I wore sandals to last Sunday to church. Once we began to worship, I slipped off my sandals and left them off while I preached. I was wearing shorts so my feet were very visible. Everyone else was wearing shoes but that did not deter me from leaving the sandals off. It seemed the perfectly natural thing to do in God's house.

This became my goal because some of our worship team have led worship without shoes on. I thought I’d would just worship with my sandals off and then put them back on to preach, but it felt so good to worship like that I was compelled to preach too.

My next goal is encourage the whole church to worship barefoot. Of course, that could be an issue of controversy so I will not force anyone to follow my conviction but allow them to find their own conviction.

Here is why I did it. Exodus 3:5—God tells Moses, "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."

Out of respect, honor, and devotion, Moses takes off his shoes. Taking off your shoes make you aware of your sin, unclean heart, and lack of holiness as you approach the very holy presence of God—which indeed is one of the reasons we gather on Sundays.

It was a Biblical custom (did they wash their feet with shoes on?) Do you really think the Saints in Glory are going to trample Heavens sparkling, clean streets with shoes on?

Worshiping barefoot helped me recognize that because of Christ being the church is not a once a week experience but is a life lived out in constant worship before God, barefoot in his presence. I want to share that.

However, when we leave from worship, we will get our shoes back on because we go out to serve the Lord; we go out to be good stewards, good users, and faithful users of our time, talent, and material resources.

Phil