Segregation

Good question, Arrie.
That first and most extreme example that comes to mind is sunday school.
I know the history and original purpose behind sunday school, but what is the biblical justification for continuing it?
...and if there is a biblical justification for it, what is the biblical justification for segregating people by age or life condition (marital status, etc...)?
 
I think you have asked a tough question. Again I think this pertains only to those within the body of Christ.
In our church, the children go to a separate church, but again this is separated into even different classes to accommodate themes and teaching for children of that age group. Obviously a child building duplo cannot start of with mechano blocks is a good parallel.
That is basically what it means to me, but the meaning of that Sunday school setup may be quite something different to someone else. It pulls through to other thing also, woman prayer meeting vs. mens prayer meetings, separate youth gatherings. I do not know. Is it biblical, I'm not sure. Cannot recall any detail of how children was taught in that time.
Jesus was in the temple with the adults from young, but let's face it, He is super special and above any man teacher.
We can pull this through to denominations - but I'm sure I can explain that away also.
 
Well, maybe it is practical. When Moses was in the wilderness, didnt he divide up the groups and delegate to make it more manageable?

I mean I go to ladies bible study...and men go to mens groups..but you can also be in mixed groups. Sometimes us ladies like to be apart from the men...talk about girl stuff you know.
 
I suppose it depends how big your congregation is. Small groups of no more than 12 are good. When a congregation reaches to something like 70 anything over becomes a bit unwieldy so could reasonably split into two assemblies.

I dont know I never actually farmed sheep, but I do know that each flock likes to have personal attention.
 
Lanolin, you will be right with what you say there, but segregation can mean so much more, like denominations. But I'm not against that either.
 
Oh, think that might be a bigger, issue, I was just responding to OP.
As for being the body of christ, we all need each other and in one body, but with different functions.
 
Not sure..I know it was because some women were menstruating and men weren't allowed to touch them at that time, so maybe they thought women better off apart cos they don't always know when a lady is.
 
I don't think its because of lust...that sounds a bit islamic to me. In that religion, sexes are completely segregated.
 
They separate the sexes during their marriage ceremony, but I think that is just cute. Unsure about services. We have services together male and female, but does that create a problem of lust, I do not think so.
 
maybe its just one of their traditions.
even in our christian marriage ceremonies the bride and groom separate before coming together...men with the groom, doing guy stuff, bridesmaids with the bride, doing girly stuff.
 
Lanolin said:
Children need to hear the gospel and in a way they can understand, they have shorter attention spans and cant sit still for as long as adults can.
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Agreed, but its worth considering that when the church exploded across the world, the kids were not seperated from the parents/adults. Given the overall lack of parental discipline and insistence on chemical discipline most kids in our culture recieve I can see some justification for seperation of the kids.

What I do not understand is the insistence on a seperation of the 'youth' from the adults. There is a reason that young people are leaving the church wholesale.
The youth groups are held apart as something separate. They are given special attention, special trips, and special functions.
They do not learn from the examples and lives of the older believers in the church, because they are kept apart from them.

How can we reasonably expect them to suddenly be part of the church when we have spent so much time and effort showing them that they are not?
 
eric m williams said:
Good question, Arrie.
That first and most extreme example that comes to mind is sunday school.
I know the history and original purpose behind sunday school, but what is the biblical justification for continuing it?
...and if there is a biblical justification for it, what is the biblical justification for segregating people by age or life condition (marital status, etc...)?
Click to expand...

It is not about Biblical justification. It is about the ages of believers and their ability to learn.

A 6 year old has different learning abilities from a 15 year old and a 21 year old has different abilities than a 70 year old.

We all learn at different levels and Sunday School just like high school is done to maximize the person's ability.

We all must learn what 2 + 2 is before we can consider what A + B= 2 squared is.
 
Yea I dont know about the youth groups.
Because teen culture these days is so different, they at an age where they in between. Its like the wilderness years.
 
I would say the young of sheep are lambs, not kids.
Sorry it just annoys me when ppl refer to young children these days as kids.
Kids are the young of goats.
 
Major said:
It is not about Biblical justification. It is about the ages of believers and their ability to learn.

A 6 year old has different learning abilities from a 15 year old and a 21 year old has different abilities than a 70 year old.

We all learn at different levels and Sunday School just like high school is done to maximize the person's ability.

We all must learn what 2 + 2 is before we can consider what A + B= 2 squared is.
Click to expand...
Let's consider though...was this the manner that God's people were taught in the bible though? Did they do something similar in order to facilitate learning, or are we bringing in secular/natural methods into the church because it "makes sense" to do it that way?
 
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