The only thing more irritating than listening to a bunch of kids bicker is listening to a bunch of adults argue. How people can stand to listen to or watch those talk shows where each person tries to scream louder than the others is beyond me. If there is any intelligence involved, it’s lost in all the noise. Like my Uncle Floyd used to say, “Them folks ain’t got enough intellectuals to know how stupid they sound.”
Last week, I was listening to a few men debate whether churches should teach against using tobacco or drinking alcohol as a biblical standard or a man-made standard. From what I gathered, if the Bible prohibited something, then you could teach it as a biblical standard. But if the Bible did not specifically address a thing and you wanted to teach against it, you had to acknowledge that it was a man-made standard that God wasn’t necessarily obligated to acknowledge. I also discerned that by standard these fellows meant a rule that church members were expected to obey if they wanted to get to Heaven.
So, if the Bible says a specific thing, like stealing, is wrong, than you can teach against it – specifically and by name. But where the Bible says things like “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,” you aren’t allowed to make a list of things that those words might describe or you will be guilty of teaching man-made standards.