Spiritual Separation or Preference? It is of great concern that our churches are filled with preaching based on preference. That is, a pastor, deacon, evangelist, or teacher may interfere with the autonomy of a home by pushing their preference instead of what is clearly supported by God’s Word.
Furthermore, the personal preferences of a church leader may spill over into the congregation, and then the opinion is interjected into an autonomous home.
Important to realize, a Pastor may have preferences about movies, modesty, music, methods, or dating but that is not an opportunity to dictate a standard to an autonomous home. It’s imperative that a person change spiritual direction because the Holy Spirit made the change. A person that changes just to please a Pastor is serving man and not God. Also, if the activity of a family is producing a negative impact on the testimony of the church, then, the issue should be addressed.
Bottom line: The standards set for our families by mother, father, husband, and wife is of no concern to a church leader unless we are affecting the testimony of the church. Basically, the autonomy of a home (husband and wife) is hands-off. At this point, disagreement may be inevitable when a conviction is bumping heads with a preference.
We better spend more time learning the fundamentals of the faith! These are things that we must agree upon and if not, separation may be necessary.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 and Romans 16:17
Should we mark and avoid based upon preferences and convictions?
Consider:
Infiltration leads to toleration
Accommodation leads to coöperation
Contamination leads to capitulation (giving up, no resistance)
Wisdom must be used because we want separation, not isolation
The fundamentals are an essential element
- Virgin Birth
- Deity of Christ
- Substitutionary Death
- Resurrection
- Inspiration of God’s Word – God-breathed
- Verbal and Plenary – Holy men of God as they were moved by the Holy Ghost
- Preserved
- ONE Author not 40
- Blood Atonement
- Rapture of the Saints
- Salvation by Grace