How Would You React to These Two Girls at Your Church? Part 1.

[Jullianna]

Cover them with a blanket and lead them away?? Okay...I gotta say it.....


John 8

New International Version (NIV)


8 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Think about this for a moment...

She was "caught in the act". Women caught in the act of adultery usually aren't dressed appropriately, are they? Yet, nowhere in this passage do I see Jesus say one.single.word about her hair/makeup/state of dress. Why? Because....


1 Samuel 16:7

New International Version (NIV)


7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

 

[Ritter]

Why were the Pharisees wrong?

On every occasion they rejected the spirit of the law, but embraced legal formality. They made the law a husk and filled the vacuum with more laws and appreciation for form rather than essence.

We are to look beyond appearances, yes. But the sacrificing of standards for the purposes inclusion should only go so far.

Why is the laity impelled to maintain standards? Simple, the object is to reduce potential for sin and distraction to make the congregation focus on more important things. It is, after all, God's house. It demands respect. There is the trap.

According to the AP, they are being a distraction. The church should reach out to them in love, but not handle the situation with undue heavy handedness, at least not at the beginning. The church would then be an agent of distraction, you see.

My prescription is this: allow them to come, try to reform them in love. Approach them with true care, ask them about their lives and what they are struggling with, and then respectfully request that they respect their new friends (ie the congregation) by covering up the tats). People are generally ashamed when they realize they are showing disrespect to those who are at least moderately friendly to them.

And let's face it, if the ladies in question leave this sort of Church under these circumstances, were their hearts ready to accept the gospel? In all likelihood, the answer would sadly be a no.

 

[Ritter]

According to the AP, they are being a distraction.

I had meant the OP. Yes friends, I read too much news.

 

[seoulsearch]

For anyone who may be interested, I did write a sequel to this thread explaining who these two girls are. There was only one reply, so it got buried very quickly, but if anyone is curious, feel free to look up the second thread.

 

[Jullianna]

I wonder how many of us would be covered with a blanket and led out of church if all of our "inappropriate" things were visible to the human eye.

 

[1still_waters]

I attended a church where a girl actually dressed and acted much like this scenario.
I never said anything to her about it because I felt it wasn't my place.
A few years later her and I crossed paths, and somehow this situation came up.

Long story short, she told me she wished I had pulled her aside and said something.

 

[Jullianna]

Why were the Pharisees wrong?

On every occasion they rejected the spirit of the law, but embraced legal formality. They made the law a husk and filled the vacuum with more laws and appreciation for form rather than essence.

We are to look beyond appearances, yes. But the sacrificing of standards for the purposes inclusion should only go so far.

Why is the laity impelled to maintain standards? Simple, the object is to reduce potential for sin and distraction to make the congregation focus on more important things. It is, after all, God's house. It demands respect. There is the trap.

According to the AP, they are being a distraction. The church should reach out to them in love, but not handle the situation with undue heavy handedness, at least not at the beginning. The church would then be an agent of distraction, you see.

My prescription is this: allow them to come, try to reform them in love. Approach them with true care, ask them about their lives and what they are struggling with, and then respectfully request that they respect their new friends (ie the congregation) by covering up the tats). People are generally ashamed when they realize they are showing disrespect to those who are at least moderately friendly to them.

And let's face it, if the ladies in question leave this sort of Church under these circumstances, were their hearts ready to accept the gospel? In all likelihood, the answer would sadly be a no.

1 COR 9:

19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
-------------------------
I absolutely agree that the above scripture can be taken so far as to water down the gospel. Like you, I am totally opposed to that. We should never compromise the truth in trying to reach the lost because it dilutes the power of our testimony. We must conduct ourselves in a way that conforms to the image of Christ He creates in us.

New believers are very tender things. Babes in Christ. The parable of the sower shows us just how tender they are. That is my concern here. There is a time, place and WAY to say something IF the Holy Spirit puts it upon our hearts to do so. The problem is that all to often, folks don't teach new believers these things in love by the leading of the Holy Spirit, but rather decide to do the Holy Spirit's job and approach them in a self-righteous, critical spirited manner. And it deeply hurts my heart when I see it.

When it happens, it reminds me of the guy at the office who badmouths others at every opportunity in an attempt to make himself look better. That junk won't fly in the Kingdom of God, will it? God doesn't grade on a curve.