Of Neckties and Coats

I am sometimes asked why I still wear a necktie when I preach and why I frequently come to the office with suit and tie. I understand the question and I am perfectly free to preach at any time with or without a necktie and (gasp) sometimes in jeans. For several decades in Christian circles we have reacted against the subtle error that neckties and suit coats are necessary for “proper” worship. At the same time we have reacted to the equally subtle error that looking like we have just come in from our morning jog is a significant evidence of “freedom.”

Anthony Esolen in his book, “Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child,” moved the issue away from the spiritual/freedom paradigm. Speaking of childhood memories of Memorial Day events, he described the solemn events at the Protestant and Catholic cemeteries and in the streets of his home town of Eynon, Pa. About those events he wrote:

“…the solemnity of the (cemetery ceremonies) brought with it a real joy, and a lot of boisterous fun. That is, in fact, one of the purposes of solemnity, which we, the interminably informal and drab, have forgotten.”[1]

Catch the thoughts here:

• ·         The thoughts occur in a context of solemn acknowledgement of great men and women of the past who were still, for all of their flaws, considered heroic parts of our own story.

• ·         The word “solemnity” gives color and motive to the word “respect.”

• ·         It is the solemn recognition of serious things which opens the way to the joyful follow through.

• ·         The absence of solemnity creates an “interminably informal and drab” atmosphere.[2]

I took special note of that last point.  Somewhere along the line my family managed to convince me that there is something special about dressing well. I do not mean, dressing for success or dressing for show. I mean dressing in a way that lets me feel that what I am doing in the next few hours is important enough to move out of the ordinary; and which also lets me feel the transition to the more relaxed atmosphere of home when I take off my necktie at the end of the day. Therefore, I will continue to enjoy solemn moments (sometimes including suit and tie) as important punctuation marks in the free-flowing sentences of the life I have in Jesus Christ.

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[1] Esolen, Anthony. Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child. Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Wilmington, DE. 2010.  p. 124

[2] He also pointed out that this informal drabness has worked its way into our holidays and transformed them into just one more day in a “long weekend.”