PEARLS AND HAMBURGERS…

Both Paul (2Timothy 2:9) and Peter (1Peter 3:3), gave instructions as to how the women were to appear in worship of God, or win their unsaved husband to the Lord, Paul in Romans 14, dealt with another issue that affects our influence on others.

PORK CHOPS AND STEAKS

Verse 15, “But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.”

Our liberties must not be imposed on others when it is in opposition to their feelings. Can we not bear with one another when it comes to personal decisions as to what we eat and what we drink?

Verse 17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” There is something that is of much greater value than our opinion about what is right to eat and what is not right to eat. The Kingdom of God must take precedence over anything and everything that we do. If what we do and say does not bring glory and honor to the Lord of Glory, then our actions are for the wrong purpose.

The Kingdom of God is not that which is outward but that which is inward. Meat or drink does not determine one’s condition with God.

Verse 20, “For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.”

Barnes makes a very impressive comment on the expression “destroy not the work of God:” “The word here is that which properly is applied to pulling down an edifice; and the apostle continues the figure which he used in the previous verse. Do not pull down or destroy the temple which God is rearing.”

By careless actions on our selfish and personal feelings we can bring down the faith and confidence of another simply because we do not show them the love that was shown to us by our Lord. Everyone who is born again is one of our family members. But they are also the work of God. To bring down someone through our personal attacks on what they eat or don’t eat, is to attempt to bring down the work of God.

While God has granted us the right to eat what previously had been outlawed this does not give us the right to while doing so destroy the faith of someone who does not agree with our personal feelings. While it is not wrong to eat it is wrong to do so with offence.

Verse 21, “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” Denying our fleshly hunger for meat is a very cheap price to pay in order to have fellowship with our brother who finds it offensive to eat meat. The stronger one of the two will be the one who refuses to do anything that would be offensive to the other.

PERSONAL UNDERSTANDINGS

During the years we evangelized we experienced several differing views on subjects being taught by pastors. From not drinking anything that had caffeine in it, to my wife not wearing shoes that had heels or the toes out.

There were also the issues on holiness. In one place we were provided a bus used by hunters to stay in for two weeks during our revival. No running water; no bathroom facilities, except the outhouses in the backyard of the church. Under those conditions and my wife having to try to fix her hair properly, she finally gave up the latter part of the revival and braided her hair as it was so oily by then that she could not fix it like she wanted. After the revival we were informed by the pastor that he enjoyed our ministry, except for the night that my wife braided her hair! He was one of those — like others — who interpreted what Peter said about 1Peter 3:3, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel.” And what Paul said in 1Timothy 2:9, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.”

Both passages have been taken out of context in order to prove — to the satisfaction of the preacher — that women should not wear gold or braid their hair. One problem with such a usage of these scriptures to prove personal opinions about our women, is that they only want to use the part that satisfies their opinion about gold. In doing this they take these scriptures out of context in two ways: 1. What will they do with the command to not be “putting on of apparel.” Or, “costly array.” If wearing gold or plaiting the hair is forbidden, then to be true with our convictions, then the “putting on of apparel,” should be as well! It is in verse one that Peter gives the reason for his admonition; “if any (husbands) obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.” 2. The context has to do with saved wives seeking to convince their husbands to be saved. To do this the wife should not try to dress like or present herself like the prostitutes in the heathen temples. It is not the outward appearance, but it should be the “hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

Paul is teaching of our approach to God in worship. He stated in verse 8, “that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands.” It is in the next verse that he directs his admonition to the women and their worship. The prostitutes of the heathen temples seek to appease their god by their gaudy and flashy dress and appearance. Such attire does not attract God’s attention — except it be for displeasure! — but God is interested in humble and holy worship at His throne.

Let us not be guilty of picking and choosing only those terms that confirm our teaching, but let us do as Paul commanded in 2Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”