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Oh Wow.
I guess I'm really in the minority on this one. I'm actually very fond of the church I attend, I've been a member there since 1991.
I attend a non-denominational church that follows teaching & preaching of Evangelicalism. I have to say that I wear pants quite often to church. Actually, I probably wear them every week. I did not start off wearing pants to church, but about a year ago, I started attending 7:30am service. The first time I went in my cute little skirt & pantyhose, I liked to froze my patooty off. It's just too cold during early morning Chicago autumns, winters, and springs. I mean I don't know what time the maintenance men arrive, but the heat hasn't quite kicked up all the way yet, and it's cold. Being too cold distracts me, and I feel like I don't pay as close attention to the sermon.
As we move into summer, I will see how things work out, and if they can get the temperature in sanctuary above 68°, I'll go back to wearing skirts & dresses.
As far as the length of service, inappropiate dress, hollering babies, gossip, "fake" shouting, and such, I try to count it all joy. Some people don't have an awesome church like mine, a youth ministry like mine, a nice building like mine, a large parking lot like mine, and caring community like mine; an annoited & spirit filled man of God dedicated to worshipping the Lord in spirit and in truth like mine.
Also, I try to remind myself that though the people AT the church might be the ones annoying me, my actual battle is not with flesh & blood, but with principalities (spirits of evil). Maybe instead of quietly seething about the youth wearing club clothes, we can quietly pray that the Lord cast out the spirits of rebellion, disenchanment, or willful disobedience from our youth.
I'm not being as eloquent as I would like to be. I'm trying to say that we as lovers of Christ should try not to hold others up to our measuring stick, and tear them down if they are not where WE think they should be. Sometimes people are being used as instruments from the enemy, and they don't even realize it. Sometimes, the enemy sends Li'l sista Shaniqua down the aisle in ghetto gear just so you miss the word that was specifically sent for you. Sometimes the pastor preaches 45 minutes to long, so that your mind wanders, right when God had a word for you. Be mindful of tricks. The enemy is the creator of distractions.
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