To beard or not to beard

[ohio jones]

"have it to the ankle, but if you can't do that, at least have it below the knee while sitting"

Is this still the beard thread?

[steve-in-kville]

"have it to the ankle, but if you can't do that, at least have it below the knee while sitting"

Is this still the beard thread?

I've been wondering that for the last five pages. I even threw in the shaving legs issue hoping to derail it all. Didn't work.

Its a dumpster fire and a train wreck all rolled into one. Let it burn.

[ABC 123]

"have it to the ankle, but if you can't do that, at least have it below the knee while sitting"

Is this still the beard thread?

I've been wondering that for the last five pages. I even threw in the shaving legs issue hoping to derail it all. Didn't work.

Its a dumpster fire and a train wreck all rolled into one. Let it burn.

There is an underlying theme tied to the original question. Salvation issue. What are Salvation issues? And maybe what elements of our culture, abandoned, would cause people to go to hell (sorry to be blunt).

It has been thought provoking for me. And eye opening.

[gracefortoday]

It has been thought provoking for me. And eye opening



Agreed.

[steve-in-kville]

There is an underlying theme tied to the original question. Salvation issue. What are Salvation issues? And maybe what elements of our culture, abandoned, would cause people to go to hell (sorry to be blunt).

It has been thought provoking for me. And eye opening.

I think there are times in the conservative settings that we fail to see the forest for the trees, if I may steal a moto from corporate culture. This is my opinion... have things like the beard on men, head covering on women become more of an identifier than actually following scripture? Or our hearts for that matter?

All the fuss over mustache, no mustache, trimmed facial hair, not trimming facial hair, hanging veil, cap, mesh, solid, doilies coverings, etc... is God looking down and shaking His head wondering if we are missing the point??

Think about it. Are we missing as an anabaptist community missing the big picture.

[ABC 123]

There is an underlying theme tied to the original question. Salvation issue. What are Salvation issues? And maybe what elements of our culture, abandoned, would cause people to go to hell (sorry to be blunt).

It has been thought provoking for me. And eye opening.

I think there are times in the conservative settings that we fail to see the forest for the trees, if I may steal a moto from corporate culture. This is my opinion... have things like the beard on men, head covering on women become more of an identifier than actually following scripture? Or our hearts for that matter?

All the fuss over mustache, no mustache, trimmed facial hair, not trimming facial hair, hanging veil, cap, mesh, solid, doilies coverings, etc... is God looking down and shaking His head wondering if we are missing the point??

Think about it. Are we missing as an anabaptist community missing the big picture.

Oh boy. This has been the burning question for me for a very long time.

[ABC 123]

I think I can go with Mennonite is a culture, at the core a good one. There are a lot of cultures in the world that have worthwhile features. So do a lot of clubs.

I do not feel that defending every nuance with a Scripture verse is right though. Sure, spell out exactly what shoes are required for admittance if you can get a bunch of people to agree with that, but do so as a cultural issue. There are no Bible verses that support your choice of heels.

I can tell my children, this is what our culture looks like. It has many good points. This is what it takes to maintain this culture. It will not save you. If I am a deep southerner this may mean a certain potato salad recipe or whatever. (Let's face it, suspenders are about as arbitrary. )

Now, a relationship with God is an entirely different thing. Like a Venn diagram, there are points that will overlap, but I can't feel good about using the word of God in ways it was never intended.

[Ken]

I think I can go with Mennonite is a culture, at the core a good one. There are a lot of cultures in the world that have worthwhile features. So do a lot of clubs.

I do not feel that defending every nuance with a Scripture verse is right though. Sure, spell out exactly what shoes are required for admittance if you can get a bunch of people to agree with that, but do so as a cultural issue. There are no Bible verses that support your choice of heels.

I can tell my children, this is what our culture looks like. It has many good points. This is what it takes to maintain this culture. It will not save you. If I am a deep southerner this may mean a certain potato salad recipe or whatever. (Let's face it, suspenders are about as arbitrary. )

Now, a relationship with God is an entirely different thing. Like a Venn diagram, there are points that will overlap, but I can't feel good about using the word of God in ways it was never intended.

This is my own opinion.

There are lots of quirky cultural aspects of Conservative Mennonite or Anabaptist life. Dress, foods, professions, vehicles, and specific worship customs related to things like music, church design and decoration, etc. etc.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of it and all cultures do similar things and have similar customs of their own. It is a way to build group identity and solidarity and something that groups naturally do without hardly even realizing it. Frankly I think it makes our society more interesting and diverse.

Where I think some groups maybe go astray is when they conflate the cultural with the biblical and turn what are largely cultural mores into religious mandates. The "shave your moustache" thing is an example of this as are things like homemade cape dresses. Neither of which would have been recognizable customs to early Christians, for example.

Perhaps groups recognize that if those customs are not enforced through religious mandate they will soon be lost. And perhaps that is true. I don't know. I expect that is the heart of the conundrum.

[ABC 123]

Perhaps groups recognize that if those customs are not enforced through religious mandate they will soon be lost. And perhaps that is true. I don't know. I expect that is the heart of the conundrum.

This. We may succeed in keeping our culture alive by borrowing eternal damnation for not staying in line, but I am not so sure God is pleased. We'll be looking good but....

[Sudsy]

I was just thinking of the argument that God wouldn't have given men facial hair to be cut. So, who here does not cut their finger nails ?

Anyway, I better stick to my personal conviction beliefs.