Bringing My Best

First Baptist Church was where I spent most of my childhood. As a matter of fact, my family went every time the doors were opened! I probably complained at some point but I don't really remember not liking church. In days gone by church was the center of our world.  Our calendar and plans were arranged around the church calendar. Church is where friends and family would meet to worship, fellowship, study, play and eat together. We had some of the best covered dish dinners, and believe me, those ladies brought their best! 

When I was little, and I guess into my teen years, there was sort of a church "dress code".  It wasn't a written code, but you'd always hear adults say that we're to "bring our best" to God, which translates into we wear uncomfortable clothes to church. My Sunday morning wardrobe consisted of dresses and only dresses w/ tights in the winter and socks or sandals in the summer. Because this is how I was raised, it's how I raised my kids and I definitely remember hearing their complaints!

Fast forward to a couple of Sunday's ago, I spoke to a lady who came into the worship center carrying a blanket.  I asked if she was cold. She said every week it's freezing so this was the first time she had ever worn pants to church so she could stay warm. Then she said, "I prefer to wear dresses because we're to bring our best to the Lord, it's a matter of respect."  That is the first time I've heard that in years!  The last time I heard it was about seven years ago. A young man who had been visiting our youth Bible study finally came to a morning worship service. He came wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a cap.  A cap?  Oh yes, you guessed it.  I couldn't believe it.  A woman walked right up to him, took his cap off his head and said, "we're to bring our best to God and this isn't it." I tried to smooth it over once I picked my jaw off the floor. Fortunately the young man handled it well, but he never came back to a Sunday worship. 

I don't disagree that we need to "bring our best" to God, but what exactly does that mean? Apparently different things to different people.  We see in Malachi 1:6-14 God telling His people that when you worship I want you to give your very best but He is not talking about what you wear. We don't need to dress up to impress God. We don't need to dress up to impress others or because it's what's "expected".  If you want to impress God…have pure hands and a clean heart and give Him your best - I Sam. 16:7

In Ecclesiastes Solomon says "God looks at the heart."  He is more concerned with why we're coming to church, not what we wear.  So whether a person wears a dress or suit from the most expensive store in town, or jeans and a t-shirt from a thrift store - it doesn't matter. God is looking for sincere hearts that want to praise, glorify and worship Him. If our expectations of what people wear to church determines whether or not they are "Christian" or welcomed then maybe we need to read what God has to say about being judgmental. 

What happened to the young man who wore the cap? Fortunately, he kept coming to youth Bible study, maybe because we accepted him for who he was. Or maybe because we tried to give him a placed where he felt like he belonged, or maybe because he wanted to know more about Jesus Christ.  Whatever the reason I'm glad we had the opportunity to  cross paths and my prayer is, wherever he is,  that what he remembers about my church isn't the woman who removed his cap, but that there were people there who loved Jesus and tried their best to share that love with others. 

So you can bet that the next time I go to church I'll be bringing my best - I might be wearing jeans and a tshirt, but I'll definitely bring an open mind and heart that is willing to accept whoever walks in the door and wants to be introduced to Jesus.