I once sat under a UP preacher who expected those who sat under him to treat Sunday as if it were the OT sabbath. For example, being 'caught' merely throwing a ball back and forth on that day warranted a severe reprimand.
---Maxis were out of the question, but there would often be women on the platform with skirts above the knees. I often observed them tugging at their hems trying to stretch it over their knees..but then there were times they didn't...never understood that as a young lad.
---Facial hair was out of the question for men in the church, but there were sometimes visiting missionaries who were invited to the platform with their beards.
---One time when my girlfriend (not from UPC) and I showed up at the local rink, which our church had rented for skating, we were told that if she wanted to skate, she would have to put a skirt on. This, though her long coat, which almost completely covered her pants, was more modest than the skirts the other females were wearing. It took her quite some time to get over that, btw.
---A mirror wasn't allowed in the mens bathroom.
And that's only a few things I can think of.
However, in spite of those things, I have no doubt that that pastor was a good man who cared about us. Shortly before he himself died, he held me and wept like a baby at the grave site of my brother, who had been killed a few days earlier.
That said, I will never again pay heed to such things. If the elder (bishop, pastor, overseer, whatever you prefer to call him) is trespassing on the territory (liberty, authority) God has given me, I will go to him and attempt to show him in scripture where he is wrong. (
Mat. 18:15;
Luke 17:3) If he refuses to acknowledge the truth, and submit meekly to it, it is he, not I, who is in disobedience to
Hebrews 13:17...
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