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Preacher's Sermon On Nudity Question?

ShagNappy

Member
Originally posted by Shiloh:
Why don't you people just admit that you don't believe the Bible.
Why don't you just admit that you are a troll whose sole purpose here is to stir up trouble and have been successful in flying under the radar for so long?
 

mcdirector

Active Member
I'm not willing to call Shiloh a troll mainly because I've come in contact with way to many people like him in real life. I will firmly state that he is not kind and gentle in his dealings with others on the board. It it one thing to disagree with another. It it even one thing to disagree with virtually everyone, but to do so in obvious anger and to call others names does not represent Christ well. Another concern is that there are frequently as many guests as regular members here. We don't know why they are lurking and not joining. Perhaps they are seeking; maybe they are questioning their faith and seeking confirmation. I want our community to show that we can agree, we can disagree, we can have fun, we can be serious -- all with underlying love and grace.

Bitsy
 

Shiloh

New Member
Dear bitsy, When I write my last post I was called away and didn't hit send as soon as I should have. My fault
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bet you didn't think I had any did you. :D My beef is with your post on spitting tobacco juice in the corner by a student of yours and you not noticing and you likening that to a man not noticing a woman in the church exposed feeding a baby. You and frenchy can call me anything you like
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doesn't bother me a whole lot. In fact you have to wait in line not to like me. My entire jist on this whole issue is that NO preacher can preach a whole sermon and not notice what was discussed! I'v said all I'm going to say on this. Have toooooo much to do to waste more time on this stup.. uh computer.
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Your favorite troll..
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Paul33

New Member
Originally posted by Frenchy:
OK back to the topic at hand, still not getting any solid answers to how a missionary family deals with such nudity of the natives. i know the natives are not saved and don't know any better. my question is how are "godly" people and their families (children) effected by this? we are told by some, if we watch too much TV or movies we are exposed to sin and that it is wrong. now how is that different than being exposed to naked people if we lived around them all the time. And see them having you know what in the open or where ever these missionaries saw them. (remember my example of missionaries teaching another way, ie missionary stye)?
Nudity in and of itself is not a sin. If we had a healthier attitude in America about nudity, we wouldn't have to ask the question in the first place.

Nudity does not equal sexual behavior.

Why would anyone be ashamed of their naked body?

The implication is that nudity is shameful and therefore less pleasing to God. So now God is at fault for creating us with naked bodies?

I don't think so. America's sick attitude about sexual behavior and nudity makes nudity shameful. But in and of itself, our bodies are not shameful.
 

Paul33

New Member
Originally posted by Scarlett O.:
Well, let's just say that a hypothetical male missionary did notice a woman in another culture breasting feeding in a preaching service.

I do not believe that simply because he is a man that he is automatically unable to continue preaching with taking his eyes off of her or of thinking impure thoughts about her.

I have said before in another thread that men are "visual creatures". But that does not make them blithering idiots, unable to focus on benign tasks or spiritual tasks.

Sure, it will take him "aback"...possible startle him.

But to say that his preaching becomes ineffective is tragic.

If a preacher is so easily sexually aroused or sexually "disturbed" by women to the point that in this hypothetical instance, he could not preach effectively anymore, then I would submit that it wouldn't take a breast-feeding woman to put him in that state of mind.

Any woman, clothed or unclothed, that he found physically attractive would make him an ineffective man for the Lord.

Yes, people should be clothed modestly at all times.

But, they aren't...

...and a missionary's preaching shouldn't suffer for it.

If we waited for the world to become moral and righteous before we preached to them, then there would be no preaching.
How in the world did the normal God-given means of feeding a child become a sexual act that any man who witnesses it must suddenly become sidetracked and filled with lust?

Just another example of how something God designed is corrupted by our own perversions and thoughts.

Does anyone hear the Scripture seeping through, "Touch not, handle not, etc."

We need more maturity in our familes and churches. We need to set the record straight about certain activies or states of being NOT carrying a SEXUAL overtone.

Breastfeeding is not a sin, even in public.

Nudity is not a sin, even in public.

But if we buy into the sinful culture we live in and run away, we aren't addressing the sinful attitudes.
 

bapmom

New Member
Just because God made us as we are, does not mean that every part of us is supposed to be publicly seen. There are some things that are private, and are meant to be kept that way, even if they are not in and of themselves sinful. Nudity is one of these things. Whether it causes lust in the "eyes of the beholder" is a secondary issue, imo.

As to nursing in public, which is where this discussion seems to be going, I don't care if it is natural. Many things are natural for us to do, but we consider it unseemly to do it in public without covering up in some way. Bathrooms come to mind as an example. And let me tell you, Im an experienced mom in this area. Ive had to be in some very interesting places in order to remain modest and yet care for the needs of my child.

All that to say that just because it's natural, and/or God designed us that way, does not mean that it ought to be always open to public viewing.
 

Mexdeaf

New Member
Originally posted by bapmom:
Just because God made us as we are, does not mean that every part of us is supposed to be publicly seen. There are some things that are private, and are meant to be kept that way, even if they are not in and of themselves sinful. Nudity is one of these things. Whether it causes lust in the "eyes of the beholder" is a secondary issue, imo.

As to nursing in public, which is where this discussion seems to be going, I don't care if it is natural. Many things are natural for us to do, but we consider it unseemly to do it in public without covering up in some way. Bathrooms come to mind as an example. And let me tell you, Im an experienced mom in this area. Ive had to be in some very interesting places in order to remain modest and yet care for the needs of my child.

All that to say that just because it's natural, and/or God designed us that way, does not mean that it ought to be always open to public viewing.
Funny you should mention bathrooms. You would be blown away by some of the things we see going down the road in Mexico. Some folks are just too cheap to spend 25 cents to use one when they are on the road.

Now I can't wait to hear what my good friend Shiloh will have to say about THAT!
 

Paul33

New Member
Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He died naked. That's right. Stripped of his clothing.

The early church baptized new converts in the nude. And no, they weren't separated by gender.

Nudity is not a sin. Our perverse reaction to nudity is!
 

bapmom

New Member
How in the world do you know that the early church baptized people completely in the nude? Were you there? According to my studies, their definition of the word "naked" was not the same as ours is. It meant taking their outer coat off, and basically being in their undergarments...which still covered them up more than ours do today.

And as to Christ being naked on the cross, that wouldn't have been His choice, now would it?

God commands His children to be modest. Nakedness is the direct opposite of being modest.

1Ti 2:9
¶ In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
1Ti 2:10
But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.


Whether our reaction to it is perverse is really not a question. OBviously it will be perverse, we live in a Fallen, cursed world, and we are a Fallen people.

And don't fool yourself into thinking that just because more nudity might be more common in some cultures, that that means that other culture really suffers no ill effects from it. Within those cultures there are rampant problems, dealing with how the men treat the women, and other such things that just aren't talked about openly. It affects them.
 

Paul33

New Member
Originally posted by bapmom:
Just because God made us as we are, does not mean that every part of us is supposed to be publicly seen. There are some things that are private, and are meant to be kept that way, even if they are not in and of themselves sinful. Nudity is one of these things. Whether it causes lust in the "eyes of the beholder" is a secondary issue, imo.

As to nursing in public, which is where this discussion seems to be going, I don't care if it is natural. Many things are natural for us to do, but we consider it unseemly to do it in public without covering up in some way. Bathrooms come to mind as an example. And let me tell you, Im an experienced mom in this area. Ive had to be in some very interesting places in order to remain modest and yet care for the needs of my child.

All that to say that just because it's natural, and/or God designed us that way, does not mean that it ought to be always open to public viewing.
If a mother wears the right clothes,a baby can be breastfed in public without anyone knowing. My wife had people come up to her and want to hold the baby, never realizing that she was at that very moment breastfeeding!
 

bapmom

New Member
Paul,

absolutely true. This is what I was trying to say with my very awkwardly worded 2nd paragraph....


Ive been in some interesting situations, and there have been several times that people didn't even know I was holding a child, much less feeding the child. Ive nursed all 5 of our kids until they were each at least one year old....so I understand where your wife has been, too.

 

Shiloh

New Member
Paul, Bapmom
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Good thoughts. I'v been away from this for a while and just checked now. I like what you said (that ought to be a comfort to you!) I can't believe some of the stuff you read on here.
Mark 5:15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind:
That should sum it up pretty well.
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mcdirector

Active Member
Shiloh! You've had several nice posts on this thread -- still disagreeing -- but nice none-the-less!
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I will go to sleep happy now!
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Bitsy
 

Bible-boy

Active Member
Originally posted by bapmom:
How in the world do you know that the early church baptized people completely in the nude?
According to the writings of the Early Church Fathers it is true that people were baptized in the nude. I remember reading about this in my Church History classes at seminary.
 

rbell

Active Member
We have numerous accounts of baptism in the nude...the early church took the idea of "new birth" quite literally in that aspect. But, men and women were baptized separately.

I believe Justo Gonzalez's book on Church History (Vol. 1) contains some of this information. I've also seen that in other places. I'll run it down when I get a chance.
 

blackbird

Active Member
Originally posted by Bible-boy:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by bapmom:
How in the world do you know that the early church baptized people completely in the nude?
According to the writings of the Early Church Fathers it is true that people were baptized in the nude. I remember reading about this in my Church History classes at seminary. </font>[/QUOTE]Now, now, Bible-Boy!!!! Blackbird suspects that you are gonna attempt a "resurrection" of an old Bab-ba-tist habit and begin to be a 21st Century trend setter---with those nakkked baptisms!!!
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Paul33

New Member
I've got to tell you folks that nudity in and of itself is not all that alluring. But put a tiny little piece of string on a person's body and the lust of the flesh is often overwhelming. Go figure.
 

Bible-boy

Active Member
Originally posted by blackbird:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Bible-boy:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by bapmom:
How in the world do you know that the early church baptized people completely in the nude?
According to the writings of the Early Church Fathers it is true that people were baptized in the nude. I remember reading about this in my Church History classes at seminary. </font>[/QUOTE]Now, now, Bible-Boy!!!! Blackbird suspects that you are gonna attempt a "resurrection" of an old Bab-ba-tist habit and begin to be a 21st Century trend setter---with those nakkked baptisms!!!
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</font>[/QUOTE]Not ME! :D
 

shannonL

New Member
I think the preacher that presents hobby horse sermonettes every week instead of preaching the Bible is probably himself the most frequently tempted to ride that particular horse.
I had a professor tell me one time in Bible school that the fellow who preaches on adultery all the time and the evil of it etc... is probably guilty himself.
That kind of preaching or whatever you call it is the kind of stuff that cults are born out off etc...
Please don't misunderstand me. We should preach the whole council of God. We should preach on those sins that have the potential to "easily beset us".
I'm just saying beware of hobby horse preaching.
 
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