In this long existing feud, there
are two main factions. They live poles apart. One is in the North pole and the
other is in the South pole. The one says that Christianity is in the heart and
it does not matter what you put on. So you can actually go to town and deck
yourself like a Chinese masquerade, God would not even give a wink. The other
in the south pole on the other hand says
you should not as much as touch it. Jewelries to them are unclean things and
they that use them are on the broad road to hell. Well, let us examine these
positions one after the other.
The “North Pole Inhabitants”—the
pro-Jewelry Christians
Their
main idea
1.
God does not care what you put on. They claim that
though man look at the outward appearance, God looks at the inside (1Samuel
16:7).
Answer:
·
But this
position seem to undermine the fact that even though God worked in salvation
into our heart, we are suppose to work it out with fear and trembling (Phil
2:12)
·
The
Message Bible renders Proverbs 27:19 thus:
Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart”. if
actually your heart is pure and is such as is worthy to stand the scrutiny of
God’s eyes as you claim, then your appearance will mirror it. Assuming God does
not look at the outward appearance, the outward appearance will at least tell
men what the inward appearance is like.
2.
We are the King’s kids so we should be flamboyant
Answer:
· It is true that we are the King’s kids. But we must remember that our kingdom is not of this world and as such the
beauty of the King that should be seen on us should not be that of this world but with the jewelries of heaven and not of the earth
which fades away. So instead of gold etc why not deck yourself with humility,
meekness and all the fruits of the spirit and see how nice you’d look.
3. Silver an
Gold are God’s so we’re entitled to use them
Answer:
· Quit true. Only remember that the Scriptures
says they are the Lord’s and not that you are theirs. Therefore, remember you
shall give account whether you used jewelries or or they used you.
Now
the South Pole Christians—the Anti-Jewelry folks:
These are more prevalent among
those of us with the “holiness” bias—or at least so they think. The argument of
this group is very serious and often vocalized that you’d almost think that that’s
all Christianity stands for. With reasons spanning from bible portions to testimonies
of ex-demon possessed person, they seek to show how sinful it is for you to use
jewelries. However, it is sometimes difficult to know if they are against
jewelries in their totality or they are only against earrings which is their major target
of criticism because many times, you’d see their male members and even
preachers freely put on gold wrist watches and cufflinks while raining woes on
ladies that dare to put on gold earrings
or necklaces. Or is it the gender inequality thing which is woven into
the fabric of the African culture, ethics and ideals that have found its way
into the church? Well, lets be more objective here and look at their arguments
to see if there is much validity. The main arguments against jewelries that I
am aware of are majorly from two or three portions of the Scriptures and we shall consider them briefly (please you
can draw my attention to others if any).
1.
The Use
of Jewelries is or leads to idolatry and
the Removal of it was necessary for consecration
The
proponents of this position hinge their argument the incidents of Genesis 35:1-5
and Exodus 32 and Exodus 33:5. In Genesis, The Lord directed Jacob to go up to
Bethel. It was necessary for the people to consecrate themselves hence Jacob
told his family to get rid of the idols with them. In response, they handed
Jacob all the idols and the jewelries with them which he disposed. In Exodus on
the other hand, The children of Israel had used their jewelries to make a
golden calf. The Lord then asked them to get rid of them before he made his
pronouncement on them. This is the major basis of the argument that Jewelries
are either idols in themselves or lead to idolatry and as such no consecration is
truly complete without getting rid of them.
Answer:
·
Jewelries
are not in themselves idols neither do they pollute people because they are
worn. Israel had jewelries with them all along. In fact they got their
jewelries from Egypt as directed by God. God had been visiting them in various
manifestations and had no problem with the Jewelries until they were polluted
by idolatry. Furthermore, if jewelry was altogether an idol or definitely causes idolatry,
Abraham would not have presented earrings and nose rings and bracelets of gold
to her daughter-in-law to be through whom the Messiahnic covenant was to be
fulfilled as it would be sowing the seed of corruption from such an early start (Genesis 24:22,30,33-56)
· With respect to Jacob and his family,
remember that Jacob’s wives were from homes that had family idols and were
given to idolatry. Their idols were made of gold etc and were consulted with
jewelries. This is likely the reason why Rachael stole some of them—either
because of its momentary worth or because of desire to consult with them
(Gen31:19). It must have been so precious so much so that Laban pursued them for seven days
(verse 23) and were it not for God’s intervention would have killed them (verse
24,29-30). What a precious god it was. Rachael would not let it go and had
to tell a lie to hide it (verse 35). These were the gods that were still with
Jacob’s family as at the time God wanted them to go to Bethel (Gen 35). So when
Jacob asked that his family got rid of them, they understood that it included
the jewelries with which they worshiped the idols (verse 4), for whatever is
with a man who is unclean becomes unclean (Haggai 2:11-14). That was why their
jewelries were unclean and needed to be removed as sign of consecration to God.
Thereafter, they acquired holy jewelries.
·
God has
no problem with jewelries. Rather He says Silver and gold are mine (Haggai
2:8). He blesses His children with it. In fact one of the Abrahamic covenant
that we now claim include riches. That is why He made Abraham rich in gold and
silver (Genesis 24:1 and 35). It is based on this covenant that God empowers
His people to get rich (Deut 8:8). So God doesn't really mind your having jewelries if they do not have you.
·
Jewelries
can either be holy or unholy. It is the user, the use to which it is put and
the person to which it is dedicated that matters. In Exodus 32 it was used for idolatory. In 35:4-30 it was used for making the temple. These things were
gotten directly form the bodies. of the children of Israel and were used to
make some of the most holy vessels to be put in the holiest of hollies and for
that matter the major part of the entire tabernacle (please read the passage).
Definitely God would not have asked for an idol or unclean thing to be used to make
His tabernacle 2Cor 6:16).
·
It is
true that Jewelries can be
idols and can lead to idolatry because whatever draws
one’s attention from God has become his own god and such an idolatry. Israel’s
jewelries at a point in time metamorphosed into a golden calf which they
worshiped. If your attention is drawn
from God because of jewelry obsession, or you become covetous because of
jewelry, you need to get consecrated for every form of greed or covetousness is
idolatry (Eph 5:5)
·
It is
commonly argued that from the incident of the golden calf, the children of
Israel removed the Jewelries with them and never used jewelries again. This is
because of the way some version of the scriptures like the NLT puts verse 5 of
Ex 33. But that was not what was intended. The Children of Israel actually put
away the jewelries that led them to idolatry and the remaining ones in their
bodies with which they served the idol. This was because they were then
unclean. That does not mean that they could not acquire jewelries again.
Furthermore, those that did not participate in the idolatry still had clean
jewelries. Though they too might have put away their own temporarily as a sign
of humility in the time of repentance. Otherwise, the bible would be contradicting
itself when it records that they Children of Israel had jewelries to give for
the construction of the tabernacle—an event which took place much latter after
the issue recorded in Chapter 32 and 33 (see Ex 35)
·
Though
Jewelry can be idols and can lead to idolatry, it is not
necessarily an idol neither does it necessarily lead to idolatry. Until Israel
converted their jewelries into golden calf, God never had an issue with it. In
fact, God asked them to take these things from Egypt (Exodus 12:35&36)
2.
Apostle
Peter Expressly Condemns it
The next
major argument against jewelries is that Apostle Peter expressly forbade it in
1Pet 3:3. This also the main argument against fixing of weavon and relaxation
of the hair
Answer:
·
Here, the
Beloved Apostle actually said that women should not let their source of beauty
to be in or rest in or depend on the jewelries they wore, the hair that they
plaited or the clothes that they put on rather it should be in their behavior.
This is simply a matter of grammatical understanding. If the archaic English of
KJV is a challenge, brethren should get bibles that are easier to read. For
example, NIV renders it thus; “Your beauty should not come from outward
adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelries and fine
clothes”.
This
admonition is like the one that says lean not on your own understanding. It
does not therefore say you should get rid of understanding. Neither does God
says the army should not prepare horses for war. He only says we should not
depend on them for strength. Also, God does not say we should get rid of men
but he does not want us to depend on them for help. So this passage does not
place a barn on these things, it only changes your perspective about them.
·
Furthermore,
if brethren would be sincere, they would be less economical with the truth in
interpreting this beautiful passage. Otherwise, three items were listed—hair,
jewelries, and clothes. Why is the attention on only the hair and jewelries.
Why don’t we also get rid of clothes so we can be absolutely consecrated? We
need to be balance in our bible interpretation. As a rule, if you find yourself
in a tight corner with scriptures looking like they are conflicting or you have
to avoid next verse or next phrase to look make sense in your analysis of the
scriptures, you are definitely missing something and have to wait to check so
the Holy Spirit can illuminate your heart. He will definitely do if we are
ready to learn with simplicity and are ready to remove the veil of
denominational dogma and the idol of preconceived ideology
·
As for
weavons, I think the answer above also applies. Furthermore, those that kick
against weavon would not mind our ladies platting their hair with rubber
threads and fixing of wools—which anyway is a form of weavon—albeit in the same
manner that the other weavons would have been used. It seems the idea is simply
“don’t look flash”y. That’s ok. But let’s not criminalize it altogether. Just
let us encourage modesty and not cause a rift in the house of God
3.
It is
demonic and used by demons
The next
major argument in support of these “South Pole” Anti Jewelry crusaders is that
the jewelries are carriers of demons or enforcers of same. To be sincere, I do
not know what is their biblical back up for this claim. I believe it is
ferreted from the claims of ex-demon possessed persons (that is if they were
really delivered). It is unfortunate that these claims are taken in hook line
and sinker. This is a manifestation of lack of the spirit of discernment in the
church. That is why we say yes lord to demons we should cast out and listen persons
who still want to enjoy the same honour they had in the dark world even though
they claim to have come to the light. These persons should rather hold their
heads in shame for the atrocities they have perpetuated. But now they take the
place of teachers in the house of the Lord. Brethren every spirit should be
tested.
Of a
truth, from my little experience with deliverance ministry, I have found out
that some jewelries—especially crystals are very useful for demonic
manipulation, astral projection, soul travel, transcendental meditations and as
guide in teleportation to name a few. But this is also true of other materials
especially mirrors, some other metals, plants, etc. Even the chime of a church
bell could trigger a soul travel or even astral projection if that is the
person’s cue.
The right
thing should be that we are supposed to wait on the Holy Spirit to tell us what
to do during deliverance ministration. I have seen instances where all a
persons bedding harbored devils. God really have to direct you.
CONCLUSION
It is clear that staying at the
North or South Pole will not be conducive as the Sun of Righteousness will not
shine with all His power over you. Why not move to the equator of the balanced
Christian? A balanced view as a Christian is quite necessary so we can live
together in love and harmony—a necessary prerequisite for a healthy church of
Christ. My conclusion therefore is as follows
·
There are a lot of things to which when we adhere,
we think we are doing very well because the flesh loves them and they make us
appear to the natural man as serious zealous or very spiritual but in the real
sense of it they do nothing help curb the indulgences of the flesh and neither
do they help to improve our walk in the Spirit.
Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the
rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to
ordinances(Touch not , taste not, handle not, which all are to perish with the
using) after the rudiments of men which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in
the will worship, and humility and neglecting of the body, but not in any
honour to the satisfying of the flesh” (Col 2:20-23)
·
Jewelries are not in themselves bad.
·
You can make them either good or bad. In fact you
can defile them or get defiled by them Just as you can use them to glorify God
·
If you are in a denomination where jewelries are
not allowed, Obey the authorities and wholeheartedly avoid the use of them following the principle of obedience (Romans
13:1; Titus 3:1)and God will bless your obedience (see the example of the
Racchabites in Jerr 35:2-10)
·
Do not leave your church where Christ met you
simply because you are becoming disobedient concerning the issue of earrings.
Let the Holy Spirit be the one to lead you as to when and where to move. (1Cor
7:17 applies here also). However, if it is causing a serious rift, rather than
becoming the trouble maker, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to the right place
where you can worship Him
·
Be modest in all you do. Even unbelievers know
what modesty is if we are sincere.
·
Never castigate others on these points. The Holy
Ghost is our teacher and so if we differ in these issues, He will lead each
denomination aright as He wills (Phil 3:15-16)
·
There is also the issue of the Lord speaking with
some persons to remove these things. I do not deny such instances. But these
are personal conviction which you should allow the Holy Spirit to make clear to
others if they must follow suit. Paul did not impose celibacy on us even though
he would have wished we were all like him.
·
In all let us pursue after those things that unite
us rather than our points of differences.
·
No matter what you believe after now, be confident
that knowledge shall increase and the Holy Spirit shall definitely teach us. Be
confident in the teaching of the Holy Spirit if really we are in tune
Now “let us therefore, as many as be perfect be thus minded and if in any
thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless,
whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the
same thing” (Phil 3:15-16). Until Christ comes,
STAY CONNECTED TO GOD.
I Love you all.
Yours
in Christ
Pastor
Cymper-Omeiza Samuel Akpologun
Beloved, Thanks for reading. Please make sure you check back every Wednesday when new posts come out.
xoxo,
Pst Sam
