No More Naval Gazing

The ABC headline read “No More Navel Gazing in Church.” Any time there is a religion-related headline in the news, I pay attention. (Finding something to blog about every day is harder than it sees… especially for a guy who seldom has original thoughts). Well, it seems that a Catholic priest in Cinisello Balsamo, Italy has launched a campaign to ban bare midriffs in church. They posted signs at the entrance that read “God knew what your navel looked like even before you were born, so there is no need to expose it in church.” Evidently guards are posted at larger Italian churches to enforce the dress codes, but this church went with the signs because guards were too expensive.

Several rambling thoughts were brought to mind by this news blurb. First, I do wish that my Christian sisters would give more thought (make that 'different thought") on how they dress. I know all about style… OK, I know very little about style. But the last think that Christian men who are trying to take purity seriously need is for Christian women not to take modesty seriously. Yes, I know that the purity of our thoughts is our responsibility and that a guy can lust no matter how a woman is dressed. After all, Jesus talked about men lusting in Matthew 5 when ladies were covered from neck-to-toe with head-coverings! But ladies, come on. Help us out here! There are enough Brittany Spears-wannabes out there without you making it harder on us as well!

Second, how a Christian (man or woman) dresses at church is not nearly as important as how they dress period. Sure, there are some ways to dress that would be inappropriate for church. For example, a formal gown or tuxedo would be inappropriate for church, at least at Denbigh. (One day, we’ll add ties to that list!). But if something is inappropriate for church because it is immodest, then it is inappropriate anywhere, not just church! It is not just bad taste to tell a dirty joke or use vulgar language at church— it is wrong to do that anywhere. We should be more concerned about how we dress period.

Third, maybe, just maybe, a church-wide ban on navel gazing is itself a form of navel gazing. We have to think that some of the people going to church there in Italy were non-church people. I wonder what impact those signs (or fashion police at the doors) would have on non-churched people who wandered in off the street looking for God. Yes, inappropriate clothing might compromise something of the solemnity of the atmosphere at church. But come on! Would Jesus be even remotely care about atmosphere? No, He was concerned with people, and He always met them where they were. He did not refuse to talk with the woman of John 8 until she put on something decent! A church that is so focused on its atmosphere that it stops people at the door is navel gazing—looking inward to the point where it doesn’t look outward.

What is it that the church fusses and fights and fumes over? Not the cross. Not the lost. Navel gazing. It is the style of our worship (traditional or contemporary), what we do on Sunday nights (at the building or small group) and what Bible we read (KJV or NIV). We seem to focus most intensely on ourselves and issues that matter only to us. Navel-gazing. It is time to take our eyes off of ourselves and look both upward and outward.