My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. James 2:1 MSG

We were at church at least three times a week growing up: Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. For Sunday morning services my mom made me wear dresses or skirts, tights or frilly socks, and dress shoes. As I got older, I rebelled against the dresses that got in the way of playing outside after church, the itchy tights and socks, and the dress shoes that weren’t made for running. My rebellion was futile, because what Mama says goes! The culture of where we were in the early '90s very much dictated that ladies wore dresses to church, and the men wore suits and ties.

I wonder what would have happened if anyone dared show up out of “uniform?”

My late sister-in-law told the story of how when she was away at college she decided to go to a new church. She showed up to a service in jeans and a t-shirt, and an older gentleman dressed in a suit and tie confronted her about how her clothes showed her supposed lack of respect for the Lord’s house. She left that day with a wound that ran so deep she chose to never attend church regularly again. 

The cultural norms of what to wear to church have relaxed a lot since the '90s, and I’m so grateful for that! Society has helped us find other ways to assign value to the people who join us on Sundays, though, whether we realize it or not. Social status within the community is a big one, as is who has the most money. Which families have lived here the longest? Which individuals have the most sway at school board and town council meetings? How would we treat them if/when they joined us on a Sunday morning versus anyone else who walked through the door?

A faith that’s integrated into our lives places no higher value on one person or people group over another. God values everyone, and Jesus modeled this for us perfectly when he chose to speak with the socially outcast, touch the unclean, and eat with sinners. 

It’s not rocket science: a person’s worth is not determined by how they’re dressed or their standing in society, and we stand to do a lot of damage when we place value on anything less than the heart. Ask God to make you aware of tendencies to favor one person/group over another.