Isaiah 3 and jewelry...

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by onefaith2

If you asked me or my pastor or several in our church, we would say actions, appearance, attitude, etc. However if all holiness people think of the outward, its a reflection of carnal thinking. That does not mean we forsake the outward because people tend to emphasize that more while missing the point of it.

I agree it does not mean forsake something simply because MOST people think of appearance when they hear the term holiness. BUT IT SHOWS A DEFINITE PROBLEM. And the problem comes from the doctrine of banning jewelry altogether.

I also noticed something else that always comes with ban on jewelry in movements. A sharp judgmental attitude that is simply not present in movements that do not propose such bans. I am not saying ALL who propose that teaching are judgmental, but MOST are. The common person is judgmental. It really is a spirit that is not from God that goes along with that doctrine, I sincerely believe. I tried denying it for 14 years but could not any longer. Look at RDP's typical attitude amongst such movements. THAT is the typical problem I have seen for years.

[onefaith2]

Originally Posted by mfblume

I agree it does not mean forsake something simply because MOST people think of appearance when they hear the term holiness. BUT IT SHOWS A DEFINITE PROBLEM. And the problem comes from the doctrine of banning jewelry altogether.

I also noticed something else that always comes with ban on jewelry in movements. A sharp judgmental attitude that is simply not present in movements that do not propose such bans. I am not saying ALL who propose that teaching are judgmental, but MOST are. The common person is judgmental. It really is a spirit that is not from God that goes along with that doctrine, I sincerely believe. I tried denying it for 14 years but could not any longer. Look at RDP's typical attitude amongst such movements. THAT is the typical problem I have seen for years.

I agree with your concerns. I really do. I know the HG convicts of the outward because I've seen it. God does it in spite of our fallbacks. The spirit of conviction regarding jewelry is very real. I am sad to see that most attribute it to the way they were taught, versus following the leading of the Holy Ghost. A true spiritual man should be able to separate the two.

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by onefaith2

I agree with your concerns. I really do. I know the HG convicts of the outward because I've seen it. God does it in spite of our fallbacks. The spirit of conviction regarding jewelry is very real. I am sad to see that most attribute it to the way they were taught, versus following the leading of the Holy Ghost. A true spiritual man would be able to separate the two.

Unfortunately, the Apostolic church as a whole emphasizes being pastor-led above being Spirit-led. As a result, people don't learn to depend on God and His Word and their communication with Him for convictions; they depend on their pastor. They are conditioned to think that being Spirit-led and pastor-led are the same thing.

IMO, the reason the church has done this is because when you have a foundation of man-made rules, people aren't going to just "stumble" onto those things when following the Spirit. So the church must get involved in order to shape the "convictions" of its congregants. When they do that, they interfere with the Spirit-led process in the new believer, but since the outcome is positive in regard to outward appearance, the church doesn't have to care about that, and they repeat it again and again. In the meantime, the new believer has learned that their lifestyle and spiritual queues come from the church leadership rather than from God, and the vicious cycle begins.

I'm not opposed to pastors teaching from the Word, btw. I just wish those personal convictions and preferences were really "personal." I wish the things that weren't found in the Word were left up to the individuals to decide. Apparently, that would be too simple of an approach.