A couple of months into my freshman year of college, I was contacted by a church that needed someone to help with their youth program. I was 18, and the only experience I had was in my own group when I was in high school. I was also poor and broke, so I said yes. It ended up being a mostly good experience; the associate pastor was a wonderful woman who gave me great guidance. The problem was that this very large congregation was also filled with a lot of people with money, and appearances often seemed to matter more than ministry. One reason they hired me was to compete with the Church of the Nazarene’s youth program. That church was all about evangelism; in fact, they had a competition every year to see who could bring the most guests to church. The winner got a vacation for four to Disneyland. Yes – this really happened.
As a poor kid, I didn’t have much. I got through college on grants, work-study, and whatever jobs I could fit in on the side. That first year I worked at McDonalds on the weekends; on Sunday I would go there from 6am to 9am, get changed, and drive 30 miles (in a borrowed car) to get to church by 10. I would stay most Sundays until 8pm and rush home to get some schoolwork done. This is how I lived all through college. Almost all of my money would go directly to pay for school, so there wasn’t much left over for nice clothes. This is the point of today’s thought – I found out that members of the church were whispering behind my back that I didn’t dress nicely enough. “What kind of example is he setting for our youth?” they asked. The nicest clothes I own were blue jeans, but that wasn’t good enough. It really didn’t matter if I was doing good ministry (I think I was); my appearance mattered more.
This experience stayed with me through the years, and I have had to confront this problem of privilege in every church I have served. I know the argument; how we dress shows how we feel about God and ourselves, some would say. Unless you are poor. Unless you are barely making it through the week. Given the choice between food and fancy clothing, poor folks will pick food – or the electric bill – or any other necessity. I had one member of Calvary leave because I had the nerve to tell people that I didn’t care how they dressed; I cared about them being in church and participating in the community of faith. Jesus took a slap at people who cared about appearances. He pointed to one of the Pharisees and said, “The Pharisee was amazed to see that Jesus did not first wash before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? So, give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.” (Luke 11).
I think the church would be a lot healthier if we stopped fretting about meaningless things and started focusing more on what matters. As long as you are appropriately covered, you are dressed just fine for church. We care about what is on the inside, and so did Jesus. Where your heart is, He said, there is your treasure. Appearances matter for job interviews and important meetings; church is where we come as we are, welcomed by God. And by us.
Prayer – God, save us from self-righteousness and meaningless standards. Help our hearts to become true treasures fixed on You. Amen.
Today’s picture might just be my next Christmas outfit – what do you think?