Do you think the first church was conservative, moderate, or liberal? Let's give you some examples.
Liberal: Adam walks to the pulpit, ready to preach his well prepared message from
Genesis 2:17 to the congregation (Eve). "And the word of the Lord says, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. I am not the Lord over you, you are your own person. You can make your own convictions. You can the fruit in your pocket if you want, but you know what the principle of it is... Just don't eat it. Go ahead and walk around with it, just follow the principle."
Moderate: Adam walks to the pulpit, ready to preach his well prepared message from
Genesis 2:17 to the congregation (Eve). "And the word of the Lord says, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Now, I as a pastor wouldn't carry the fruit around in my pocket, or take the fruit from the tree, and I wouldn't hang around the tree and you surely won't die, but if want to, just remember, don't eat of it."
Ultra Conservative: Adam walks to the pulpit, ready to preach his well prepared message from
Genesis 2:17 to the congregation (Eve). "And the word of the Lord says, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. You shall not only not eat of it, but if ye even touch it, ye shall surely die! Don't even go near it, don't even touch it!"
The first church was conservative!
(WARNING: Just having a little fun, so don't get uptight.)
so what category do you think you are in?
cat. #1: no standards
cat. #2: some standards but not enforced
cat. #3: standards are preached and upheld