Interesting parallel here

The day after I post about students' dress in (and out of) worship, this article in the New York Times, on doctors with the same basic problem and how it affects their performance, or at least how their performance is perceived by their supervisors and patients.

"Every day, it seems, I see a bit of midriff here, a plunging neckline there. Open-toed sandals, displaying brightly manicured toes, seem ubiquitous.
My observations may partly reflect the city in which I work, Miami, a subtropical place known for its racy clothes. But colleagues who practice elsewhere report that they, too, have seen medical students and young doctors show up for clinical work in less-than-professional attire.
'Poor choice is not regional — I’ve seen it everywhere,' said Dr. Pamela A. Rowland, a behavioral scientist and director of the office of professional development at Dartmouth Medical School, who has studied the impact of physician clothing on patient confidence. 'It always surprises me when there are dress codes for staff but not for physicians.'”

Someone whose name I can't remember said that the church is the only organization that exists specifically for people who don't yet belong to it. For their sake, let's suspend judgment of people's clothes until we've had the chance to look at their hearts, because when we find out what they really need from us as the body of Christ, chances are we'll lay aside all the external issues. If there's one thing Jesus' choice of disciples should teach us, it's that our performance has nothing to do with how we look.