Are Beards The Mark Of The Beast?

[Aquila]

So, please have a little mercy on those of us who can't stomach this sort of "churchianity". Yes, we'd rather stay home, read our Bibles, and pray with family. Or we'd rather meet with small groups of other believers in homes, coffee shops, parks, at work, in restaurants, etc.. Or, we might even seek other means of fellowship over the internet and various other social media.

The Sunday Show just isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Honestly, there are more references to churches gathering in smaller groups in homes for teaching and fellowship throughout the NT than there are references to large buildings, salaried pastorates, choirs, special songs, foot stomping, hand clapping, the chicken dance, concert style lights & smoke, steeples, and all that jazz.

And when you've been ostracized over a beard or some silliness by the institutional church, you begin to realize that church is far more than what they're selling anyway. It's about being a people walking in a spiritual kingdom that is separated from the world, even its incorporated religious institutions. The beard actually becomes a blessing. A tool God used to wake you up to what is real verses what is fake, contrived, governed by human tradition, opinion, and institutional "identity". You begin to realize how many "Christians" are being conformed into the image of some tradition or institution and not Christ Himself.

Since there is nothing in Scripture about beards being prohibited or required for NT saints, the moment you hear the droning condemnation of beards, you can know instantly that you're in a church that isn't focused on the book, but rather, they are focused on their own traditions and worldly organizational identity.