To Beard or Not to Beard, That is The Question

[TK Burk]

Originally Posted by Ehud

Thank you, Bro. Burk!

One follow up question and I'll quit wasting your time. Given the above, would I be correct in saying that a valid reason in one area may fall flat in another? In other words, the pastor in the first example presented a valid reason regarding gangs, but to apply that same reasoning in an area without significant gang activity would be incorrect.

You're not wasting my time...I enjoy talking about Bible stuff!

Two types of "rules" need to be discussed here. These are church standards and personal convictions.

A church standard is either based on what the Bible says, or it is based on what the current time dictates necessary to keep the believers in good standings with each other, their community, and their God.

A personal conviction is a rule that keeps an individual in good standings with God.

Thus, a standard would be obeyed by the entire church body. Whereas, a personal conviction might not be shared by anyone else in the church body except that one individual.

An example of how this applies to the subject of this thread would be: the standard of the church is to not allow long hair on the men. This standard is based on Paul's instructions found in 1 Corinthians 11:14. But since there is no scripture against a man growing facial hair, and since facial hair is not offensive in today's society, any rule against growing it would be a personal conviction.

This is why the leadership needs to be prepared to give a reasonable response to support any standards set for the church. If they cannot do that then they're not shepherds leading sheep but cowboys driving cattle.