What he said.
h/t to Tim Challies.
I'd go a couple of steps beyond the author of the linked piece, and state that it's not only some pastors that are obsessed with looking "cool", but some churches and some entire congregations.
I'm not advocating turning away the fashionably dressed, or the too-hip-to-even-be-called-hipsters, nor eschewing a particular church because they have a coffee bar. Rather, I'd question those whose commitment to the faith is less than their commitment to the latest glasses frame shape.
We are not of this world. -John 17:14 - 16
We are not to conform to this world -Romans 12:2
We are not to work to please people, but to please God. -Galatians 1:10
There is more, but you get the point. We should not be as concerned with our outward appearance as with the faith we profess.
Note I'm not saying we should all go around in 70's polyester with sky high teased hair (though if you want to, I'm okay with that). A clean, put together appearance is expected. It's when we care more about the image we project than the One whose character we are supposed to reflect that we get into trouble.
When people look at you, which speaks louder, the character of Christ in you, or the clothes on you?
2 comments:
I wear a set of solid colored ties to church for teh appropriate liturgical seasons (red, purple, green, black - not white, which would make me look like a mobster).
I like to think I do this to honor God, but I can also see how it might easily seem to bleed over into swank. All I can say is that this is not my intention.
-Robbo
The ties sound great! I might have been a tad cranky when I wrote this up.
For a long time in evangelical circles there's been a movement to attract people to church by making the church more attractive in the world's eyes. The coffee shop in the church (and the encouragement to bring coffee and snacks into the sanctuary itself), the "cool" youth group pastor, the music styles, churches that look much like fancy corporate meeting rooms rather than churches...instead of being in the world but not of it, we are becoming more and more like the world in an effort to draw the world to us.
Frankly, God doesn't need our help in drawing people to Christ. He chooses to use us in spite of our efforts to "help".
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