Dave Bernard addresses beards

[BrotherEastman]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Amen! I feel the powah!

So, you have wisdom and virility because of a beard? Or is it that you are showing that you have those attributes by having a beard?

[ThePastorsCoach]

Brother Eastman - I got the quote from here:

Facial hair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Facial hair is a secondary sex characteristic in human males.

Male pogonotrophy (the growing of facial hair; i.e, beardedness) is often culturally associated with wisdom and virility.......

[BrotherEastman]

Originally Posted by AtlantaBishop

Brother Eastman - I got the quote from here:

Facial hair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Facial hair is a secondary sex characteristic in human males.

Male pogonotrophy (the growing of facial hair; i.e, beardedness) is often culturally associated with wisdom and virility.......

I see, just so that there are no misunderstandings, I do not believe anyone is going to hell for having one. I also believe that a pastor has a right to expect others to abide by a certain conduct within the church he pastors. The military expects everyone to shave (of coarse, with some exceptions), so why shouldn't a pastor?

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by BrotherEastman

I see, just so that there are no misunderstandings, I do not believe anyone is going to hell for having one. I also believe that a pastor has a right to expect others to abide by a certain conduct within the church he pastors. The military expects everyone to shave (of coarse, with some exceptions), so why shouldn't a pastor?

I agree soemwhat. But in this day and age, makiing a beard an issue is sort of silly, I think. Maybe there was an issue in the 60's. But even then, a sharp professor-looking beard had no association with hippies, and everyone knew it.

[BrotherEastman]

Originally Posted by mfblume

I agree soemwhat. But in this day and age, makiing a beard an issue is sort of silly, I think. Maybe there was an issue in the 60's. But even then, a sharp professor-looking beard had no association with hippies, and everyone knew it.

Is it silly? What if your wife decided that she wasn't going to shave her pits or legs? In Europe, this is acceptable for a woman, but the North American culture it isn't. Same way with church culture, we expect women to do certain things, why would it be silly to expect men to?

[ThePastorsCoach]

I will tell you where some of this beards are wrong mentality came from:
I heard N A Urshan say on many occasions - "THE HOMOSEXUAL WEARS THE BEARD!" Of course - I never did see any of the homosexuals in the UPC with a beard! I wonder where he got that from?

[BrotherEastman]

Originally Posted by AtlantaBishop

I will tell you where some of this beards are wrong mentality came from:
I heard N A Urshan say on many occasions - "THE HOMOSEXUAL WEARS THE BEARD!" Of course - I never did see any of the homosexuals in the UPC with a beard! I wonder where he got that from?

Well, If N.A. Urshan said that, then I strongly nonconcur.

[Steve Epley]

Originally Posted by AtlantaBishop

Brother Eastman - I got the quote from here:

Facial hair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Facial hair is a secondary sex characteristic in human males.

Male pogonotrophy (the growing of facial hair; i.e, beardedness) is often culturally associated with wisdom and virility.......

Then that is a reason NOT to wear one all I have seen wearing them would be guilty of false advertisment on both counts.

[OP_Carl]

I have always wondered what I would look like with a beard. But whenever I've been sick, or on a hunting trip, and let it grow for a week, I look like I have just performed the world's most clumsy oil change. I shave daily to look clean. Now that I am married, I also shave to please my Mrs. She was raised in the UPC and subconsciously associates beards with serial killers, or something. Well really she just knows that people with beards aren't of her "group," said "group" being defined in some deep-seated way in her mind at an early age.

When I was in Germany in 1989, I only observed a few girls with shaved legs and/or makeup. The rest had furry legs and armpits. The German guys told me that this was an indicator of loose morals. In a word, it meant the girl was easy. In the USA, we consider body hair to be a hygiene issue for women.

Cultural norms are at the heart of the UPC-beard issue. At one point, a beard meant something negative to somebody, and now here we are, with a new cultural norm for an entire denomination as a result. In other cultures, the lack of a mustache indicates homosexuality. Talk about avoiding the appearance of evil! The orchestrated continuation of the status quo teaching may simply be to avoid reactions similar to my wife's in all the little old ladies who are inundated with UPC culture.

Pastoral rules and standards test the condition of the heart.

If a person hasn't reached the point in their faith that they can accept where God has placed them both physically and spiritually, then they are susceptible to feeling imposed upon by pastoral rules. If a person is confident that they are in God's will, submitting to a pastoral standard is just no more difficult than submitting to Bible teaching.

Hopping from one church to another, hoping to find some combination of conditions that perfectly match your predilections, is no way to live. You can't grow. Your sense of belonging fades. And ultimately, you will realize that wherever you go, there you are.

It's kind of like a cancer victim shopping for a doctor that will tell him he doesn't have cancer.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by BrotherEastman

Is it silly? What if your wife decided that she wasn't going to shave her pits or legs? In Europe, this is acceptable for a woman, but the North American culture it isn't. Same way with church culture, we expect women to do certain things, why would it be silly to expect men to?

It is silly when they give you reasons that are not reasonable. Especially when Jesus wore a beard. I consider things silly when they are not found in the Bible and reasoned by thoughts that are unreasonable, such as it relates a person to the 60's hippy movement. My opinion, anyway.

What we are expected to do is often unreasonable in light of scripture. So whether someone expects it or not, what is the Lord's will? And the idea that it is God's will if the pastor says it is, despite lack of scripture, then I kindly disagree.