REVERENCE IN GOD'S HOUSE

“Mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.” (II Chronicles 7:15-16)

Reverence, according to Webster, is a “Profound respect mingled with fear and affection, as for a holy being or place, or an exalted thing.” This is in general line with the meaning of the various Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible to describe the proper attitude of Christians toward God.

True reverence for God is inspired by a sense of His infinite greatness and an awareness of His presence. Reverence is manifested in attitude and demeanor. The time and place of worship are sacred because God is there. There has been a great change, not for the better, but for the worse, in the habits and customs of the church in reference to worship. The sacred things which connect us with God, are fast losing their hold on the church, and are being brought down to the level of common things. Our present habits and customs, dis­honor God, and bring the sacred down to the level of the com­mon.

Today there is very little reverence or respect for the house of God. If we were invited to a state dinner at the White House, we would naturally wear our best clothes to the President's house. Why is it then that we casually wear whatever makes us "feel comfortable" when we go to the house of God? Why is it that Christians show disrespect for God’s house by wearing casual clothes, and make no proper physical or spiritual preparation?

Many Christians today don’t feel like dressing with respect to worship in the house of God. Nevertheless, appropriateness or suitability in clothes has always been the keynote to what to wear for the occasion or activity.

Unquestionably, sportswear, or play clothes, are not appropriate for church just as they are not appropriate for a funeral, wedding, or another special occasion. Only immature or indifferent or ignorant people do not care about appropriate dress for church. Today people express their casual attitude toward God and Christianity in their dress and behavior in church.  Their dress and their behavior express a spirit of casualness and convenience. 

Today there is very little reverence or respect for the house of God. But this was not always so. . ." The congregation who build a church, build it and continue to regard it as the house of God.  It is, then, a place where the greatest deference, respect, and reverence are due." (American Etiquette and Rules of Politeness, 1882)

"Do nothing that might appear irreverent in a place of worship.  Whispering, giggling and scribbling notes during the service suggest a coarse-grained nature.  The church represents the ideas and beliefs that men through the ages have held sacred.  Respect this association by subduing, if necessary, the tone of your conduct when you enter a church." (This Way, Please:  A Book of Manners.  Eleanor Boykin, 1940)

The keynote of good manners in the church is reverence and respect. Loud talking or laughing, waving to people, or playing with or using your cell phone is out of keeping with the dignity of the house of God.

Women should dress properly. Conspicuous make-up and short and tight clothing are out of place in a church. The same applies to men they should take care in what they wear and maintain the utmost dignity in church.

We go to church to worship God, to offer thanks for our blessings, and to ask for help in knowing and doing the things that are right.  The church is God’s house, so it’s natural to approach it in a spirit of reverence and a worshipful mood. Although clothing restrictions for churches have been greatly relaxed in recent years, the correct dress is still conservative. 

Reverence is the quality that should guide one’s behavior in the house of God, and while it is expressed in various ways, in most churches, attentiveness, and dignity are very essential. Church etiquette required proper dress and proper behavior. 

It appears that today anything goes. Churches often advertise: “Come as you are.”  In other words, dress how you want: shorts, flip-flops, ragged jeans, and so forth.  It’s a very self-serving ploy to get people to their church by catering to people's self-centered feelings.  If we don’t feel like dressing appropriately for church, we don’t have to. We don’t have to respect God’s house.  We don’t have to reverence God’s house. We don’t have to maintain dignity.  

The Church used to uphold high principles, but it has rapidly declined. The Church has gone from Christ-centered to man-centered.  In the early days, we did not applaud after someone sang a solo in the church service. Then after some churches began to substitute entertainment in place of holy worship, applause became a standard response to any performance in church.  In other words, the church was no longer a sacred place of worship, but a place of pleasurable entertainment. Clearly, the house of God is no longer a house of prayer; it is a house of entertainment:  "Christian" rock music with strobe lights, dramas, dance, and other recreation for good times. 

When churches renamed the sanctuary an “auditorium,” it excluded all sense of sacredness or holiness. This hastened the secularization of the church and the decline of Christian culture. A church sanctuary is no longer a place of prayer and holy worship. The church sanctuary is an auditorium for the false worship of unholy, carnal reveling. Instead of the Church transforming the world, the world has transformed the Church.

Today the indifferent and rebellious Christians are not going to be told what to wear to church.  They are self-willed.  They are defiant. If the pastor wants them to come to church, they must be allowed to dress comfortably even if it is inappropriate.  They must be allowed to show irreverence and disrespect in dress and decorum.  And, unfortunately, churches have condescended to this common and vulgar willful stubbornness in order to gain more income.

We must not make light of the sanctity of God’s house by showing disrespect in behavior or dress.  It is an insult to God.  Self-willed behavior and inappropriate dress show contempt for God and His house. We must reverence God's house. Jesus taught that the temple must be a house of prayer.

Christians should be angry because the house of God is being profaned. On the contrary, they are complacent and tolerant of the shameful desecration of the house of God. We should honor the house of God by appropriate dress and appropriate behavior:  reverence, respect, and dignity.

Many Christians are being driven out of the house of God because church culture has been lowered to appeal to carnal tastes in a foolish man-made effort to trick sinners into coming to church. In order to increase attendance and increase tithes and offerings, false preachers and false teachers argue that we should throw out reverence and respect to make sinners feel comfortable coming to church. We should not make sinners feel uncomfortable by asking them to show reverence in God’s house. Thus Christians do not have to show reverence in God’s house.

God commands us not to profane His house.  God must be reverenced. And those who reverence God must reverence His house.  Jesus made it perfectly clear by His words and actions that the temple must be a house of prayer.

So, what would Jesus see and hear if He went into our churches and looked around?  Would He see and hear carnal reveling, dramas and other entertainment, sports, and other profanation?  Or would He see and hear praying, Bible reading, sacred songs, pure gospel preaching, and reverent worship? 

Would Jesus angrily rebuke us and throw out the loud bands, strobe lights, and other entertainment that desecrates the holiness of the church into a casual and irreverent auditorium? Would Jesus angrily rebuke us: “My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of entertainment”? There must be a cleansing of the house of God and a revival of reverence.

If we neglect this teaching for just one generation, it will be lost. It cost the Lord something to grant us access to His sanctuary. One of the beauties of Calvary was that He opened up this privilege to us. The house of God is sanctified, just as the Old Testament Holy of Holies was sanctified. Blood was offered there; Christ’s Blood has been offered for our sanctuary. We must never take that for granted. We are the ones who benefit when we honor His house. When we offer God reverence, we are blessed.