Separation from the world: when is it too much?

[VerticalLiftEnjoyer]

I was reading some Presbyterian articles on separation from the world, and as I got to "Popular Amusements", it just became too much to bear. Bowling? Card-playing? Drinking and novel reading? All forbidden because... I dunno. Just do it.

What's a middle ground on this? The Lutherans seem to have a tendency to be absorbed due to their 2K theology, but I find this brand of separation insane and impossible to accept, or even keep.

 

[VerticalLiftEnjoyer]

P.S. I know some here get polemic when it comes to these issues. Please abstain from such fighting, I want this thread to last more than 2 pages hopefully

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

Please abstain from such fighting, I want this thread to last more than 2 pages hopefully

Ah, the innocence of youth.

 

[MyCrows]

Separation from the world: when is it too much?

When you can no longer survive due to lack of oxygen, and extreme temperature/pressure.

 

[VerticalLiftEnjoyer]

Separation from the world: when is it too much?

When you can no longer survive due to lack of oxygen, and extreme temperature/pressure.

Is the earth not flat, and NASA a liar?

 

[TheInquirer]

It takes becoming intimately familiar with Scripture and parsing legalism from abstaining from legitimate things God hates. It is a process and we certainly do not all agree on this board. Some Christians seem to define themselves more by what they don‘t do than what they do.

Best advice I can give is start by abstaining from that which is obviously sinful. Then start becoming familiar with your heart motivations and start getting those in line with the Lord. Some things will simply take care of themselves over time as you build increasing desires for the Lord and His Kingdom.

Some of this is tightly connected to the legalism/antinomianism issue and there are pitfalls on each side.

 

[Polanus1561]

You cannot exclude the element of the conscience in this.

If it is simply black white with a clear spectrum, then the question will always be "Why are you not more on the right side of the spectrum like that guy whose checklist is more than yours?"

 

[jwithnell]

I take this type admonition as an opportunity to stop and assess how my time is spent. It's easy to fritter away a precious resource. On the flip side, God gave us a world to enjoy.

Prior to about 1900, a few card games a week could have been a disaster given the amount of labor it took the average Joe to get by. Now washing for me is mostly a matter of moving clothes from one machine to another and a centrally-heated house takes a twist of a dial.

It comes down to wisdom and the line might be legitimately drawn in differing places (assuming we're not getting pulled into the vile stuff that gets sold as amusement these days).

 

[davejonescue]

Separation from the world could be summed up in a pithy Puritan (though I forget the author off-hand) statement.
-- Dont do (or waste time doing) that which you wouldnt do on your last day, or what you would be ashamed to do in front of the Lord.--

For we dont know which day is our last, and the eyes of the Lord are always upon us. You may be embarrassed if the Lord was watching you waste your time trying to win a shiny bowling trophy; but at the same time feel no shame if you were spending time with your family teaching your young children how to bowl in the spirit of bonding. Many times it isnt "the thing" that is sinful, but the thing we make out of it. Titus 1:15 Take alcohol; it can be used to help with a stomach ache, or it can lead to drunkenness. Sex is beautiful in marriage, but detestable in whoredom. A kiss can be a greeting, but also a betrayal. Money can promote the Gospel, and can profane it. And the list goes on. The Bible not only explains the black and white, but how the grey is properly used. What examples of the saints were given to us? Did they spend their lives carousing, or focused on the life to come? God could have put any example of any saints in the Bible, yet what he has given is for our benefit. Where they fall, we can stand, and where they stand, we can mimic according to the measure that has been provided to each of us.

 

[MyCrows]

When the separation leads to a failure to carry out the commands of the Lord, i.e. the great commission, love your enemies, etc.

 

[No Other Name]

Is the earth not flat, and NASA a liar?

I laughed.

But seriously: the earth is not flat, and NASA is a huge liar about many things.

 

[Miss Marple]

I take this type admonition as an opportunity to stop and assess how my time is spent. It's easy to fritter away a precious resource. On the flip side, God gave us a world to enjoy.

Prior to about 1900, a few card games a week could have been a disaster given the amount of labor it took the average Joe to get by. Now washing for me is mostly a matter of moving clothes from one machine to another and a centrally-heated house takes a twist of a dial.

It comes down to wisdom and the line might be legitimately drawn in differing places (assuming we're not getting pulled into the vile stuff that gets sold as amusement these days).

I always assumed card playing involved gambling. Of course I don't know.

And that admonitions against going to the theater probably reflected pornographic or men-dressed-as-women or blasphemous content, which, it often still does.

But not the cards or a play as an abstract. I wonder. I do play card and board games and go to various performances.