George Will on denim

I recently got into a discussion about appropriate clothing to wear to church. One pastor had taken the position that he wore suits to show his respect for God. (I guess he doesn't respect God that much or he would have worn a tuxedo.)

My view holds that it is what is in your heart, not on your body, that matters.

Then George Will, a columnist whom I respect a lot, comes out with this article on wearing jeans. I was wearing jeans while reading it and began to get a little uncomfortable. He makes some good points that sound a little too much like something I might say. Not that I have ever thought much about jean wearers, but I do think a little too much about what various aspects our culture say about us, and where they are leading.

George Will believes that wearing jeans shows us to be a group whose development was arrested at age ten. We try hard to look like the hard-working people they were created for without actually getting our hands dirty.

Here is my favorite line: Denim is the carefully calculated costume of people eager to communicate indifference to appearances.

I'm not about to give up my jeans, but that line does sound an awful lot like something I would say.

So now back to what you wear to church. I still believe that it is what is on the inside that matters. Jesus tells us this when he calls the Pharisees whitewashed tombs. They looked good on the outside, but were dead on the inside.

But sometimes, as George Will would point out, the outside says something about the inside.