Monday, January 25, 2010

Should Pastors Wear Special Clothing? Addendum 1

Pastor Lawyer, if you were asked to preach in a church where the normal pastor wears a robe to preach in every Sunday, would you wear one?

I really don’t know. I’m pretty sure wearing a collar would be something I will not do. It would take a lot of talking with some very wise old men to convince me to do it.

If the church didn’t care what kind of robe I wore,
I might consider wearing a scholastic robe. I am finishing up a doctorate and will own a robe soon. Calvin wore a scholastic robe and I like Calvin. My concern is with what it says to the people about their place before God. Will my wearing a robe cause them to think less of themselves in Christ? Will my wearing a robe elevate me beyond that which is proper? I could see wearing a robe in a church where it is normal for the preacher to dress that way. If I thought I really ought to preach there, and not wearing a robe would cause everyone to stumble or miss my point because of how I dressed, I would consider it.

There is a higher right than being right and under certain circumstances wearing a robe would be more right than not wearing one.

Fair haired guys and thin guys should not wear white robes no matter what anyone says. They should avoid white robes like the plague. There should be a space on the white robe order form where someone ordering a robe should have to describe the person who will be wearing it. If they are white, fair haired, and/or thin, the order should automatically slide into the shredder.

I hope this helps.

No comments: