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Results from: Notes Author: Lillian Leigh Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | should I avoid the appearance of evil? | Matt 18:6 | Lillian Leigh | 126389 | ||
Hi Emmaus It was a typo and I was reading Matthew 10 which talks about Jesus's instructions to His disciples before they went out to share the Gospel. I was actually looking for a specific verse which I was sure I had read before which says specifically to avoid the appearance of evil but did not find it. Your verse is one that is helpful. Thank you. To further clarify my position, last night I was asked by the 27 year old son and 30 year old soon to be daughter in law of a friend to explain my thoughts on whether they should be allowed to be baptised right away. I have been a Christian for 30 years and work with Youth and believe that I am a very loving and accepting person. However, I do believe that God expects certain standards from us and that we answer truthfully to our best ability when others need answers to questions even if the answer is not obviously what they are looking to hear. This young couple explained that while they still live together, they do not live as husband and wife any more. My counsel was that we should avoid the appearance of evil and that their baptism could be interpreted by the youth in particular as an endorsement for living together prior to marriage. They became quite discouraged about this opinion and felt that people who would conclude such a thing should mind their own business. The family has suffered many tragedies in recent years and my friend is overjoyed that her son is now considering coming back to the church he grew up in. I encouraged them to continue coming to church and that it was a place for all people to come to regardless of their sin but baptism is a public demonstration of a greater personal commitment to renounce our former life. I have been troubled ever since that I may have discouraged them and caused them to rethink their stance on joining the church. The thoughts of other Christians on this issue would be most welcome? Lillian |
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