Leather Pants on Sunday

This morning I had a bit of a travel/packing wardrobe malfunction.  I only had black tights with a leather strip down the side (essentially leather pants!) or jeans to wear to church.  Not only did I only have these leather pants and/or jeans but my blouse was not long enough to cover my backside in my leather pants.  There is just something about tight leather pants without a long blouse that screams Las Vegas night club instead of church.  (In fact, I have actually worn these pants in a Las Vegas night club…yikes!).  So off to attend my mother’s church in leather pants with my bum showing a bit more than I would normally permit.
 
Well when I arrived at church…I realized it really didn’t matter what I was wearing.  There were jeans, shorts, sneakers, spike heels, tight red leather pants, fur jackets, t-shirts, flip flops and even a kilt…you name it, it was there.  More importantly, you name it and it was welcomed there.  My mom attends Church by the Glades in Coral Springs, FL.  And more so than any church I’ve ever been to…this church just gets it.  Church is not about getting dressed up.  It isn’t about appearances.  It isn’t about putting on a show.  It is about being real.  It is about being real with real people.  Real imperfect people.  People that wear leather pants and are just doing their best to get by in this world. 
 
This church chooses to focus on God, His Word and our salvation in a way that is real to our lives each and every day.  Way too often is "church" something reserved for Sunday mornings.  Too many people live a fragmented life where God’s Word is separate from your life.  You have “life” Monday through Saturday and then church on Sunday.  Instead of integrating what you learn on Sunday about God’s love and salvation into your life and integrating your life into your “Sunday” they are separate.  Your salvation, love and obedience to God aren’t intended to be silos in your life…they are your life.  They are one and the same.  This church gets that.  The people that go to this church get that.  If I can Whip Nae Nae on a Friday, then we can Whip Nae Nae on a Sunday morning (and they did!).  I’m not even kidding.
 
So after a powerful morning and what I consider to be the best service I have attended in my life (which may be an entirely separate blog), I came to a simple conclusion.   If it is okay for me to wear leather pants on Saturday night in a nightclub in Las Vegas then it is equally acceptable on Sunday morning.  God accepts me exactly how I am.  And He is with me equally on Saturday night as He is with me on Sunday morning.  He loves me the same.  He forgives me the same.  He is the same. 

Acts 10:34-36, 42
Then Peter replied, "I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.  In every nation He accepts those who fear him and do what is right.  This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel - that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all....And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all - the living and the dead."

God doesn't care if you are wearing leather pants...he doesn't play favorites.  He commands us to preach His Good News EVERYWHERE. 
 
Leather pants, a wild church and people that just get it,
 
Ashley Lucille