Apostles and Earrings
I wonder if this belonged to one of the apostles? Simon the Zealot strikes me as the kind of guy who would wear an earring.I recall the time, when I was graduating from seminary, I received an invitation to start a new congregation in a college town. In the letter, they outlined the vision, the demographics of the community, and their expectations for the pastor.
The letter ended with a p.s. -- "and of course, your wife will not be permitted to wear earrings."
They forgot say anything about ME wearing earrings. For a while, I was tempted to go ahead, take the position, and get my ear pierced.
Now that is funny.
ReplyDeleteI do not see you as an earring kind of guy.
Cora
Maybe you are not the earring kind of guy, but it would have made the church see how silly their standards were.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very strange PS. I would have been tempted to do the same thing you suggested!
ReplyDeleteThis story would be funny if it were not so sad. I was raised in a Wesleyan Church like this.
ReplyDeleteThey have magnetic back earrings that you could have used to at LEAST give them a big scare.
ReplyDeleteBut, they probably wouldn't have "gotten" it that easily.
I was church secretary once, and our senior pastor at the time was from the state that I'm GUESSING you got this call from. One morning he RUSHED into the office and asked me to take my earrings off because pastor friends of his from his former state were coming and he didn't want them to think he'd back slidden because his secretary was wearing earrings.
True story.
Keetha,
ReplyDeleteI hope you didn't take your earrings off!
Too bad that state was looking at the condition of earlobes instead of looking at the condition of the heart.
John
PRAISE THE LORD! He concentrates on the important things!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be to quick to judge this Church. From what I have seen every Church has some sort of restrictions/expextations of their Pastor/wife, and in my opinion rightly so.
ReplyDeleteHow many of you would want a homosexual pastor?
Would you really want your pastor to wear a nose ring, toungue ring and have who knows what else pierced?
I have a hard time listening to the pastors that are tatooed from their head to their toes. I know that God accepts them but I have trouble looking past the tatoo.
I myself prefer to have a man as a pastor. That does not mean a woman couldn't be as good or better of a pastor but I just prefer a man.
We can't even be in agreement about such things as speaking in tongues or heaven forbid raising your hands during a worship ceremony.
Do you want a pastor that dances?
Some Churchs don't are they not allowed to say we don't want a pastor that dances around the pulpit?
Just my two cents.
Ha! Ha! Hee! Hee! This is so funny. No, it is not funny. How many people have been turned off to God because they have been judged about something like this? Of course everyone has their own standards. Just do not force them on others. Worse yet, do not find something little wrong with another, so you can judge them. How pitiful that this was so important to a senior pastor.
ReplyDeleteIF YOU WERE DROWNING AND SOMEONE REACHED OUT A HAND TO SAVE YOU, DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD LOOK TO SEE IF THAT PERSON WERE WEARING AN EARRING?
ReplyDeletein our church it is not the issue of the earring
ReplyDeleteit depends on who is wearing it
HRH
There are a lot of employers/schools that have a set dress code. I don't really see a difference. I have worked many jobs where they told me how long my hair could be and that I was NOT allowed to have facial hair or piercings of any sort. Do you think the country would have elected Obama if he stood up in front of us with piercings out of every body part or tatooes everywhere.
ReplyDeleteGood thing Jesus did not apply for a job there with his facial hair.
ReplyDeleteWell Pastor Mark, you've gotten quite a discussion going here again this time!!!
ReplyDeleteJohn, I DID take them off, and here is why - - - while I did not feel convicted about wearing them, that man was my boss and my pastor, both of which put him as my authority, and there isn't any debate about the fact that God's Word tells us to honor those in authority over us.
Keetha,
ReplyDeleteWould you drink the kool-aid if the one who had authority over you told you to?
I find it refreshing that Keetha has respect for those in authority. Not enough people do. It is all about what is best for me anymore. It drives me nuts that now someone would label her as a kool-aid drinker. Give Me a Break!!!!!
ReplyDeleteJonathan Wilson
Thank you, Jonathan.
ReplyDeleteObviously I would not drink the Kool-aid. This was not Kool-aid, not even in the same ball park.
Keetha,
ReplyDeleteI hope you keep your strength and only totally submit to God. We all have to be careful and know when an earthly spiritual leader has crossed the line dealing with authority. The anniversary of the Jim Jones tragedy makes one know he must trust totally in God, not man. I enjoy your remarks on this site, especially the sports related ones.
CS
SMILE Keetha
ReplyDeleteI don't think that this is a attack on YOU but a question if anyone should do what ever his or her pastor says to do without question.
We have had Jimmy Swargart, Jim Baker, Dave Kresesh,and a lot of other's who mislead their flock.
Localy we have had over 10 people in athourity in Churches found to be molesting children, embezeling money from the Church within 50 miles of us.
We have Oboama now who acceped the values of Jerima Wright without question because he honored the athority put over him.
It is scarry to think of what might happen to us and our country if the person that leads us is honorning bad athourity and not thinking for himself.
Most of the war's that are in progress right now are being fought in the name of religion and both sides think they are honorning
the person over them and think that God is on their side.
Walt
Thank you Mark for this site. I find it enjoyable. It is at its best when discussion is promoted. We all learn from listening to others and I enjoy your regular commenters like Keetha, Jonathn, Walt and many others. Power and authority can be dangerous things in the wrong hands. Realizing this site is primarily for us future preachers we all need to ask God to always help us remember HE is in control, not us. Abused authority is like a thief in the night. It sneaks up on us slowly, quietly, and in very small steps. Each new wrong we commit in obedience to a mislead leader does not seem much worse than the one we did just yesterday for him. I pray to God to help me always discern between what is right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteAMUSING TOPIC...
ReplyDeleteWe have the opposite problem in our congregation. Several of the male leaders wear not one but earrings in both ears. Some of their sponses have numerous holes in one ear. Up to ten or more. I am constantly encouraged to get at least one ear pierced. I do not feel others are sinning by wearing their earrings, I just do not want one myself!
Earringless
The first goal to establishing a cult is to get people to accept authority over them without question. I have seen this firsthand.
ReplyDeleteThe ultimatum: remove those earrings or drink the koolaid!
ReplyDeleteKeep the earrings on and demand a beer.
ReplyDeleteOh my - - - -
ReplyDeleteWhat a hornets nest we have exposed THIS time.
I was trying to be the opposite of my nature and not be wordy with my "this was not Kool-aid" comment. I was HOPING it would encompass all that "not following a leader whose leadership is wrong" concept.
To be honest, in our local churches today I see far less danger of falling prey to a cultish leader than danger of lacking submission, which God asks of us, to our leaders.
And don't even ASK me what I see in my MS/HS classroom.
Seems to me we as a culture are believing the Voice from Darkness when he tells us it is "All about You"
CS, do I know you?????
What many of us lack to realize or acknowledge when reading others' comments. We all come from different past experiences. Each of us read/react to a situation with our own unique 'frame of reference'. Some of us have endured things others have been fortunate enough to have escaped. Only God knows the reason why. I know we can all grow stronger by each and every obstacle/blessing put in our path. I am going to try harder myself to learn from others and not be so quick to judge when his past life/memories evokes a reaction totally foreign to my way of thinking.
ReplyDelete