Josh wrote:Generally speaking I think a lot of people in an existing evangelical setting should quit seeking and instead seek to reform their church, friends, and congregation from within. That's what the early Anabaptists did.
That is contrary to what I read? The reformers! tried to reform...!
I thought the Anabaptists were actually mostly raised in a church that baptized infants... Hence the name rebaptizers.
[/quote]This endless seeking seems to often end up in a final destination that is bizarre, like sprinkling holy water on infants, or ends up at a destination where there is no Christ at all.[/quote]
The problem is that the early Anabaptists literally forsook all even unto death and therefore left rather than reform. Today no Mennonites I have seen can even relate to literally forsaking all, so when one comes from the world there is an attitude of, "I have done nothing right.". And they walk into a setting that says, "We have done it right for years.". Completely opposing attitudes and the newcomer finds something different from what they read about the early Anabaptists.
Early Anabaptists didn't accept newcomers so freely because it was a threat to their loved ones if the person was a spy. Today the Mennonites rejection is for reasons not even remotely close to their blood ancestors.
And an attitude of telling one to stay and reform is in my opinion a reformer attitude that relates nothing to the early Anabaptists, or the early church.