Does it matter how we dress when we enter the Lord’s house? I wonder if we’ve given this question enough thought, even among pastors and church leaders. Church members often wear what’s comfortable and deemed acceptable in their local church, but a half century ago, it was a given that congregants would dress up for church. Corporate worship meant wearing your “Sunday best” for the high point of the week. But since the 1970s and ’80s, we’ve shifted our thinking due to concerns that visitors would feel uncomfortable attending if everyone dressed to the hilt. Was that the right move? When I first started pastoring 17 years ago, my Sunday attire was more casual. In my first year of ministry, a godly older woman scolded me for wearing shorts to church. This rebuke stung, and it set in motion a shift in my thinking. I started to notice that many of the men I count as mentors dress up for church, not for the sake of promoting vanity but to honor the Lord. Since that time, I’ve become more conscious about what I wear for public worship. Here are three reasons I now opt for more formal attire. 1. Corporate Worship’s Nature When a congregation gathers for worship, they together encounter Christ, the King of kings, Lord of lords, and Creator of the universe. If you’re called to go to Buckingham Palace and meet with King Charles, you’ll give thought to what you wear. In fact, there’s a dress code for meeting with the royal family. When we gather for worship, we should feel even more the privilege of meeting with our great and holy God. The psalmist says, Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! (Ps. 24:7–8) When we wear the same outfit to church that we’d wear to a baseball game or the movies, this can communicate that we have a low view of corporate worship. It can communicate that we think it’s appropriate to approach God casually, even thoughtlessly. We live in an increasingly casual and unserious society. Dressing up for church won’t change these cultural dynamics, but it can convey the gravity and importance of worship amid a casual culture. 2. Value in Preparing When God’s people show up for church, we must prepare our hearts for worship. We should get a good night’s sleep and spend time in God’s Word and prayer to prepare. We should also aim to arrive at church early. This is certainly true for pastors, but it’s also true for all believers. Does it matter how we dress when we enter the Lord’s house? I wonder if we’ve given this question enough thought. Formal dress not only reminds us that corporate worship is unique and supremely important, but it can help us prepare. Dressing up is generally more work than sporting casual attire, but the process of thinking through what we’ll wear and putting each article on can help us orient our hearts toward God. If you have young children, the idea of dressing the whole family up, not just yourself, no doubt seems daunting. You’re probably not looking to add more work to your Sunday morning routine, but think of dressing up as an opportunity to disciple your children, to remind them of the value of corporate worship. Choosing an outfit the night before can even be a bonding time. 3. Cultural Precedents Most people dress up for weddings, funerals, graduation ceremonies, and even dinner parties. It’s fair to say these are good traditions. We dress to reflect the occasion. Is corporate worship less important? As Christians, we’d say it’s at least equally important as other events people typically dress up for. We shouldn’t dress up merely to please people or fit in with the crowd. After all, “man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). But if we want our dress to communicate that corporate worship matters, we should look at how our society shows that other gatherings matter. Following the cultural precedent, we should dress up for our engagement with the Lord of glory. Why You Might Not Change Your Mind As I worked through my own philosophy of church attire, I wrestled with a number of my own arguments against dressing up. For starters, our hearts are deceitful (Jer. 17:9), and I recognize that dressing up can fuel pride. It’s easy to start judging others by what they wear, and if we do so, we treat the gathered church like a beauty pageant. If we want our dress to communicate that corporate worship matters, we should look at how our society shows that other gatherings matter. It’s hard for me to picture Jesus or Paul dressing up for worship services. They owned little compared to us and were always on the go. Moreover, when Paul wrote, “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Col. 3:12, NIV), his abiding concern for the Colossians was the state of their character, not the clothing on their backs. In the end, the reasons I’ve given in this article proved compelling, but I recognize this is a matter of freedom. Church dress isn’t a core doctrinal issue. It’s not a matter to divide over. The Bible is largely silent on this topic. As you think through your philosophy, you may come to a different conclusion. “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom. 14:5). Even if you choose not to dress up for church, I encourage you to put on the kind of intentionality that recognizes worship’s significance, doesn’t treat it casually, and prepares well. Dressing up is just one way we can prepare for worship, but whatever you wear, don’t give your neighbor a reason to think Sunday worship is insignificant.