Behavior in the House of God
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refined and ennobled; their lips need to be touched with a live coal
from off the altar; then their habits, their practices at home, will make
a good impression on the minds and characters of their children. The
standard of religion will be greatly elevated. Such parents will do a
great work for God. They will have less earthliness, less sensuality,
and more refinement and fidelity at home. Life will be invested with
a solemnity of which they have scarcely conceived. Nothing will be
made common that pertains to the service and worship of God.
I am often pained as I enter the house where God is worshiped, to
see the untidy dress of both men and women. If the heart and character
were indicated by the outward apparel, then certainly nothing could be
heavenly about them. They have no true idea of the order, the neatness,
and the refined deportment that God requires of all who come into His
presence to worship Him. What impressions do these things give to
unbelievers and to the youth, who are keen to discern and to draw their
conclusions?
In the minds of many there are no more sacred thoughts connected
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with the house of God than with the most common place. Some
will enter the place of worship with their hats on, in soiled, dirty
clothes. Such do not realize that they are to meet with God and holy
angels. There should be a radical change in this matter all through our
churches. Ministers themselves need to elevate their ideas, to have
finer susceptibilities in regard to it. It is a feature of the work that has
been sadly neglected. Because of the irreverence in attitude, dress, and
deportment, and lack of a worshipful frame of mind, God has often
turned His face away from those assembled for His worship.
All should be taught to be neat, clean, and orderly in their dress, but
not to indulge in that external adorning which is wholly inappropriate
for the sanctuary. There should be no display of the apparel; for this
encourages irreverence. The attention of the people is often called to
this or that fine article of dress, and thus thoughts are intruded that
should have no place in the hearts of the worshipers. God is to be the
subject of thought, the object of worship; and anything that attracts
the mind from the solemn, sacred service is an offense to Him. The
parading of bows and ribbons, ruffles and feathers, and gold and silver
ornaments is a species of idolatry and is wholly inappropriate for the
sacred service of God, where the eye of every worshiper should be
single to His glory. All matters of dress should be strictly guarded,