Church attendance went out of style in our culture long before the manner of clothes did.

I think church is pretty much a waste of time. However, if you are going to chuch, you should dress the same as the other practitioners. Church is not supposed to be about you. By dressing better or worse than anyone else in the congregation, you are making yourself an object of attention and detracting from where the focus of attention should be.

Saturday, we went to the wedding of one of my best friend's daughters. They are Traditionalist Catholic. The fiancé, now husband, is Russian Orthodox. I called my friend on Friday to ask how Diane should dress for the wedding. We would have been welcome no matter how we dressed, but it's respectful to dress as the other people attending dress.

Keith

It reminds me of how carefully the priests entered the tabernacle or handled the ark. No cavalier attitudes there. We're dealing with the same God.

I agree that “proper dress” is a matter of respect. I think it makes a statement that you have your head, body, and soul in the game. When my son was a kid, he always wore a coat and tie, but some kids didn’t. My kid sat still and followed the sermon, but many kids didn’t. When we ate our noon meal as a family, we discussed the morning sermon. Don’t know what the other kids did at lunch.

Now my son is a successful businessman and his wife is a local doctor. Their son wears a coat and tie to church, and other kids don’t.

In the South, family and tradition are important in some homes. Just don’t know any other way.

Well said, Charles.

Acts 1-3 is the ushering in of the New Covenant to Gentiles (most of us). Thank God, the account we have of the 1st century church was not about how life "should be lived", but rather how believers after the Ascension "did live." Worshipping as a gathered group of believers, often in homes.

With the exception of chapter 17 of Acts, every chapter in Acts includes supernatural revelation of the Holy Spirit, all pointing to the fact that the ordained church is not a work of man, but of Jesus.
Jesus promised the disciples an advocate and He sent the Spirit as Promised.

To say Church is of little consequence is to cast off what Jesus ordained in the "Church Age" between His 1st and 2nd Coming.
Yep, church is full of sinners and people who are not who we would hang with given a choice, but we don't bring people in the doors of the Church.... God does.
We're called to love them as ourselves and it's great practice run for the real thing = Heaven and New Earth
Oh and please extend grace and love to the pastors and clergy who dwell among the broken 24/7/365.... and as a result many quit after 5 years on average.

Our Western churches are notoriously legalistic in application, application, and more application of Scripture and very shallow in the ecclesia (church) of the Body of Christ.
The Gospel was never meant to stop with "me."
In fact, quite the opposite.

Blessings,
Mark

Mark that is some interesting text. I have frequently wondered or thought about our Western or American Christianity ( I know little about other nations) and are we immature in our Christianity. We seem to place a tremendous amount of our belief system and energy on our personal relationship with Christ and putting our own salvation above all else. To me being a disciple or Apostle requires more and that is caring as much if not more about others than just myself and my own salvation status. To me it is very similar to the crisis at the sandbox as we argue over our toys and who should have them and who should not and for many of us we maintain that thought process late into life if not all of our life. Church does offer opportunities for sharing and growing and also due to how donations are received is somewhat fraternal in how we support the whole so that all can be included. We do however spend a lot of time passing judgement on how we feel others are not participating as they should.

Bryce

If you are worried what others are wearing to church, you actually have more problems than you know.

Which is the better ? A politician who promises a new suit on every man or a God who can put a new man in every suit ?

Can you have an opinion on what you think is appropriate without judging someone else?

Bryce,
All worthy and very well said.
Many a theologian (all of us are theologians) have considered a blight of the Americanism in church which is either A. the church is a supermarket of spiritual groceries where we shop when we need them, or B. The church is wherever a few believers are gathered in Jesus' name. Neither of these is wonderful.

As far as immaturity you mention, we should realize many believers haven't been told or taught that believers are obligated to church unless we have an Apostle title after our name >>>> because while the church isn't a building, isn't an arm of the state, isn't an ethnic or nationality, is not a single denomination, or even merely a human organization..... the church (however we dress - modest is best)..... is;

essential for global proclamation (and no person can do this), corporate worship (all throughout the NT), sacramental presence, and sanctification (progress of one's spiritual life is always biblical in the context of the corporate "body" growing and edifying (build up) one another.

Scripture helps us understand that Christ's ordained Church is Jew and Gentile united by the Spirit into one body, a mystery unreveled in the past, always an eternal plan of God, and Christ as the cornerstone ordained by the NT Apostles and Prophets. Ephesians 2:14-16 helps us get that picture;

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

There will never be a perfect ecclesia (church) until Christ returns but until then we do the best with what we have. We should be cautious when we take God's purpose and paint it top to bottom with what we want.

That all said, there are various views and I believe (a majority view) that the Church described in the NT is not a continuation of the OT Israel.
Acts 2:1-4 is where the Holy Spirit came and was the birth of the Church.

Blessings!
Mark

Too many people in this society have no pride (not the bad pride, the good pride).

They have no pride in their work, their family, their home, their conduct or their appearance. It's not about wealth or class.

When I go to mass (which is admittedly not often these days), I don't suit up. But my family is definitely presentable and well dressed--but I don't have to tell them--they know.

And, I think light shows and rock music at church are ridiculous but whatever.

I absolutely and humbly appreciate what the founding Fathers set in place in our nation called America....
that has never been seen in history and is not common anywhere in our world even now.

The constitutional freedom of religion from governmental mandate.

Yet with side rails that protect the individual (for instance, no human sacrifice allowed even if a religion says to do it).

We are a nation blessed beyond measure.

Blessings,
Mark

Well said Blaine. I preach at my boys constantly that one of the things that makes them a man is doing the absolute best they can at anything they do. Take some pride in and out of what you do. I’d also like to encourage you to making mass a priority in your week. Again well said

So deep down inside you can really tell who is liberal on Sundays.

Heck, you guys are catholic, it only matters what you do on Sundays anyway. lol

...... there are remnants of church authority hatred still today, 500 years after Luther "reformed" the faith.
But like many things, we humans run so far from one side of the ship to the other, that we tip the ship the other way.
Protestants have run "out" of the church Luther fought to reform.

Somewhere in the middle is prolly closer to dead center.

Way cal at fiense ridin’ ‘round chair.

Hobbie not Catholic I’m Baptist, but have went to mass every weekend with my family since 1996. I swore to her father and the priest that I would raise them in the church. I’m a man of my word! I call myself and family “Captist”. Mass Sunday morning and then Baptist Bible study on Sunday night.