Now ya'll know I love me some Anabaptists. I am not going to rag on any one group, but one of my pet peeves in ANY denomination is hair-splitting. Lately on some of my on-line groups, (plain and otherwise) this problem has been running rampant.I have never understood those who want to spend time worrying about peripheral issues verses celebrating what binds us together as children of God? Read on:
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About a year ago, there was an article in an Anabaptist Magazine about Western Wear... Cowboy Boots, specifically. It was basically blasting anyone who called themself a Christian and still wear them.
Now, in defense of the publisher, I will say this: He wasn't from Texas.
Had he been, he would have known from the git-go that boots are not just for show. Apparently this well meaning brother has never walked or rode a horse through bull-nettle.
But he didn't stop at cowboy boots,... he took a stab at anything that wasn't what their church prescribes.
I love this specific group and their church, but find this mentality hard to comprehend.
WHY would you spend your time and money publishing a rant against something that doesn't impact your church or community in the first place? If the Amish were being led astray by the likes of Riders In The Sky, then perhaps I could see the point? But they aren't. This isn't an epidemic among the Anabaptists. It was a cheap shot at another culture.
I am all for standing up for what you believe in, especially Godliness. I support what is RIGHT, but never what is PETTY.
Homeless people don't have the option to buy a cape dress or a jumper... people in Africa have little or no clothing. In India, children often are seen with one sandal, and one tennis shoe.
All I want is for people to open their minds, without loosing their senses, or selling out on what they stood up for to begin with.
It isn't your way or the highway. Is it??
6 comments:
Good post! :-)
Maybe the author ran out of stuff to publish for that week / month and picked that topic off the top of his head. But yeah, since it has nothing to do with the church, writing about it is kind of petty...poor fella...lol.
Well you live and learn. Hopefully he has gone on to publish more meaningful and useful articles!
God Bless,
Dawn
Hi Dawn!!!
I love the group who publishes the magazine, just not when they go overboard. KWIM??
I understand that some people are genuinely convicted to have what are probably much higher standards than my own, but it's when they attack others that differ from themselves on issues that really are not biblical that I get my hackles up:-)
Oh well... I am off my soapbox.
Are you excited about coming to Texas???
Kelly
It's the same way with revival meetings. The main thing they talk about are standards, and how people who don't follow them are backsliding into Hell.
I think mostly, they know it's what sets them apart and makes them different, and what has kept them that way for all these years. They truly believe they must keep the man made rules, or they will fall. The Holy Spirit is not enough.
It does make them distinct, and it's what draws us to them, there is an appearance of holiness that we all long for.
Carla,
Standards are important, and I don't want anyone to think that I don't believe in holiness... I do.
But it seems (to me) the plain are divided into 2 groups: those who own their convictions, and aren't 8hung up* on the small stuff & those who obcess about the smallest details, and turn a narrow road to heaven into a microscopic rabbit trail.
Oddly, this problem seems to be causing the splits that churches suffer. It's the: zippers, verses buttons, kapps verses veils, khaki verses darks, musical instruments verses none.
I see all these as ridiculous, peripheral issues that divide the body of Christ.
These people that are so fervently addressing these small issues think that they are salvational in nature.
I will write about this at some point... but I knew a Mennonite man who wasn't *plain*, but was very modest in appearance, and lived a good life. He developed a ministry by making 200 sandwiches twice a week and setting up a free food stand under the Lancaster bridge feeding the street people.
Now, if you ask a lot of *plain* people, he was Mennonite in name only... If you ask me, he was more than Mennonite. He was acting as Christ instructed and prioritized.
But that's just me.:-)
Blessings,
K.
I just KNEW everyone in Texas wore boots!
Girl, you will have to come down here to find out. LOL...
I DON'T!! Ok, not often...lol.
Love ya,
Kel
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