Jack, you have written many excellent and informative articles, and for me, this article hits the proverbial nail on the head! When we read of the life of Christ, we see His example of how not to live, and we see His example of how to live as we let our lights shine in a dark world. I find myself again at a familiar place when it comes to your writing…thank you so very much!
Jasck, this is all well said and documented.......but... You are analyzing the problem well and offering a well-reasoned, suggested dialogue. But you and we are not alone in that: the Catholic Church has a library of written arguments, as do the other denominations and even the Muslims.
But it is not that we lack proper materials that are completely Biblically sound. Rather, that we have rendered ourselves as irrelevant to the society around us and the world in general. We fear as a group, as a brotherhood, to proclaim the Lord and these commands. In a crisis, otherwise known as an opportunity, when the ignorant, but searching, public is desperately looking for leadership and direction, we are nowhere to be found. We are probably at the building attending a class, a singing or a prayer meeting, avoiding all possible confrontation that could upset our comfort zone.
When a potentially harmful legislation is about to be enacted, whose passage supports evil and which will generate more evil offspring, we don't have a John the Baptist, or a Nathan, or a Jeremiah or Peter and John to stand before the current Caesar, and tell him that it is wrong.
In fact, none of the sermons that our designated preacher(s) delivers ever touch the current issues, and no congregation makes definitive plans to become visible to the public as a force of good against evil. After all, we might even get attacked for that.
One elder, at a church of Christ in the Northwest, even gave the following answer to a brother asking a question regarding the church speaking against homosexuality. He laughed and said "Brother, I don't want to become a lightning rod." Just the kind of answer I might have expected from Peter, John, Paul, Steven, Irenaeus, Polycarp, and such, right? That congregation boasted a membership of about 250 people, and they were sensitive about offending their "higher" level members who worked for certain companies, in case they lost them. We see the same thing when someone speaks out about the spiritual dangers of other things, such as public schools. We aren't supposed to talk about that because they (or even their non-believing relatives) work as teachers, and "might offend" visitors to the assembly. The idea of standing up for these commands of God in front of a town council or school board is beyond the pale.
Perhaps the Lord did make His followers to be lightning rods!
I come from an Apostolic paradigm, and on the whole our movement has taught modesty, dresses for the women, pants for the man. (Who wears the pants in your family? A common question in my day)
Based on Deu 22:5, there is a God ordained command for gender distinctions in clothing.
They cried legalism, old covenant teaching, returning to the law. Oppressive and restrictive, they said. Turns out it was liberty and freedom. We were correct.
The International symbol for a woman is a dress, for a man its pants….
Fast-forward to 2025. Had I told you in the 90s the reason we dress this way is so your grandchildren will know what bathroom to use, you would’ve laughed me to scorn. 🤣
We still choose the old path, which has time and time again proven to be the correct one. Great Article!
Jack, you have written many excellent and informative articles, and for me, this article hits the proverbial nail on the head! When we read of the life of Christ, we see His example of how not to live, and we see His example of how to live as we let our lights shine in a dark world. I find myself again at a familiar place when it comes to your writing…thank you so very much!
Jasck, this is all well said and documented.......but... You are analyzing the problem well and offering a well-reasoned, suggested dialogue. But you and we are not alone in that: the Catholic Church has a library of written arguments, as do the other denominations and even the Muslims.
But it is not that we lack proper materials that are completely Biblically sound. Rather, that we have rendered ourselves as irrelevant to the society around us and the world in general. We fear as a group, as a brotherhood, to proclaim the Lord and these commands. In a crisis, otherwise known as an opportunity, when the ignorant, but searching, public is desperately looking for leadership and direction, we are nowhere to be found. We are probably at the building attending a class, a singing or a prayer meeting, avoiding all possible confrontation that could upset our comfort zone.
When a potentially harmful legislation is about to be enacted, whose passage supports evil and which will generate more evil offspring, we don't have a John the Baptist, or a Nathan, or a Jeremiah or Peter and John to stand before the current Caesar, and tell him that it is wrong.
In fact, none of the sermons that our designated preacher(s) delivers ever touch the current issues, and no congregation makes definitive plans to become visible to the public as a force of good against evil. After all, we might even get attacked for that.
One elder, at a church of Christ in the Northwest, even gave the following answer to a brother asking a question regarding the church speaking against homosexuality. He laughed and said "Brother, I don't want to become a lightning rod." Just the kind of answer I might have expected from Peter, John, Paul, Steven, Irenaeus, Polycarp, and such, right? That congregation boasted a membership of about 250 people, and they were sensitive about offending their "higher" level members who worked for certain companies, in case they lost them. We see the same thing when someone speaks out about the spiritual dangers of other things, such as public schools. We aren't supposed to talk about that because they (or even their non-believing relatives) work as teachers, and "might offend" visitors to the assembly. The idea of standing up for these commands of God in front of a town council or school board is beyond the pale.
Perhaps the Lord did make His followers to be lightning rods!
I come from an Apostolic paradigm, and on the whole our movement has taught modesty, dresses for the women, pants for the man. (Who wears the pants in your family? A common question in my day)
Based on Deu 22:5, there is a God ordained command for gender distinctions in clothing.
They cried legalism, old covenant teaching, returning to the law. Oppressive and restrictive, they said. Turns out it was liberty and freedom. We were correct.
The International symbol for a woman is a dress, for a man its pants….
Fast-forward to 2025. Had I told you in the 90s the reason we dress this way is so your grandchildren will know what bathroom to use, you would’ve laughed me to scorn. 🤣
We still choose the old path, which has time and time again proven to be the correct one. Great Article!