Will Legalistic Standards Doom Bible College Before It Starts?

 In a sermon announcing the establishment of Sure Word Bible College, Pastor Stacey Shifflet articulated the reason for doing so in part because of what he perceives as the diminishing ranks of fundamentalists. 

Shifflet denounced graduates of similar institutions that upon commencement dropped the descriptor “Baptist”from how they describe themselves.   

But is it “Baptist” one worships and upon which one pins the hope of getting into Heaven at the end of this life or rather belief in Christ as the Son in the triune Godhead professed by the redeemed irrespective of denominational affiliation?   

In the student handbook published online is a requirement that students must wear undershirts beneath a collared shirt and a suit coat.  

Perhaps it might be edifying for once for Fundamentalists to consider the role played by standards commanded nowhere in the pages of the Bible in discouraging otherwise redeemed individuals and prompting believers into seeking affiliation with theological movements and interpretations still within the pale of orthodoxy but not as fanatically rigorous in terms of behavioral application.  

By Frederick Meekins