Month / November 2018

by Matt Landis

If Someone Really Focuses on the “Inward” Are They Exempt From “Outward” Behavior Checks?

This Q&A is in response to comment along the lines of: If we focus on the inner we don’t need to give any thought to the corresponding outward behavior.

Q. If someone really focuses on the inward, are they exempt from behavior checks?

A. Even if a person is focused on the “inward” it does not follow that correct behavior will be automatic or not require some “outward” discerning & thoughtful correctives. Our inward thoughts affect our outward behavior, but our behavior & practice also affects our thoughts. Jesus told people to clean the inside of the cup so the outside would be clean which was itself an outward influence on the people He was exhorting. The Apostle Paul used written commands to help & correct people in churches, even ones that had amazing manifestations of the Spirit.

And this leads to the conclusion that as individuals and as a group the church community will need to give some thought to its actions & behavior as a double-check that our whole being (heart) is where it ought to be.

(Sometimes here & there questions are raised and sometimes I’ll give a go at trying to formulate an answer to them. If you see a question here, someone raised it.)

by Matt Landis

We Can’t Take 1 Peter 3:3 Literally Because If We Do, Don’t We Get “Don’t Wear Clothes”?

Q. We can’t take 1 Peter 3:3 to be literally saying “no gold & no hair-styling” because if we do, don’t we get “no clothes”?

A. No. I don’t know of anyone who thinks the phrase that is rendered in the KJV as “Whose adorning let it not be…putting on of apparel” means Peter is trying to convey the thought “don’t wear clothes”. I do see translators and commentators who think Peter is literally & clearly saying: don’t wear “fine clothes”, “extravagantly beautiful clothes” or “expensive clothes”. Peter seems to associate a right heart and its corresponding correct appearance as one that excludes a few things like gold jewelry, hair-styling, & fine clothes. 1 Peter 3:3 seems to be a very simple and very clear argument that some “adornments” are excluded from a right, Christian appearance.

(Sometimes here & there questions are raised and sometimes I’ll give a go at trying to formulate an answer to them. If you see a question here, someone raised it.)