Why I Am an Anabaptist – Applications

Bethel Mennonite Church – Gladys VA

Why do we do what we do? People around us may think we are weird. Even if the culture around us changes, that does not mean that we need to change. We must never elevate our practices to be equivalent with the Bible, but they can still be beneficial.

Some Biblical mandates for Biblical practices:

1. A Biblical style of worship which would include personal worship from the heart and focused on the Spirit – not on the body and emotions; it should not be a show.
2. A community of believers; we need a community around us.
3. Modesty of dress
4. Headship veiling
5. Non-accumulation of goods
6. A Biblical peace ethic
7. The Sermon on the Mount

John Waldron: “I am an Anabaptist because I believe the Bible teaches the things we practice. By saying this I am not trying to promote legalism, nor am I saying that we never make mistakes or are better than everyone else.”

We want to express the spirituality Menno Simons spoke of: “True evangelical faith is of such a nature it cannot lie dormant, but spreads itself out in all kinds of righteousness and fruits of love; it dies to flesh and blood; it destroys all lusts and forbidden desires; it seeks, serves, and fears God in its inmost soul; it clothes the naked; it feeds the hungry; it comforts the sorrowful; it shelters the destitute; it aids and consoles the sad; it does good to those who do it harm; it serves those that harm it; it prays for those who persecute it; it teaches, admonishes, and judges us with the Word of the Lord; it seeks those who are lost; it binds up what is wounded; it heals the sick; it saves what is strong (sound); it becomes all things to all people. The persecution, suffering, and anguish that come to it for the sake of the Lord’s truth have become a glorious joy and comfort to it.”

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