Articles
Our Excessive Casualness
We live in a time where leisure is the goal of nearly every person. We work so we can play. We work so we can relax, enjoy life, find the happiness that comes from the pursuit of our own personal wants and desires. Few people work for the joy of working; they work for the joy of leisure.
Now there’s nothing wrong with wanting time off; and there’s nothing wrong with having a hobby; and there’s certainly nothing wrong with reaping the harvest of your labors. But when time-off affects our spiritual inclinations, retards our spiritual enterprises, and invades our personal relationship with God, we best stop and take a look at ourselves. There as some labors that are not over yet—labors that will actually never end, and from which there is no legitimate rest. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God…” (Heb. 4:9-10).
One of the results of our pre-occupation with leisure time is excessive casualness. Nowhere is this more graphically illustrated than in the way people dress today. I have been to several funerals recently where the pall bearers and half the audience were dressed in t-shirts and blue jeans. Whatever happened to dignity? Is there no such thing as ordinate self-esteem anymore? Does it make no difference how we look when we attend public worship services?
I’m aware that there are no laws that relate to how people dress when they have a part in the public worship, but it seems to me that when we serve the people—whether making the announcements, leading singing, leading the congregation in prayer, or serving at the Lord’s table—we should not be casual about it, but rather recognize that the cause we are publically representing is of the highest sort, and that we should dress as if we recognize that fact.
One of the definitions of casual is “suited for everyday wear or use” (American Collegiate Dictionary). Another is “showing little interest; nonchalance” (Ibid). None of the definitions justifies casualness in the Lord’s service. Casualness is always associated with a free-and-easy style, a lackadaisical attitude. It suggests a lack of enthusiasm, a deficiency of motivation, even at times a sort of permissiveness. One of the most obvious manifestations of casualness is what we wear.
Solomon speaks to the importance of a proper attitude for worship in Ecclesiastes 5:1:
“Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.” The Oxford Study Bible renders this as “Go circumspectly when you visit the house of God. Better to draw near in obedience than offer the sacrifice of fools, who sin without a thought.” To walk circumspectly is to be warned of potential circumstances. It means to be prudent. Circumspection carries with it the notion of being sensible in one’s actions. Worship is a serious matter—particularly public worship—and it should not be done thoughtlessly or without due respect for where we are and what we are doing.
Now I’m not saying you have to dress like I think you ought, but I am saying that we ought to give serious thought to what we are doing when we approach the throne of God in worship, both in the way we act and the way we dress. Worship is serious business, and there is no place in public worship for excessive casualness.
