Casual or Comfortable?

I heard a radio ad for a church the other day and something stuck out that I hadn't caught before but really got me thinking. I heard the regular stuff like "contemporary music" (whatever that really is) and "exciting atmosphere" but then I heard something that for the first time made me uncomfortable..."casual dress". Now if you've ever been to our website or a church service you know we're not about getting all "dressed up" so I'm not going there with this. I don't have any problem with casual dress per se. It's just when I heard it, I thought about it and decided I don't like the term "casual".

There's already enough "casual" happening in church and Chrisitianity, especially in the western world. Too many people go to church only if they feel like it, participate when they want, give if they can and ditch church, beliefs or boldness if it might negatively affect their image or options to do something "better." We've got casual Christians who complain when things aren't 'just right' for them - whether it's the music, the times, the events, studies, groups, etc. When pastors challenge people to simply OBEY God's word when it comes to priorities, marriage, finances or any other moral or practical area - a lot of people treat it as optional. Let me tell you, obedience is not optional! When we treat it like that, it's the epitome of taking our faith in a casual manner.

At first, I thought "comfortable" would be a better word. Wear comfortable clothes...for some that might be a suit, tie, dress and others, jeans or shorts and flip-flops. Just be comfortable instead of only casual (which could be akin to reverse discrimination when somebody wearing 'church clothes' shows up) And it's only clothes we're talking about, but applied to our faith, we're not supposed to be looking for "comfortable." We're supposed to be looking for God.

All in all, I'm not sure it matters, but it sure got me thinking.