Whenever man-made rules are seen as indicative of godliness, the line between the sacred and the common is breached, and the witness of God’s people dishonored.

Resentful, aggrieved memories can become an excuse for rejecting the teachings of God’s Word.

“We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan, but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome.”

Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 324

Those whose background in the church is one of excessive rigidity and harshness toward those who differ with them must understand that such a spirit, destructive though it is, does not necessarily reflect the larger culture and worldview of many, many others who occupy the church’s pews and inhabit the society in which we live.