I Aim to Please

On Sundays, my husband JJ preaches at a church in a small town nearby. Most of the members are older and we've had an average of about 35 -40 people attending worship each week. Because of the generation gap, at times it feels we're in a different culture. For example, when we first started attending there, one of the ladies commented on how she appreciated that I wore a skirt every week. Before we came, they had many fill-in preachers and their wives come and go and she told me about the various ways in which different women chose to dress. Women never wore slacks to church when she was growing up and she obviously did not think they should start now.

After she made this comment, I had to stop and wonder. Why had I been wearing a skirt every week? Should I continue just because she wanted me to? I usually prefer slacks. I've always felt that Sunday dress should not alienate or intimidate any guests that might come. I know I would not feel comfortable in a place where I was underdressed.

Jesus did not show partiality based on wealth, status, or appearances. James chapter 2 talks about not showing favoritism because of a person's dress. I Timothy 2:9 says, "I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds. . . "

But the longer I thought about it, the more I decided that by wearing a skirt, I was showing respect to a generation in which Sunday dress was really important. I've come to realize that there are times that the people around me are much more important than the issue at hand and what my opinion is on the matter. So I wear a skirt every week and and every week the ladies comment on how pretty I look. (Now there's one perk to the situation - a little ego boost for me!)

And even though I feel I've resolved this issue, I fully realize that I will not be able to please everyone all the time. JJ mentioned a verse this morning in class which illustrates this perfectly. In Matthew 11:18-19 Jesus says, "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."' So it's settled, if John the Baptist and Christ himself could not make people happy, I am now released from this burdensome responsibility as well!