What would it take to make your head turn at church? Would it be someone walking into church wearing a University of Michigan shirt? Or maybe a stripper from the gentlemen’s club down the street? Or would it be someone who is a known criminal? What would it take?
8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy
hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to
dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with
elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but
with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. NIV
There you have it! When you go to church this week, the men should quit shouting at each other during prayers, and the women should not dress like the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders anymore! I don’t know about you, but neither of those scenarios happen at my church.
Something else would seem to be motivating Paul’s instructions about worship. Perhaps something in the culture of the day. However, because verse 8 starts with “therefore”, we only need to look at the previous verses.
Therefore, when we come together to worship the Living God, He is the focus, not us. It doesn’t matter what team someone cheers for; what a person has done in their past or even the present. Nobody can out sin God’s love, grace and forgiveness. And when you worship, it should be evident in how we treat others.
