Thank you!
The slippery slope counts as a principle with me . . .
The vast majority of the secular people I know wear just the one wedding ring, or the set for the ladies. It is seriously not an issue and certainly not the cause for pride, vanity, jealousy and stumbling, at least among the secular/denominal men I know. Occasionally you'll meet somebody that has multiple rings or one on every finger, but then they've usually got other indicators about them that cause
everybody to discern that there is a different class represented in that case.
It just makes me wonder if the Apostolic world is the only place where a simple wedding ring can get between a believer and his God.
Please don't get me wrong. I am not going to approach this any differently than I do other similar issues, i.e., what are your eyes resting on when you think about the issue. My test is this: Are you looking at God, wanting to live for him, give the issue to him, and please him fully, or are you looking at the things of this world, and attempting to decide which of them you can fit into your life without letting go of God?
So I'm sitting here looking at my wedding ring, and I think, this is not nor has it ever been the slightest issue for me. I wear it because my cherished bride gave it to me. I wear it to proudly show that I'm the one and only for my one and only. I wear it night and day. I don't envy the sculpted or jeweled bands of other men, because I frankly don't see the appeal. I find elegance in simplicity. I don't secretly desire a signet ring or such. I take it off when I use files and work on electrical devices. Otherwise, I just don't think about it.
I think I might feel hypocritical if I were take it off prior to a visit to a 'no-rings' church. I certainly don't know how I would explain that act to my children. "I'm still married to your mother even when we're visiting here." But I certainly wouldn't want to cause offense or others to stumble.
I'm trying to challenge my own paradigms, but I don't feel like I'm getting very far with this one. I've had my sins under the blood and the Holy Ghost for all these years, more years than I've worn the ring, and now, all of a sudden, *poof* I'm sinning by wearing a ring? I'm open minded but I'm still not sure I see it.