How should we dress for church?

How to dress for Church
Dear roscoetn
Below is your question and an answer
Question: I have read somewhere in the bible that before you come
> before the Lord that you should wear your finest clothes. Could you
> find the scripture for me?Thank youAllen Veach
> Background: Pentacostal

Answer:
I have heard this said but personally I never read it anywhere. I did some searching today trying to find it in the Bible, to no avail. I even searched it out on Google and could not find it. However, I did find this very good article (below) on the whole subject of what we should wear. The article is found at this web address. http://www.iibee.com/credamus/dress.htm. There is no need for us to re-invent the wheel so we’re passing this approved article to you.

I will add that we must be careful when reading the Bible. The Old Testament is there for our benefit and reference. However, the New Testament takes precedence as it speaks to the Church. The Old Testament spoke to many various peoples including the Jews. I will have to write a short article on this to clarify things. Always ask yourself who the passage you are reading is referring too.

Regards,

Mike Kelly

Begin Quoted Article:
I had questions about what to wear to church:; Should I dress up in my finest clothes? If I dress up for church, am I dressing up for God's benefit or the other members of the church? If I don't dress up and it causes the other church goers to look down on me, am I being a stumbling block and causing them to sin? If I do dress up, do I make others who can't afford to dress up a stumbling block, by condoning wearing your nicest clothes to church? Is it not my heart that goes to church and not my wardrobe, doesn't Christ live in me 24 hours a day; and if I should dress up for church to be in Gods presence, should I not always be dressed up, for isn't God with me always? If the reason I dress up when I go to church, is because the church is the house of God, isn't the body the temple of the Lord that is always with me; and if so should I always be dressed up, or should I go to church in my everyday clothes?
These are the questions that were going through my mind. So I went to the Bible to try to find the answers. The following scriptures are all take from the New American Standard version of the Bible.
James 2:2-4 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing fine clothes, and say,"You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man,"You stand over there, or sit down by my foot stool," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
What I get out of reading James 2:2-4 is that you should not judge people by their appearance, but treat everyone equally. Now comes another question, if when people judge you by what you are wearing makes them sin, should you dress in a manner that you think they won't judge you to prevent them from sinning, or should you not dress up for them and rebuke them if they judge you to prevent them from future sin? Because it is possible that people might judge you regardless of what you wear.
1Tim 2:9 Likewise , I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments,
1 Peter 3:3-4 Your adornment must not be merely external braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
1Peter 5:5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders: and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.
1 Peter 3:3-4 says that God doesn't care about your outward appearance, but that it's what is in your heart that counts. I feel 1 Peter 5:5 says to be humble, I feel that dressing up in your finest clothes is more prideful than humble.
Jonah 3:5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.
2 Kings 1:1 And when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD.
Rev 11:3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the destroyer Will come upon us.
Daniel 9:3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
Luke 10:13 Woe to you , Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
The previous verses describe how people in the past dressed to please the Lord. They dressed in sackcloth to humble themselves before the Lord. Sackcloth is dark goat hair used in making sacks, and worn in times of mourning.
The following are Bible verses have to do with those who dress up to impress other people.
Mark 12:38 In His teaching He was saying:"Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places,
Matt 23:5 But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
The following verses state not to worry about what you wear, because all that is important is you seek the Kingdom of God, and follow God with your hearts, and not with the garments you put on your body.
Matt 6:25 For this reason I say to you,do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing.28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field , which is alive today and tomorrow thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 "Do not worry then, saying,"What will we eat? or"What will we drink?"or "What will we wear for clothing?" 32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Joel 2:12-13 "Yet even now ," declares the LORD,"Return to Me with all your heart , And with fasting , weeping and mourning;13 And rend your heart and not your garments."
2 Corinth 5:12 We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.
The next few verses reminds us that we are all in Christ always, and 2 Corinth. 10:7 reminds us to look inwardly, and not outwardly, and that just as one person in a church is in Christ so are we all, and we should not judge other members of Christ' body by only looking at them outwardly.
2 Corinth. 10:7 You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ's, so also are we
1Corinth 6: 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
1 Corinth 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
We as members of Christ' body are always in His presence, and there is no time that we are instructed to dress differently than any other time. I feel that God wants us to worship Him with our hearts and motives, not with the clothing we put on. This is my opinion based on what I understand of what I've read in the Bible. I am not saying that you shouldn't dress up. You can dress however you like, I don't think how you dress matters, but if you decide to dress up for church, I just think you should examine your motives, and not judge others by their appearance.God is the only judge, it is not our place to judge anybody, especially on merely their appearance. I would like to conclude with a verse Jesus spoke.
Matt 11:6 " And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me"