I appreciate the sentiment and your heart here, but also appreciate you are not being dogmatic about total adherence to "the rule." I think the greater call (and what scripture tells us is possible) is to treat one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, with honor and with esteem, seeing each other not primarily as a possible temptation but as a co-laborer in the gospel. Women can often sense the men who view women not as a sister in Christ, equal in worth and in intellect, but as a "temptation" primarily viewed thru and interacted with via the lens of a needed guardrail. I recognize there's not an easy fix to the devastation that comes to so many marriages thru inappropriate relationships, and the intent here is protection for both men and women, but too often this "rule" is misapplied to ill-effect. I wonder if the men being encouraged by senior pastors to follow this rule are also being asked questions like "what are your thoughts toward women? How are you protecting your fidelity to your wife? How are you esteeming the women in our church and seeking their wisdom and point of view?" If all that's being communicated is "don't be alone with a woman" it's a disservice to all parties.
Well said. I agree but even with the goal of seeing the opposite sex in a fraternal way there needs to be as you have described, accountability on church staffs and at homes. Accountability out of love not some weird control.
I appreciate the sentiment and your heart here, but also appreciate you are not being dogmatic about total adherence to "the rule." I think the greater call (and what scripture tells us is possible) is to treat one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, with honor and with esteem, seeing each other not primarily as a possible temptation but as a co-laborer in the gospel. Women can often sense the men who view women not as a sister in Christ, equal in worth and in intellect, but as a "temptation" primarily viewed thru and interacted with via the lens of a needed guardrail. I recognize there's not an easy fix to the devastation that comes to so many marriages thru inappropriate relationships, and the intent here is protection for both men and women, but too often this "rule" is misapplied to ill-effect. I wonder if the men being encouraged by senior pastors to follow this rule are also being asked questions like "what are your thoughts toward women? How are you protecting your fidelity to your wife? How are you esteeming the women in our church and seeking their wisdom and point of view?" If all that's being communicated is "don't be alone with a woman" it's a disservice to all parties.
Well said. I agree but even with the goal of seeing the opposite sex in a fraternal way there needs to be as you have described, accountability on church staffs and at homes. Accountability out of love not some weird control.