"The roughnesses which have rendered some obnoxious, and the fopperies which have made others contemptible, we must put away. We cannot afford to run great risks through little things. Our care must be to act on the rule, 'giving no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed.' By this is not intended that we are to hold ourselves bound by every whim or fashion of the society in which we move. As a general rule I hate the fashions of society, and detest conventionalities, and if I conceived it best to put my foot through through a law of etiquette, I should feel gratified in having it to do. No, we are men, not slaves; and are not to relinquish our manly freedom, to be the lackeys of those who affect gentility or boast refinement." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students
Sometimes it proves better to be a man than to be mannerly. It all depends on whose manners they are and how you break them. If they are from God and for His glory, don't break them at all. If they are from man and mar God's glory, don't break them too lightly.
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