Cheat Sheet #36

As you read this section, keep in mind that the New Testament is not merely a history book, it's meant to change us to become more and more like Jesus. When we read any passages in the New Testament, our goal should be to discern what God wants us to believe and do so that we can be obedient to Him.

Under the Old Covenant, the Jewish high priest and other priests were commanded to wear sacred garments to give them dignity and honor (described in detail in Exodus 28 and 29). In addition, there were specific commandments about what the Jews wore, such as these:

"Keep my decrees. Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material." (Leviticus 19:19)

"The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God."" (Numbers 15:37-40)

"A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this." (Deuteronomy 22:5)

"Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together. Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear." (Deuteronomy 22:11-12)

These issues are not mentioned under the New Covenant; they only applied to the Jews under the Old Covenant. Concerning Deuteronomy 22:5 (above), Bible commentaries provide various opinions on why this was detestable to God, such as this being a magical practice in the ancient Middle East intended to weaken or harm one's enemies, or that based on certain evidence this practice was perhaps connected with the worship of false deities. But no matter what the reason was, these commands were given under the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was completely canceled at the cross (see my article called Covenants, Dispensations, and the Ten Commandments - Part Three), and therefore no one today is required to obey the above commands.

In Western culture it used to be the accepted practice for people to dress up in their best clothes to go to church, and in some denominations the pastors or ministers were set apart from the congregation by wearing robes or other formal clothing. This is still the case in some churches, but these days the accepted practice in many or most churches is that people, including the pastors, tend to wear more casual clothes such as jeans.

Are any of these practices appropriate? Inappropriate? What does the New Testament say about what we should or should not wear to church?

First of all, notice that those who are righteous (including Jesus and the holy angels) are consistently described in terms of wearing white robes or bright, shining clothes:

"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow." (Matthew 28:1-3)

"After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them." (Mark 9:2-3)

"After he [Jesus] said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white [angels - Luke 24:4] stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."" (Acts 1:9-11)

"Cornelius answered: "Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.' So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."" (Acts 10:30-33)

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:1-6)

"You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." (Revelation 3:17-18)

"At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads." (Revelation 4:2-4)

"When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been." (Revelation 6:9-11)

"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes - who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 'Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,' nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; 'he will lead them to springs of living water.' 'And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"" (Revelation 7:9-17)

"Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city." (Revelation 22:12-14)

"And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles." (Revelation 15:5-6 KJV)

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." (Revelation 19:7-8 KJV)

"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean." (Revelation 19:11-14)

So throughout the New Testament, those who are holy are consistently described in terms of wearing white robes or bright, shining clothes, representing their righteousness. There's no indication here of anyone dressing up (based on worldly ideas of "proper dress"), or dressing to stand out from other people, when in the presence of God. Notice that when Jesus was transfigured, His clothes became dazzling white (Mark 9:2-3, above). Jesus and the apostles spent a lot of time traveling together, so their clothes were travel-worn, not dazzling white and clean. There's not a shred of scriptural evidence that the apostles tried to wear their "Sunday best" (as we call it) when they were with Jesus, or that Jesus went around in His "Sunday best."

In addition, notice what Christians are told to be clothed with:

"Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh." (Romans 13:13-14)

"For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."" (1 Corinthians 15:53-54)

"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." (2 Corinthians 5:1-4)

"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:26-27)

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." (Colossians 3:12)

"In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."" (1 Peter 5:5)

What else do we see in the New Testament concerning people's clothes? Notice that fine clothes and fancy dress are consistently associated with unrighteous people:

"Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called 'Rabbi' by others. But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Matthew 23:1-12)

"As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely."" (Mark 12:38-40)

"After John's messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."" (Luke 7:24-28)

[Jesus is speaking:] "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" (Luke 16:19-31)

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:2-5)

"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, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God." (1 Timothy 2:9-10)

"My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (James 2:1-10)

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands" (1 Peter 3:3-5)

"Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries." (Revelation 17:3-4)

"Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: 'Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!' The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore - cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves. They will say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.' The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn and cry out: 'Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!' Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off." (Revelation 18:10-17)

We've now looked at all of the passages in the NIV New Testament that talk about the clothes, garments, robes, and adornments (literal, figurative, and spiritual) that we should or shouldn't wear. Throughout the New Testament there's a pattern in which fine clothes, fancy dress, and trying to impress others are consistently associated with unrighteous people. In contrast, righteous people are consistently described as humbling themselves, dressing humbly (e.g., John the Baptist in Matthew 3:1-4), not conforming to the patterns of this world, not thinking of themselves more highly than they ought, dressing modestly with decency and propriety, not wearing elaborate hairstyles or gold jewelry or fine or expensive clothes, not showing special attention to those wearing fine clothes, not discriminating against those wearing filthy old clothes, and so on.

Furthermore, when church services or other meetings between Christians are described, we're never told that anyone dressed up for the occasion, and we're never told that anyone was chastised for not dressing up. Here are all of the references I found, including passages that give instructions about what to say or do with other Christians: Acts 1:12-26, 2:1-4, 42-47, 4:23-31, 5:12-14, 6:2-7, 11:1-4, 18, 25-30, 12:11-17, 13:1-3, 14:21-23, 26-28, 15:1-21, 22-35, 16:4-5, 40, 18:11, 22-23, 24-28, 20:1, 7-12, 17-38, 21:4-6, 7-14, 15-16, 17-26, 27:3-4, 28:13-16, 30-31, Romans 12:3-18, 14:7-13, 15:5-7, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, 3:3-5, 16-23, 4:17-21, 5:1-6, 11-13, 8:9-13, 9:19-23, 10:16-17, 28-33, 11:17-34, 12:7-27, 14:3-19, 21-25, 26-40, 16:19-20, 2 Corinthians 1:15-17, 7:13-16, 8:1-5, 7-14, 17-24, 9:3-5, 10:2-11, 12:12-21, 13:1-3, 10, Galatians 1:17-24, 2:1-10, 11-14, 3:4-6, Colossians 4:15-16, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16, 3:2-8, 5:26-28, 1 Timothy 3:1-15, 4:1-5, 6-8, 11-16, 5:1-14, 16-22, 6:17-21, 2 Timothy 2:1-4, 11-18, 23-26, 4:2-5, Titus 1:5-16, 2:1-15, 3:1-2, 9-11, 14, Hebrews 3:5-6, 12-14, 5:11-14, 13:1-9, 15-17, James 2:1-10, 5:14-15, 1 Peter 2:1-3, 4:10-11, 5:1-6, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 1 John 1:7, 4:1-6, 2 John 1:6-12, 3 John 1:3-14, Jude 1:3-4, 12, 16, 17-23, Revelation 1:3.

What we've seen is that there's no command for Christians to dress up for church, and there's no appeal, request, or suggestion that Christians should dress up for church. Instead, we're told to be careful not to be overly dressed up, which leaves room for personal preference within the bounds of decency and modesty.

If you search online, these are the types of reasons you'll find explaining why people dress up for church:

It's a way of showing respect and showing that church is important. People give examples such as going on a job interview, going to a meeting with the president or the king/queen of your country, and going to a wedding or a funeral or a dinner date or a business meeting. We dress up or dress nicely to show respect or show the importance of these occasions, so we should also dress nicely when we meet with the Lord in His house.

The problem with these types of reasons is that they're making the assumption that going to a church service means going to the presence of God. Under the Old Covenant in Moses' time and beyond, God's presence was in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle or the temple, hidden behind a curtain so that only the high priest could come into God's presence, and only under specific conditions (Exodus 25:17-22, 30:6, 40:26-35, Leviticus 16:2). At the moment of Jesus' death, the curtain of the Second Temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Mark 15:37-38), and Christians can now spiritually enter the Most Holy Place at any time and place because of the cross (Hebrews 9:1-10:22). We no longer need to go to a special place to be in God's presence like they did under the Old Covenant (John 4:19-24). In fact, all Christians collectively are called the temple of God, in which God dwells by His Spirit. So the body of Christ is now the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20).

A church service is a place for Christians to meet together, but you are not more in God's presence in that service than you are anywhere else. If you're working in the yard or out in the field, and you're hot, sweaty, filthy, and smelly, you're every bit as much in God's presence as you are in a church service. When you strip off those grimy clothes and get in the shower, you're every bit as much in God's presence as you are in a church service. We have completely misunderstood the New Covenant and the effects of the cross if we feel that it's important to dress nicely to "come into God's presence" in a church service. The church building is not God's house, and it's not specifically where God's presence is. We are God's house, where His presence is (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 2:18-22, 1 Timothy 3:15, 1 Peter 2:5, 4:17, Hebrews 3:6).
Another reason you'll find online is that we should give God our best, which includes the clothes we wear to church. If we don't take the time and effort to dress nicely before we go to a church service, then God is not getting our very best. We should not be doing the least that we can get away with, we should desire to please Him in all that we do, which includes dressing nicely according to this argument. Giving Him our best each week might be inconvenient, but we should dress our best because He deserves it.

The problem is that the idea of giving from the best comes from passages in the Old Covenant (see my article called Christians Are Not Required to Pay Tithes), which don't apply to anyone today as we saw. Instead of giving our best to God as they did under the Old Covenant, Christians are under the New Covenant which requires us to give everything to God (see my tithing article above). In modern Western culture, the clothes that we consider to be our "best" did not exist in biblical times, so we have no scriptural reason for thinking that God considers those clothes to be "best." The only reason we consider those clothes to be nice or best is because worldly society says that they should be considered as nice or best, and the New Testament specifically says that worldly values and priorities are against God (see chapter 4 in the free PDF of my book called Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today). This should make us cautious about thinking that conforming to worldly standards somehow pleases or honors God.
Another reason you'll find online is that we should wear clothes that reflect a right heart, a reverence and respect for the sacredness of the church gathering.

The problem is that if you examine every New Testament passage that describes in any way what church services were (or should be) like, such as the dozens of references listed above, one thing you'll never find is any mention of sacredness or formality in a Christian church gathering. We're told a number of times to have reverence for God and to worship Him with reverence and awe (e.g., 2 Corinthians 7:1, Ephesians 5:21, Colossians 3:22, Titus 2:3, Hebrews 5:7, 12:28, 1 Peter 1:17, 2:18, and 3:2), but if you look closely at passages such as these you'll find that we're being told to do this in all things, not specifically in church services. The concept of the "sacredness" or "formality" of Christian church services is not scriptural; it's a human invention, so dressing in an "appropriate" way for the sacredness of the gathering is also nothing more than a human invention that does not honor God.
Sometimes people dress up or dress nicely for church because they're in leadership or on staff at the church.

This is a valid point because churches tend to have dress codes and other rules for their leadership and staff to follow.

The above points are the types of reasons that you'll find online when people explain why they dress up for church, plus some problems with those reasons.

When we go to a church service or other Christian gathering, we'll be around other people. The apostle Paul gave us two types of guidelines for our behavior around others, which need to be kept in balance. Passages such as these give us one type of guideline:

"Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." (Romans 12:16)

"Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin." (Romans 14:13-23)

"Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol's temple, won't that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall." (1 Corinthians 8:9-13)

"Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

"What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man." (2 Corinthians 8:19-21)

In the above passages, Paul focused on certain specific behaviors, but we can see a principle of trying to stay in harmony with other people, making every effort to do what leads to peace. So if we choose to wear clothes to church that others would consider inappropriate or offensive then we're not following what Paul was teaching in the above passages.

Another guideline that Paul gave us for our behavior around others is described in passages such as these:

"Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand." (Romans 14:1-4)

"Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another...Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.." (Romans 14:13, 22)

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." (Romans 15:7)

"Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God." (1 Corinthians 4:5)

"You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it." (2 Corinthians 10:7-8)

In the above passages, Paul gave us another principle in which we should not be judgmental about other Christians or tear them down for what they do (in "disputable matters" that don't involve obvious sins such as adultery).

Based on everything we've seen in the New Testament, what can we conclude about the clothes we wear to church?

We do not need to dress up for church.
The concept of the "sacredness" or "formality" of Christian church services is not scriptural; it's a human invention, so dressing in an "appropriate" way for the sacredness of the gathering is also nothing more than a human invention that does not honor God.
We should dress decently and modestly, not showing off our bodies or our wealth by the way we dress.
We should live in harmony with others by not dressing in a way that might be considered inappropriate or offensive.
We should not be judgmental against people for the way they dress for church.
If we're in leadership or ministry positions in our church, we should obey our church's rules in the way we dress.

What we've seen is that there's no command for Christians to dress up for church, and there's no appeal, request, or suggestion that Christians should dress up for church. Instead, we're told to be careful not to be overly dressed up, which leaves room for personal preference within the bounds of decency and modesty.