Today’s dumb quote comes from Dave Hasz’s “Aura of a Statesman” teaching:
I always think its very interesting when I see people come to church wearing shorts, wearing jeans, and tennishoes – because I think it dictates a certain amount of respect that they have for being in the house of God as well as respect for the people around them. The reason that its disrespectful is because its inappropriate.
I have two major problems with this comment. First, as you may recall, during the conference call Dave said that he never judges a person’s heart. Wouldn’t that include not judging how much respect a person has for God and others based on what they wear?
Well, wouldn’t it?
The reality is that Dave judges people all the time. ALL THE TIME.
Second, since when is it Biblical to judge people based on the outward appearance? Judging someone by the type of clothes they wear to church is about as pharisaical and legalistic as you can get. Absolutely nowhere in Scripture are we encouraged to judge people’s hearts in this way. In fact, its the total opposite of how God judges. Man looks on the outside appearance, but God looks on the heart.
So, not only is Dave Hasz using unscriptural standards to judge and condemn people, but he is also willfully lying about it.
But what else is new?
18 comments:
masochRist said…
instead of your opinionated title for todays blog, how about basing it scripturally. you should call it, “is that what the Word says?” or something catchy like, “2,4,6,8, Bible we appreciate!”
how about something like that?
just sayin…
oh and i remembered that i have a blogspot thingy so now you may know me as Omar aka masochRist 🙂September 3, 2010 10:31 AM
Julie said…
This post made me think of Luke 14:7-14, where Jesus says we should take the seats of less honor at a banquet and we shouldn’t invite the rich to a banquet but the poor, crippled and blind. Even in the church, it’s easy to place too much importance on appearance. If I come to church in jeans and worship my heart out and have my heart open to the Word and someone else comes to church in an Armani suit but spends the whole service thinking about the upcoming week and judging how others are dressed, who honored God more? The person in this story who dressed nicely didn’t do it out of respect for God, he did it to be honored by others. It’s dangerous to suggest we can judge the heart by the outward appearance.
This really resonated with me because of a friend I was witnessing to once. I had been talking to him about Christ for a few months and someone invited him to another church and he decided to go. He dressed as nicely as he could for someone who didn’t own any dress up clothes–baggy green pants and a baggy stripped shirt. An elder at the church took him aside and told him that if he wanted to go to that church, he needed to dress more appropriately. My friend was embarrassed and humiliated by the whole incident, he never went to church again and totally closed his heart to God because of the way he was treated by “God’s people.” How can you invite the poor and needy to a church if they will be judged by appearance? How can you make them feel they belong in God’s house, too, if every other person is in clothing they can’t afford?September 3, 2010 10:57 AM
Recovering Alumni said…
Wow, Julie, what a terrible story. My heart goes out to that young man. God forgive us for turning His children away with our judgmental attitudes.September 3, 2010 10:59 AM
reluctant-intern said…
I love this.
So when you attend the church made of plywood and boxes with no roof down in Mexico where the people hardly have money for shoes much less nice clothing, does that mean they are all disrespectful to God? Of course Dave Hasz would probably say no and give a lengthy explanation of why it’s ok in that circumstance. And this, among many other reasons, is why we no longer attend any church. The hypocrisy is suffocating. I’m so so thankful that my God could care less what I have on when I come before Him.September 3, 2010 11:56 AM
Eric P. said…
Reminds me of this joke I heard once from a preacher (whose name I’ll withhold for dramatic purposes):
This guy comes into a new church wearing old grubby clothes. An elder pulls him aside and reprimands him: “I think you need to ask the Lord what kind of clothes you should wear to this church!”
Next week, the guy shows up in the same grubby clothes. The elder shows up to rebuke him again, and says, “I thought I told you to ask God what kind of clothes you should wear to this church!”
“I did,” replies the guy, “but He said He didn’t know, it’s been so long since He went there.”
—
Judging people based on what clothes they wear to church is pretty much the stock illustration of legalism in most of the sermons I’ve ever heard, by the way.
I wear jeans to church, but that’s just because I’m usually up front doing music so I want to dress nicely like the pastor does. (Is it just me, or are all legalists stuck in a 1950s time warp? Seriously.)
Oh, and the preacher’s name who told the joke? Joel Osteen. If you want people who teach better theology than Honor Academy, you don’t have to set the bar too high.September 3, 2010 12:04 PM
Nunquam Honorablus said…
Pssst- Omar, hi! I was in your class I’m pretty sure.
Just FYI- this is RA’s blog, stand alone, aimed toward recovery. A large part of recovery, I think, is being careful of triggers. In a spiritually abused person’s mind, the phrase “Is this what the Word says?” might cause some sort of post-traumatic backlash, whereas for others it is perfectly fine and even encouraging. Just something to keep in mind 😉 I know your heart’s in the right place bro.
This is SPOT ON. My father and I recently got into an argument about secondary and tertiary matters of the Bible, and he got a little frustrated with my fluid stance on certain issues, and how I feel like our church is teaching messed up doctrine.
He told me that we should NEVER judge someone else’s heart, but in the same breath told me that I’m drinking poison and I have a “serious heart condition” and I’m not grateful for the Cross.
Man alive I hate legalism. It causes so much hurt. 🙁September 3, 2010 12:15 PM
Recovering Alumni said…
Omar – I would have used the word “ignorant” but it was too long to fit in the title space.September 3, 2010 12:17 PM
Omar said…
hey guys…
sorry for all the lingo that i used that may have offended. not saying that it DID offend but as for Nunquam’s suggestion, i need to be more careful. so please accept my apologies if anyone was offended.
and RA, ignorant could be good too, jajaja
just a question though…
i was wondering if i could still post on here with whatever questions i have to help dig deeper and maybe find some light. i mean, recovery is a process, i know, but the end goal is peace, correct? not necessarily peace and union with the person(s) involved but at least peace within yourself right?
so what i’m asking is… “can i ask questions that i feel would help down the road of recovery?” i understand that i may ask the wrong questions at times but i’m human, so bare with me…
so whaddaya say RA?
and Nunquam…what year were you? cuz i’m sure there was an Omar the year after me too…
i was the really big guy!!! 😉September 3, 2010 8:36 PM
Nunquam Honorablus said…
Yup, I was 07-08. In Sherwood’s core 😉
And I think that’s fine. I’m pretty sure you can ask questions and stuff, just so long as you do it in a TACTFUL manner. Which you are totally doing.
There’s been a crack down on moderation lately due to a lot of graceless comments and the like.
Welcome aboard, though 😉September 3, 2010 9:34 PM
Recovering Alumni said…
Omar, yes you are welcome here as long as you respect the community we’ve established. I think it will help if you read the comment policy and some of the posts on recovery (anger, grief, etc). My main goal here is safety for the abused, so please don’t be offended if I feel the need to delete a comment.September 3, 2010 10:15 PM
Omar said…
ok ladies and gents…
thanks for y’alls approval…
i’m hoping this will be of benefit to all who read…
ciao for now…September 3, 2010 11:49 PM
Shiloh said…
I want to step in on Omar’s defense.. Cause i had the same thought too. lol.
Though… It was a pretty dumb quote. 😉September 4, 2010 1:50 PM
Shiloh said…
But yeah, Omar, I was in your sister core! 🙂
I tried to comment on your blog but can’t! and I don’t have your email… hmph.
oh! Facebook…
I’ll facebook you.September 4, 2010 1:53 PM
Anonymous said…
I just can’t read this blog anymore because of the stone throwing. I’m sorry.September 7, 2010 9:07 PM
Anonymous said…
Why, If I might ask, is it ok for the “recovering” to slander and insult, but the comments from those that choose to stand up for their experience are deleted or asked to be respectful? I am trying to understand and ascertain the true purpose of this blog. Thank you.September 9, 2010 4:23 PM
Recovering Alumni said…
Because part of recovery is expressing how you really feel, without fear of judgment from others. As long as we keep our thoughts, feelings and fears in the dark, the light of Jesus love, grace and compassion cannot touch them.September 9, 2010 4:42 PM
joyG said…
Thanks for the explanation, RA. It’s like once we get the pain out, perhaps opportunities for healing & love can take root.
At work the other day, customers came in who dealt with our business years ago and also go to my church. I was so apalled at their mistreatment of the company last go-round and their stuffy, demanding, critical actions this time, I could barely contain my disgust. I felt more comfortable with the “heathens” that walk in than these folk who are supposedly my “brothers and sisters” in Christ. It took a decent period of honest loathing to eventually find some shreds of hope & compassion in my heart for them. I had to “hate” them, until the pain extinguished and I could approach them from a place of mercy. What upset me most is the claim to be “walking in God’s blessing” when treating others like know-it-all devils. If I had forced myself to fake “nice, positive” feelings toward them, I doubt I would ever get to a place of true forgiveness.
And as far as what to wear to Church- I say we just go with the all-purpose, original worship attire God provided. See Genesis 1.September 14, 2010 1:13 PM
Jack the Ripper said…
I know this post is old but I find it amusing he said this considering I use to attend the same church as him. I’m “glad” to see he’s basically judging the majority of the congregation. The church he attends is one of the most casually dressed churches I had ever been in.September 26, 2010 1:35 AM