Baptist church standards

Our church has "Workers Standards" which are designed to create a uniformity amoungst the workers. It must be understood that our "Workers Standards" are institutional rules and not spiritual/biblical commands. Those who do not follow the "Workers Standards" are not less spiritual than those who do. But we want to create a good first impression, and thus have a set of standards regarding appearance, dress, etc., for those who serve in a leadership capacity or are perceived as being representitive of the church as a whole, such as the choir, etc.

 

No we don't, God leads and convicts, convictions and rules are not up to us, but God, it is a part of my personal relationship with Him.The outside appearance of obedience does not mean there is not inner rebellion against the rules.

 

Those rules sound good to me. But that is because I want to please God and if I truely believed that those rules would make me obediant to God, I would follow them. But God gave me a mind of my own. I have impure thoughts that I confess and am forgiven for and if by following rules on the outside I would feel sinless, then bring on the jeans! OUr hearts are so much more important!! Outside rules give us security like Catholics look for- saved by works. Many of those things are great and I do do them but not because my church says I have to.

I have been in a lot of circles where preachers tell me how to act but not why or how. At a ladies meeting Saturday the pastor said we should always be happy and look great when our husbands walk through the door. First of all, my husband is faithful to me because the Bible says to be and because he loves the Lord. Secondly I can be happy everyday and if I am in the Word I usually am but I shouldn't be fake, should I (just so my husband won't look somewhere else for a happy girl.)

JMO. Hope you aren't offended.

 

Modesty dresses - I wear a robe, does that count? In all seriousness, although our worship is very formal and liturgical, the congregants dress as they see fit. We do have homeless people come to our services, and they obviously wear what they have.

Long hair - We have men and women with long and short hair (and a few of us glad to have hair at all)

TV-free - we cater somewhat to the educated, urban hippie crowd, so my guess is that some of our members who were able to overcome their public television addiction don't have TV's.

Homeschooling - we have plenty of professional educators in our church, but no homeschoolers (although I'm considering it)

Debt-free if at all possible - *sigh* hardly (of course it could be argued that debt-free in Midtown Atlanta simply is not possible.

KJV only - um, no

Families planned by God - nope, we trust that God expects us to use good judgement in this area of our lives just like all the others

Joshua

Nursing - certainly not, this would be virtually impossible for those women who work full time and there's no biblical imperative for it

 

Welcome to the BB, justGina! I am glad you are hear. I hope that you will make some new friends here. This board is all about growing in grace and pleasing the Lord Jesus and not men.

It may interest you to know that we have discussed all of these issues at length here on the BB. Many of them you can find by going to the Baptist Women's Forum, or the "Pink Room," as it has been nicknamed, and do a search there of any of these topics. Let me know if you need help looking one in particular up.

Joy ~ Moderator of the Ladies Forums

 

Wow justGina!
Yes, I'm a member of a church like that, and yes, definitely tagged legalist, and I'm leaving it....actually pretty much gone already.

Long hair......how much hair does it take to cover a woman's head, lol?

TV-free.....yah, Lord forbid I should be caught watching CNN ONE MORE TIME. But the 'puter is ok, because you have soooo much more control over what you see when your fingers are on a keyboard and not a remote? Heaven knows there's so much more instantly accessible porn on channels 3,5 and 8!

Homeschooling.....just like Jesus was, right? Them single mommies who work musta be pretty evil anyhow or they wouldn't be single!

Debt-free if at all possible....gotta agree

KJV only.....and if you're not you're probably not saved to start with anyhow, right?

Families planned by God....wouldn't all them kids, um, put you in debt? Seems contradictory!

Nursing....My third didn't need to be on medication for 4 months straight, otherwise I would have continued this one.

Etc.......there's MORE? Do tell! Wait, lemme guess, no drums in the music, no holding hands before marriage, shun the divorced members, women can cook as long as they do it quietly, blah blah blah.

Yes, it's an honor and privilege and it is not restricting to follow his word....so why did I say what we did?
Because nothing you said is a part of his word! Of course, if they are you can back up your statements, so I'll be waiting patiently.
And I apologize if I come off with an attitude, I'm TIRED of having so many man-made rules shoved down my throat that I don't have energy left over for learning the real rules and knowledge God has to give us through his word.
Oh yeah, that comes from someone with long hair, who nursed, doesn't watch TV, is debt free, reads the KJV, ETC.!
Preach what the word REALLY says, and the results will be Christians who know without it being forced on them that most of the things you mentioned are more Christ-pleasing than the alternatives, even if not necessarily wrong, and they'll make the appropriate choices.
da one, da only, da Gina

 

You are constantly in debt. As soon as they mail out your electric bill, you are already in debt for the next one. No debt just isn't feasable. Wisdom needs to the general rule. My husband alway reapirs things like fans, and our stove. Once it totally burned out, a short somewhere. We searched for a good used stove, because thats what we had money for, we found nothing, searched for 4 days, I cooked in a deep fryer, an electric skillet, and the microwave. Fianlly we had to go into deebt for a stove.
Outrageous debt I can not agree with. But wisdom has to be a part of choosing debt. Not people demanding.

I can't tell you how many people I've known who got pregant while using birth control. God has His way, and using birth control isn't going to stop Him. Your statement says God can't cause you to get pregnant if your using birth control.

So how do yu know how long is long enough to please God? And what happens if your hair isn't a pleaseing length to Him?

And people are being made to obey, rather then obeying becaue of love. Thats not love, but spiritual fear of not obeying the church. That is not pleaseing to God.

Your opinions are fine, but since most do not have direct biblical support, biblical evidence that the early church followed your rules, then they are only opinion. You are free to do as you please on these matters, but to teach them is wrong. A church can not make demands on a persons private life. They can teach whats biblical, but they can not make anyone do anything. Likewise God does not make us obey, but wants us to obey Him out of love. There is a diffrence.
What you are discribing is a church that abuses it's power and authority over it's members.

The bible does not say how long is long enough for hair, or too long for men's hair, why do we?
The bible say nothing about a command to nurse, why is it mandatory then?
The bible does not say to homeschool(I have nothing against homeschooling), why is it mandatory?

Seems to me you have a lot of man made rules trying to become more spiritual on those. Choosing to happily do what you feel God wants of your life is one thing, but doing it because it is mandatory is another.

 

Taking lesson in gracefulness of speech from Katie right now....
da Gina

 

Those things are fine personal preferences. If you twist hard enough, you can even find verses for them. Given the categories of good, better, and best, some of them would even fall into best; however, fundamentalists somehow lost their way in the 70's and beyond, and those non-issues became issues of spirituality and so called fundamentalism.

My friend, that is legalism, and I ought to know, I am also an independant fundamental Baptist, who was spiritually abused by men and women who forced the traditions of men on me for most of my life. That kind of lifestyle is self-defeating, for there is never an end of the standards and convictions in order to please men. God could care less. The test of your spirituality is not what you do or how much you do, but rather, it is your personal relationship with Christ. Don't fall into the cult of the Gospel of Standards, it comdemns men to hell. It is not Biblical, and it is not fundamentalism.

"Free from the Law, Oh happy condition...!"

 

Oh, and for those of us who are still crawling out of that binding mentality, don't forget that, "The pendilum always swings the other direction!" Don't let yours swing so far that you forget that holiness is still right.

 

Well said Joy.