? on rings

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>I had a discussion recently with a few saints from another
>UPCI church nearby to the one I attend.  We got on the topic of standards
>and that led to the question to me, "does your pastor allow 
>the wearing of wedding rings?"  I said yes..and then backed it
>up with the thought that in todays society, you have to have
>something there to show that you are married.  There reply was
>if you let the wedding ring become ok, then you could justify a 
>mothers ring, class ring, etc.  
>I am curious to see what other UPCI members and their churches 
>believe and then why they believe that?
>My personal belief is that the wedding ring is not wrong as
>long as it does not bring attention to yourself.
>
Hi everybody:

Just a slightly controversial thought on the issue.

No where in the New Testament does it specifically say "Thou shalt not wear
rings (finger, nose, ear bellybutton, or otherwise).

The New Testament does speak to the wearing of gold in enough verses to
meet the 2 or 3 witnesses criteria. IMHO, the prohibitions against rings
etc arose out of an attempt to follow the teaching of these verses.

Myself, I wear a silver wedding band, simple and undecorated **because** it
is a quick way to identify oneself as married and has prevented some
embarrassing situations (the old "Thanks for the compliment, but...") Mind
you even a ring doesn't stop all problems.

The Bible has a curious attitude toward Gold.  Revelation speaks of streets
of gold, so it can't be all bad. Israel was bedecked in gold by Jehovah as
His wife. Yet Christians (and especially women) are commanded not to depend
on gold for their adornment, but rather a Christlike nature. So gold as a
Biblical item has both good and bad connotations, like most Biblical
things. It is the heart of the user that makes the difference.

So in summary: I don't recommend Jewellry, I do see that there is are some
items that the Lord will accept (I've seen a lot of preachers through the
years with watches that cost more than my ring. I don't know why, they
never use them :-)
Those items I would feel are: watch, wedding band, hair "thingys" for women
(we don't hear much preaching about "plaited hair" though), and in the case
of a man, some kind of tie clip (for those that don't know how to tie a tie
properly and would lose everyone's attention by having them stare at his
tie) and cufflinks (most early 1900's preachers wore some type of simple,
unadorned link, because buttons weren't that common. Cufflinks are much
more of a fashion item today, so it might be wise to pass on their use but
in light of history, it is difficult to make a "Thus sayeth the Lord" about
them.)

Well I guess that is about it, just thought I would throw some thoughts out
and see what happens.

Frank


Frank Vandenburg
BKM Research and Development
438 Paul St.
Dieppe, NB
Canada E1A 4Z5
Tel: 1.506.857.9620
Fax: 1.506.852.3728
email: frank@bkm.ca

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