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"Should a congregation governed by the men (no elders)
be concerned if their part time minister also manages a tobacco outlet store?" — Website Visitor "What did Jesus mean when he told Mary, 'Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father...' in John 20:17?" — J. B., Oklahoma Harrell Davidson |
Question One: "Should a congregation governed by the men (no elders) be concerned if their part time minister also manages a tobacco outlet store"? — Website Visitor Answer to One: This is indeed a good question, but not so easy to answer. We are reasonably sure that most would appeal to First Corinthians 6:20 where the apostle Paul said, "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's." In the very early 1960s we preached many sermons against smoking cigarettes. We were told that it was bad for our health. We were told that we ought to smoke cigars or pipes and that chewing tobacco did not hurt the body whatsoever. The late brother James D. Bales said to this writer that, "If you are not careful you will make this a hobby and ride it." He said that he had violated his own body by the loss of sleep in order to write more books and do more of the Lord's work so that his health was at great risk. We did not know that much about tobacco in those years. Today the scientific community has proof that all kinds of tobacco are not good for our health. It is a nasty, awful smelling, and expensive habit that is also addictive. Being addictive indicates that we are not in control of our own bodies or we "cave in" to the habit, but I have never known of a person having a wreck and killing innocent individuals because of nicotine. Tobacco today has warning labels, but the alcohol industry has a free reign. Surely the legs of the lame are not equal. What kind of work should the part time preacher do? If he pumps gasoline he sells tobacco and many in my home state of Tennessee sell alcohol of various kinds. We thought that when the lottery came to our state that we would try to trade where the lottery was not offered. First thing we recognized is that many of the service stations or convenience stores participated in the lottery. The medical community a few weeks ago said that the biggest health risk in America is obesity — eating too much. Could the part time preacher work at a fast food store? You see, the same passage that covers tobacco covers a multitude of other things. The difference is that one is accepted by mankind and the other is not so well accepted. A deacon in a congregation that we once worked with contracted a strange kind of diabetes. It was a kind that was self induced. The doctor asked him to monitor what it was that he was doing every day and make a list of what he ingested. He ran a grocery store. The first thing on his agenda was drinking a soft drink upon his arrival at the store. He made note of it. By day's end he had consumed 36 soft drinks! Habit? Yes! Wrong? Yes! Good example? No! Perhaps the part time preacher is not setting the best example, but he cannot run from the vices of others. Our experience has been that regardless of what he did some would have concerns because a preacher is many times the "target" of fast talk and little sympathy. One preacher took the position that if a postman delivered a manila envelope that may have a piece of pornographic material enclosed that the postman was contributing to the sin of the person receiving the mail. His elders asked him to come in for a meeting on this matter. They asked him if the postman delivered a Sears and Roebuck catalog was he endorsing all that the catalog advertised? There not being elders in the congregation in question really has nothing to do with the problem. Question Two: "What did Jesus mean when he told Mary, 'Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father...' in John 20:17?" — J. B., Oklahoma Answer to Two: No doubt, this question has given rise to much misunderstanding and speculation because Jesus permitted or required "doubting Thomas" to touch Him as recorded in John 20: 27, but not Mary. What is the difference between Mary and Thomas? This strikes at the heart of the question asked. Mary did not doubt that this was Jesus. Thomas, on the other hand, was not even with the other apostles on the first Lord's Day after the resurrection. It is rather obvious that Thomas needed something that Mary did not need. If we may factor in Matthew 28:9 we have a better understanding due to the fact that other women were, according to Matthew's record, prostrating themselves at the feet of Jesus clinging to Him and worshipping Him. Apparently Mary would have done the same as the other women, but Jesus forbade it in her case. She could not touch Him. Next, "Touch me not" may not be the best translation. Touch me not comes from a Greek phrase that means essentially "cease clinging to me." This helps us understand the statement in Matthew 28:9 better. It is also a fact that when Jesus said, "for I am not yet ascended to my Father" there were many days left that Jesus would be on this earth. Mary was needed (commanded) to convey a message of faith to the disciples that "I ascend." It has always been interesting to me that Mary Magdalene was chosen to convey this message and was first at the tomb. Jesus had cast "seven devils" (cf. Mark 16:9) out of her previously. Obviously, she was now an ardent believer in Jesus. The writer suspects that we would have never had the problem with this passage had it not have been for Thomas. Two different people! Two different things! One was filled with joy and gratitude. The other was not sure that Jesus had arisen. |