does it matter how we dress for church?

I've had a few conversations lately that have made me think about this question a lot.

Does it really matter how we dress when we head for church to go to a service?

I grew up in a family, and really a church, where it did matter. I remember every Sunday morning being a long process of my parents trying to get threee girls who didn't want to wear dresses in to dresses and their har done and out the door. It can't have been something they looked forward to. But, over time, that all changed. As I got older it became acceptable to wear dress pants to church, and now to wear jeans or shorts.

Seeing that change happen and having a few conversations in the last while have really made me think about it all. There are still people in church who dress up and who expect a certain level of "dressy-ness" (is that even a word?) from any of those on stage. But, is this important?

When I would ask why I had to dress up for church as a kid, I was told that it was because when we went to church we were supposed to bringing God our best, and that included how we looked. As a kid I took that as the way it was. And, although I didn't like it much, I just went with it.

But, now that I think about it more, I wonder if that really makes sense. I mean, aren't we supposed to always be brining God our best and not just limiting it to an hour or two a week at church. God deserves our best all of the time, not just when we go to church.

So, I'm back at the question I started out this blog with: Does it really matter what we wear to church?

Obviously, it needs to be appropriate. But, really, does it matter?