Want to please God in Fiji? Don't wear pants on Sunday!

We assume it's only the conservative western cultures who demand a dress code for Sunday worship, but the Island of Bua in Fiji has turned the tables on us by demanding all men wear the traditional Fijian Sulu instead of trousers on Sundays.

The Fiji Times Online reports the drastic measure has been taken to ensure Sunday continues to be respected as a holy day. Even further, it is hoped the island will receive great blessing from God as a result of taking "the Lord's day" seriously.

Here we were thinking it was islanders who were free & easy with their worship while we were bound up with tradition, pomp and ceremony.

Is it possible God will bless these people for the way they dress on Sunday?

On the one hand it seems a bit superstitious and a little 'old covenant', but on the other hand Paul did say to Timothy were appropriate boundaries to be observed;

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes (1  Tim 2:9)

Obviously each culture must apply the principles being given here to their culture. Dressing 'modestly' could mean a three piece suit or in fact banning the three-piece suit as Fiji seems to have done, at least on Sundays, at least on Bua.

It all makes me wonder; in which areas have we lowered our standards culturally and where is the legalism which never seems too far away in these debates?

Should we ban Safari Suits, hipster jeans (which show just about everything), low cut tops, speedos and any other offensive clothing we can find? And, if we did, who would form the dreaded committee; the youth group, the oldies?

Or should we treat calls to force people into a cultural mould as pure legalism?

Surely there are some standards we should observe in Church today, but how should we decide what they are and how to Police them?