Hang in there with me on this. Every Christian is called to be an ambassador for Christ, charged with making disciples. Like the apostle Paul, told by King Agrippa, before whom he stood imprisoned, in chains, that he was mad to think that he could call the king to faith in Christ in a short time, the attitude of Christians should be that, in Christian love, we want all people to know the joy and liberation of life with Jesus Christ!
Christians are people with a message that can change people's lives forever. We must never confuse our message with the packages in which they're contained.
Whether the package in which the Gospel is presented is a cathedral with an enormous pipe organ and vested choirs, a storefront church in the inner city, or a suburban congregation housed in a plain building where worship is led by a praise band and a preacher in "casual Friday" attire doesn't matter so long as the message conveys the life-changing Good News of Jesus.
Christians devoted to Christ and His mission should, like Paul, be willing to become "all things to all people":
For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)What the pastor or priest wears when she or he leads worship should be dictated not by what he or she likes, but by what best facilitates the spread of the Gospel in the church and community in which they serve.
That's why as I become pastor of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, I'll be wearing an alb, cincture, stole, cross, and clerical collar to lead worship.
One reason for this is that for me to appear in anything else would be disrespectful to the customs of the church community there. This is their way of doing things. It's a way with which I'm personally comfortable as well. It's also likely the best way for me to reach most of the people who are apt to worship with us at Saint Matthew. If I were to appear to lead worship or preach in tennis shoes and jeans would put up unnecessary walls between the Gospel of Jesus and the people to whom I want to give its hope and sustenance. Such incongruity would be as jarring to people in that community as incense and a thurifer would be for worship at Friendship, the congregation I've served for the past seventeen years.
Now, during the interview process, the Saint Matthew Call Committee and I discussed building off of an alternative service my predecessor initiated there. It was established with the hope of attracting the spiritually-disconnected to Christ and to Saint Matthew. We talked about how that service might look a little different and how I might even look different for this service. I was impressed that these committed Lutheran Christians were willing to discuss with such passion and concern what it may take to reach out to others in this way.
They understand that it doesn't matter what pastors and priests wear. Except when it does. When it does is when it helps facilitate the mission of Jesus' church. At Saint Matthew, that means I'll be wearing traditional clergy attire again. I'm happy to do it and will do so with the prayer of a good Lutheran in my heart, "to God alone be the glory."
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