Separation

Of all the issues I have come across, possibly the most difficult in which to determine my position is the belief in personal and ecclesiastical separation. Having spent more than a full year on SharperIron, I have concluded that I am not the only one with questions in these areas. But I think perhaps my confusion stems from a misunderstanding of the doctrine of unity. Many of us are familiar with passages like Ephesians 4:1-6 and 1 Corinthians 12, but have we thoroughly considered them in regard to unity? It seems that when the fundamentals of biblical Christianity are discussed, one very prominent idea is left out. It is this principle of unity in the body of Christ.

Note: Dr. Richard V. Clearwaters was pastor of the Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis from 1940-1981. He led the Minnesota Baptist Convention out of the Northern Baptist Convention and convened the first section of the Conservative Baptist Association. During those years, he also founded Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Central Baptist Theological Seminary. This article is from his autobiography, On the Upward Road. We believe it was originally written in the 1960s or 1970s. It is reprinted here with permission.

by Richard V. Clearwaters

^{The following notes were presented by Dr. Kevin Bauder, president of Cental Baptist Theological Seminary of Plymouth, MN, at a workshop at the 2006 National Leadership Convention at Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary, Lansdale, Pennsylvania. They were originally published at SharperIron on March 8, 2006.}

I. Definitions.

A. Professing Brother.

By Tom Pryde (in black) and Ken Fields (in red)

Note: Dr. Richard V. Clearwaters was pastor of the Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis from 1940-1981. He led the Minnesota Baptist Convention out of the Northern Baptist Convention and convened the first section of the Conservative Baptist Association. During those years, he also founded Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Central Baptist Theological Seminary. During the struggles within the Northern Baptist Convention and the Conservative Baptist Association, Dr.

Concerns over our immodest culture are not swirling in the religious sector alone. Scrambling to bring a semblance of decency to the educational process, the Florida public schools in my own beloved Pinellas County declared a “classroom cover-up” war this past year, initiating a strict dress code that even prohibits sleeveless garments. One thing is certain: As the extreme indecent fashions of our day prompt the resurrection, enforcement, and establishment of dress codes in institutions across our country, the discovery will be made that rules carry little power to legislate modesty.