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27"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Matthew 23

8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 22These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
Colossians 2

ccmay wrote:

A lot of this sounds like unsavory pridefulness on the part of the pastor.

In my experience, the more persnickety a minister is about clothing, the more likely he is to be a pompous blowhard who is in love with the sound of his own voice.

I agree.

Elsewhere on this thread I have been recommending an interesting read, Frank Viola's book, "Pagan Christianity: The Origins of Our Modern Church Practices."

Since it keeps coming up, let me quote a bit from Viola's chapter titled "Sunday Morning Costumes." Here we go:

Every Sunday morning, over 300 million Protestants put on their best clothes to attend Sunday morning church. [footnote noting that there are denominations, such as the Vineyard, that espouse casual dress] But no one seems to question why. Thousands of pastors wear special garb that separates them from their congregation. And no on seems to care. . . .

The practice of "dressing up" for church is a relatively recent phenomenon. It began in the late- 18th century with the Industrial Revolution, and it became widespread in the mid- 19ths century. Before this time, "dressing up" for social events was only known among the very wealthy. . . . Common folks only had two sets of clothes: Work clothes for laboring in the field and less tattered clothing for going into town.

. . . In medival Europe up until the 18th century, dress was a clear marker of one's social class. . . . This changed with the invention of mass textile manufacturing and the development of urban society. . . . The middle class was born . . . For the first time, the middle class could distinguish themselves from the peasnats. To demonstrate their newly improved status, they could now "dress up" for social events just like the well-to-do."

Some Christian groups in the late 18th and 19th centuries resisted this cultural trend. John Wesley wrote against wearing expensive or flashy clothing. The early Methodists resisted the idea of "dressing up" for church so much that they turned away anyone who wore expensive clothing to their meetings. The early Baptists also condemned fine clothing, teaching that it separated the rich from the poor.

Nevertheless, despite these protests, mainstream Christians began wearing fine clothes whenever they could. . . . As the Victorian enculturation of the middle class grew, fancier church buildings began to draw more influential people in society. . . .

This all came to a head when in 1843, Horace Bushnell, an influential Congregational minister in Connecticut, published an essay called Taste and Fashion. In it, Bushnell argued that sophistication and refinement were attributes of God and that Christians should emulate them. Thus was born the idea of "dressing up" for church to honor God! . . .

Following hard on the heels of Bushnell, a North Carolina Presbyterian named William Henry Foote wrote in 1846 that "a church-going people are a dress loving people."This statement simply expressed the formal dress ritual that mainstream Christians had adopted when going to church. The trend was so powerful that by the 1850s, even the "formal-dress-resistant" Methodists got absorbed by it. And they too began wearing their "Sunday best" for church.

Accordingly . . . dressing up for church is the result of the Christian being influenced by his surrounding culture. . . . [N]ow you know the story behind this mindless custom.

It is purely the result of 19th-century middle class efforts to become like their wealthy aristocrat contemporaries, showing off their improved status by their clothing. (This effort also was helped along by Victorian notions of respectability.) Put another way, wearing your "Sunday best" is simply a product of secular culture. It has nothing to do with the Bible, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit!

///(pp. 187-190) end excerpt///

For those interested persons, Viola goes on to ask and answer the question, "So what is wrong with it?"

Check it out if you're inclined.