Say you’re wearing a pair of soft yellow cotton drawstring pants with a matching cotton top, maybe embroidered with flowers. Say you wear this outfit with a pair of soft little yoga shoes.
You’re deliciously comfortable, and that’s a good thing.
If you’re on your day off or in some other relaxed setting, wonderful.
If you’re out and about the work of ministry, however, you look suspiciously like you’re in your jammies.
What does that communicate to the outside world?
To me, it says, “I would like to be in bed asleep right now.” Or, “I don’t see any considerable difference between the comforts of my boudoir and the demands of public leadership.”
Remember the PeaceBang motto, “You can consciously project an image, or you can unconsciously project an image.”
Comfy, pajama-like attire projects an image of bedroom and rocking chair. That might work for some professions, but not, I think, public ministry. We don’t need to be structured and polished at every moment, but we do want to look like people who can stand to be leaned on. When I see someone in a pajama-like outfit, they seem to be unconsciously communicating that they need to be cared for, brought soup in bed, and left alone to sleep and rest.
All good and necessary things, but very conflicting messages for a pastor to be putting out there.
Amen. I was delighted to hear you on NPR this afternoon.
Wha? When? Is it archived? DO tell.
I listened on my local NPR station, WUNC. I bet if you googled them and went to their website you could find it. The show it was on aired between 1 and 2 pm today.