They say that neckties are making a comeback. Too bad, I say. I’m not a fan.
I especially don’t like the way ties have been used in churches in developing nations. In many countries, the tie is seen as a symbol of Christianity. Schools of preaching require their students to wear ties, some of whom return to their home congregation, trying to impose the fashion there. In countries where neckties are virtually unknown, you see preachers wearing ties (often in garish colors that in no way match the clothes they wear). In Argentina, if you saw someone wearing a tie walking down the street on Sunday, you had almost certainly found an evangelical.
On Islamic websites, posters ask if the tie is meant to be a symbol of the cross, or if the imposition of ties in business settings isn’t an attempt to proselytize. One reporter who was held captive by the Taliban told of being questioned on several occasions as to what magic Christians saw in neckties.
Wear your ties, if you like. Just don’t mix fashions and faith… neither here nor overseas.
Finally, during some Bible study yesterday, I discovered that neckties are criticized in the New Testament! Note this from the book of Acts:
“Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10)
There you have it. Why put on the necks of the disciples a yoke that others have not been able to bear? That settles it. No neckties.
(OK, maybe I’m not totally serious on that one…)
Photo by Jane M. Sawyer via MorgueFile.com
“Blest be the TIE that binds…”
No tie…no blessing
:)
I’m with you 1000% (and thanks for the proof text). I stopped wearing ties to services when I stopped wearing ties to work and have never looked back. I’m amazed to see folks showing up in full suits in 90 degree weather: truly, tradition is powerful stuff.
It’s not just in developing nations where neckties can pose a problem. Someone in our own tribe should give some serious thought to the proposition that having a coat and tie dress code for those taking public part in the assembly may be a factor in driving away the Millennials and others who live in a much more casual culture. A necktie is no longer a sign that you are “decently and in order.” [sic]
TIm,
Surely this is token evidence that we in the West have yet to separate Americanization from Christianization. (And i suspect it’s evidence of the even older Western ideology that any and all non-Westerners need “civilized”; ultimately, then, our inclination that there is something ‘wrong’ or strongly un-preferrable about others who do not dress like us is latent imperialism/colonialism.)
Derek Webb, a musician, writes in one of his songs that one of the greatest lies he’s ever heard is that Jesus was a white middle class republican, and if you want to be saved, you’d better learn to be one too.
So what do churches do about this? How do churches become true liberators rather than bringing “liberation” that harbors systemic forms of oppression?