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Re: Church Ownership
Quote:
Originally Posted by ILG
I see what you are saying. I also think Miss B has a point. I think the point is to have a balance about it. Many UPC churches do believe that standards are salvific, even if they say they are not. I would have loved to have been part of a church that did NOT believe standards were salvific, who did NOT say things like "Oh she is backslid, she cut her hair". (Really? If standards are not salvific, what difference does cutting her hair make?) Anyway, many, many UPC churches at least practice standards as salvific, making a huge division between those who keep them and those who do not. It causes those who do not keep them to be second class and often resentful which can cause issues. It can also cause resentment from the pastor if those who do not believe in them are vocal about it.
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Yes, this.  I don't think churches should be in the habit of kicking every person out who breaks a rule or can't agree, nor do I think saints should go running out the door everytime a pastor preaches something they don't like. However, from the saint's perspective, at some point it seems like your personal integrity would be damaged by continued non-compliance with the rules and especially by voicing dissent to others in the assembly.
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"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
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