Jumpstarter 5 of 10

Direct Answer Bercot suggests separation fractures churches when believers treat debatable applications (clothes, entertainment, lifestyle choices) as the main measure of faithfulness; a group can pursue holiness by focusing on clear New Testament principles and allowing flexibility where the early church allowed it.

Support from Transcript:

• He says labeling things “worldly” is difficult because “nearly everything…developed in the world…very few things…were created…by the church itself.”
• He gives examples that can become flashpoints: “Is it worldly…to play marbles?…volleyball?…baseball?…playing cards?”
• He observes: “The answers aren’t easy,” implying room for disagreement among committed Christians.
• He laments that separation efforts have “caused more divisions and church splits…than probably anything else.”
• He notes early Christians were not identified by “a totally different style of clothes” and generally followed local customs, yet lived differently in values.
• On entertainment, he notes the early church had “not so much the rule approach” but “teach and exhort,” and people generally weren’t “put out of the church” for attending spectacles, though strongly warned.