The Ballestero Blog

The Holier Than Thou Church

It was Wednesday night Bible Class. Brother Dan sat on the front row. He always seemed to have a smile on his face. His recent discharge from the Air Force had allowed him, his wife and two kids to relocate closer to his wife’s family.

Dan was a gifted musician. He blessed the church with his saxophone playing. He had only been a part of this new church about 3 weeks or so. He was readily accepted and seemed to fit in.

The pastor had warmly received him and his family into fellowship because Dan’s former pastor had recommended they transfer there. Dan and his family had been raised in a very conservative church.

The only immediate difference Dan could see was that in this new church they wore wristwatches and in his old church they didn’t.

The pastor was teaching his class from a small lectern in front of the pulpit. During the course of his Bible study, he noticed that Bro. Dan wasn’t wearing a watch.

Having been raised with great respect for those with convictions and a desire for holiness, the pastor honored Bro. Dan.

Yet he sensed a potential hazard and attempted to address it openly, yet as careful as he could.

The Pastor stood in front of the congregation as said, ”Bro. Dan, you and your family are a gift from God to our church. I am so glad you are here! What a blessing you have been already. I love your saxophone playing.”

The church readily responded with a hearty amen and hand clapping.

“I notice that you don’t wear a watch. I also understand that was the teaching of the church you were in before you came here.”

Bro. Dan nodded in agreement. The smile was still on his face.

“I honor you for that. Thank God for those that are trying to be careful in a world that tries to push all the boundaries.

“My Pastor taught me not to make light of people’s convictions. They might be right.”

The people said amen, and so did the smiling Bro. Dan.

“I guess you’ve noticed that most of us here have a watch on.” The preacher said as he pointed to his own black wristwatch.

“We try to be careful here how we dress. Up to now, we have used watches for the purpose of getting to work, school, and church on time, and not for ornamentation.

“What I do not want you to do my Brother, is to go out and buy yourself a wristwatch and wear one because the rest of us are. I am afraid that you will injure your conscience. I can’t let you do that.

“Promise me you won’t injure your conscience and buy a watch just because you can, and hurt your walk with God.”

Brother Dan nodded and grinned.

“On the other hand,” the Pastor said, “If you don’t buy a watch, be careful and don’t let a holier-than-thou spirit get on you. If you don’t buy a watch, that’s fine, but don’t sit back and look at saints and at a Pastor with watches and think to yourself that you have more holiness convictions than anyone here. That gets dangerous.

“What happens when you do that is you begin to feel superior, and before very long the enemy may speak into your spirit and say, ‘How can the Pastor help you? You are already closer to God than he is.’

“You then wind up with an unteachable spirit and you won’t even mean too. One of the signs of the Holy Ghost is that it is easy to be entreated.

“Before you would ever do that and allow yourself to feel superior to your Pastor, I will order you to buy two wristwatches and wear one on each wrist until you get over that spirit.”

The Pastor, Bro. Dan and the church all shared a hearty laugh.

At the next service, Bro. Dan showed his pastor his new watch and smiled. The Pastor smiled too. Bro. Dan was teachable. He didn’t want a holier than thou spirit.