Church Hats
In preparing to be a cowboy church planter/pastor, the wearing of cowboy hats in church bothered me. I had always thought you should take off your hat inside a building, especially church! Yes, I was originally taken back by those of western culture wearing hats in cowboy church. On the western OK plains, we were taught to have manners concerning hats. It turns out that some folks have a different thought about wearing hats. Oh, they remove them for prayer and the flag and to tip the ladies. I went to cowboy churches in Whitney, Bonham, Ardmore, Stillwater, Vernon, Wichita Falls, Duncan, Durant, and many others, and they don’t take their hats off. Yes, they wear them inside. Yes, they even wear them at the table, and yes, they wear them during church. When I was going to the many cowboy church schools, some of various denominations by the way, I found that all encouraged people to wear their hats in cowboy church except when praying in order to better reach the culture. You may disagree and that is okay. After much time in prayer, and 1 Cor 9:19-23 revealed to me again and again, I understood the mission. 1 Cor 9:22 says, To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. (nasb)
My take is this: let’s don’t let a hat keep someone from coming to Christ. Romans 14:13 comes to mind here. And, also remember that cowboy church is church for the lost. And as for myself, the Lord has made my chief concern to reach the lost.
Of course, it is possible for a man to wear a hat or a baseball cap in church and yet have a heart full of reverence and awe for the Lord. And it is also possible for a man that removes his hat in church yet have complete contempt for the Lord. God sees the heart. And I agree, the issue, sometimes, is what our actions communicate to others; and people cannot see our hearts, so we must often show them our respect by what we do.
We have a young man at the church I attend, who seems to be a respectful guy, that always wears a cap, and I have seen others on occasion. He hasn’t been required to remove it. I’m fine with that, but I’m guessing others might not be.
In my 8 years as youth pastor, in order to reach out to youth, I would allow them to wear their ball caps to youth worship. It was much the same in cowboy church.
Yes, after much prayer, I came to realization that, if we are going to reach the lost, we have to meet them where they are. And they’re wearing hats. I had to ask myself if wearing or not wearing a hat in a barn (that would hold a lot of hay) used for church meeting had more to do with tradition or the word. I don’t want the wearing of a hat, or any other thing about their life to keep them from coming to Christ. Some would say that 1 Corinthians 11:4 and thereabouts tells us about such things. That passage has so much to say, but as for a hat, it is dealing with traditions not salvation or even sin.
As cowboy church pastor, I would wear my hat except to pray or until I got to the “pulpit” and before I would begin to preach, I would usually take off my hat and hang it on the cedar pulpit. I don’t feel comfortable reading scripture (especially focal text) with a hat on and I did notice that some would take their hats off when I did. Hey, it’s a start. I would ask the congregation to take their hats off to pray and during special times like communion, and in certain times of prayerful worship. When we had fellowship meals, I usually took off my hat, but most others took their hats off to bless the food and put it back on. To me, it’s all about reaching lost people for Christ. You ought to try a biker church. The methods may change, but the message never changes. These are my thoughts. And no, I don’t regularly wear a hat inside. Remember John 3:16!!!
God is good! Find a Bible believin’ church where you “fit in” and know, grow, and follow Christ! See y’all at church and keep PRAYIN’ for HIS HARVEST! And y’all KEEP PRAYIN’ for RAIN! Amen