Since you have yet to provide an objective standard to define reverent, respectful dress, I am logically forced to continue to maintain that it is merely your interpretation, your opinion.
What was the dress code in the early church, when the vast majority of believers (indeed, of people alive at the time)owned only one set of clothes? Carpenters and fishermen came to church in their work clothes because the alternative was to go naked. Did Jesus or any of the Apostles ever tell them to save up their money and spend it on a fine suit so they'd look great in church?
It is hard for me to believe that you really cannot find a suit (or even shirt and tie) that does not make you absolutely miserable.
Oh, I have found a few... a very few... But they're so hard to find that I don't dare wear them out by wearing them every week; I save them for the rare occasions (2 or 3 times a year) when one *absolutely must* dress up -- eg, weddings, funerals, etc. If I win the lottery maybe I can accommodate your tastes.
It seems like you could put a layer of comfortable clothing on underneath, e.g. cotton or whatever the casual clothes you can wear are made of, so that your skin wouldn't even touch the other offending kinds of fabric.
Multiple layers? IN THIS HEAT???????????????? To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, "regardless of whether or not it ought to happen, the fact is, it will not happen..."
I remain convinced that most people do not share your physical condition
And I remain equally convinced that there are lot more than you realize. I may have a more extreme case than most, but I am by no means alone.
I have carefully considered your views (not just recently, I thought this through long ago)...but I don't think you've really given serious consideration to mine. So I have to ask -- Have you even considered the possibility that many (perhaps most) of the casually dressed church attenders whom you condemn, are motivated solely by physical discomfort,not irreverence?
**** sigh****
The real problem here, is that there's no Romans 14 solution to this problem. Romans 14 basically teaches that when 2 believers are in a state of disagreement, then the one with the laxer standard should give way to the stricter (even if the stricter one is ultimately wrong). For example, one man feels free in the Lord to have a glass of wine with dinner, and another feels a strong conviction that all alcohol use, no matter how moderate, is a sin. If these two men have dinner together, the proper course for the drinker is to abstain in that situation. After all, he doesn't believe he MUST drink, and the other fellow believes he must not, so, an alcohol-free table is acceptable for both of them.
However, this logic CANNOT be applied to our dispute because there is no place you and I can go, that doesn't severely offend at least one of us. In my church, you'd be offended at the apparent irreverence of the casually dressed worshippers, because you have a much stricter standard of style. In your church, I'd be equally if not more offended by the dress code which I find physically so uncomfortable as to be utterly repellent -- or in other words, I have a much stricter standard of comfort. (Not to mention, I also happen to think it's scripturally unsupportable). So there's no place where we can meet --there isn't a neutral ground. What to do?
Logic does not force that conclusion. Imagine that I was talking about an objective standard of ethics, but I had not yet described specific ethical prescriptions and prohibitions regarding the treatment of the unborn child. In that case, you would not be "logically forced" to continue to maintain that what I was talking about regarding the treatment of the unborn child was merely my interpretation or opinion of ethics. Why? Because even though I had not yet mentioned any specific objective ethical requirements regarding the treatment of the unborn, there very well might still *be* such requirements, and I very well might still know them. Likewise, in this present case, logic does not provide the conclusion you reach here.
What was the dress code in the early church, when the vast majority of believers (indeed, of people alive at the time)owned only one set of clothes? Carpenters and fishermen came to church in their work clothes because the alternative was to go naked. Did Jesus or any of the Apostles ever tell them to save up their money and spend it on a fine suit so they'd look great in church?
First, the behavior of Christians in the early church does not determine the proper behavior for Christians in all times. (E.g. Acts 2:44, 4:32) Second, the fact that persons who only possess carpenter's or fishermen's clothes cannot dress up does not mean that those who can dress up needn't. A homeless person cannot provide hospitality in the form of shelter, but that does not mean that homeowners need not provide hospitality. Third, the person who only posseses the means for carpenter's or fishermen's clothes can express his reverence and respect for God by at least cleaning his clothes and his body before coming to church. Fourth the Apostles were called to poverty. Not every Christian is called to the life of poverty. We are not all called to "have no place to lay our head", as was true of Christ.
but I don't think you've really given serious consideration to mine.
The question is not how much time have I spent thinking about your views. The question is how well have I defended my position against your objections. I have said that those who have your physical condition are exempt from the requirement to dress up for church. They are not exempt from doing whatever is in their power to present themselves respectfully and reverently in church.
The real problem here, is that there's no Romans 14 solution to this problem. . . . However, this logic CANNOT be applied to our dispute because there is no place you and I can go, that doesn't severely offend at least one of us. In my church, you'd be offended at the apparent irreverence of the casually dressed worshippers, because you have a much stricter standard of style. In your church, I'd be equally if not more offended by the dress code which I find physically so uncomfortable as to be utterly repellent -- or in other words, I have a much stricter standard of comfort. (Not to mention, I also happen to think it's scripturally unsupportable). So there's no place where we can meet --there isn't a neutral ground. What to do?
You are misrepresenting my position. First, this is not about me, or what offends me. This is about how Christians ought to dress in church. Second, there is nothing wrong with Christians dressing casually in church if that is the best they can do given their physical or financial condition, just as their is nothing wrong with the homeless man not providing shelter to the stranger. So, this 'problem' you are lamenting is not so unresolvable as you suggest.