10 Toxic Traditions That Are Killing the Church

Focusing on our outward appearances rather than the inward state of our hearts.

Yeah, let’s go there. This one’s tough because I completely understand where both sides are coming from. I was talking with a lady the other day who said she’d like to come to our church but she wishes we would all dress up more because that’s how she was raised and it’s disrespectful not to dress up. That’s the tradition: when you dress up, you show respect to God. There’s nothing wrong with that. But what’s happened over time, and why many churches intentionally dress casually, is that dressing up became a way to put on your religious uniform for a few hours a week. Like when you go to work you wear a uniform and you’re on the clock. But then you can be you off the clock. For too long, people have seen Christians who dress up and act Christian when they’re on the clock inside the church building but then be mean and spiteful and hypocritical the rest of the week. So, to outsiders, dressing up doesn’t bring up the idea of respect so much as it does the idea of hypocrisy, which is why dressing up for church doesn’t mean what it used to mean. And by the way, God ultimately looks at the heart, not how we dress. You can be respectful without dressing up, and you can be prideful and arrogant in your best three-piece suit, and the other way around.