

Ah, the rigors of church attire, but at least I don’t have to worry about panty hose or knee highs or anything like that. If I see you tomorrow, I assure you that I won’t care what you are wearing if you won’t mind my uniform. I’ll be the guy in something black.