Those Were The Good Old Days!

I was reading my devotional materials this morning and the above was the title of one of them. This material is not copyrighted so I am going to copy it here. Consider Hebrews 10:32a which admonishes us to remember days gone by. Here's the story:
     A pastor and his wife took a day trip to the birthplace of Ulysses S. Grant, taking in his boyhood home and the one room school he attended. While there the pastor picked up the "Teacher's Rules" that they had to abide by back in those 19th Century southern Ohio school rooms. Here are just a few: Female teachers could not marry or even company with men while under contract. They had to be home by 8:00 p.m. They could not loiter at ice cream stores or ride in a carriage unless with her brother or father. They could not smoke, wear bright colors, dye their hair or wear skirts shorter than two inches above the ankle. Men teachers had to fill lamps, clean chimneys and haul water. They could only court one night a week or twice if they went to church. If he smoked, used liquor, went to pool halls or got shaved in a barbershop he would have to give reason for people not to suspect his worth and integrity. Oh, and after working five years, without fault, could get a raise of a quarter a week with the board's approval.  Copied from Baptist Bread, November/December 2012 issue.

This may seem ridiculous in our modern day but consider: teachers back then were not being accused of raping/molesting students; they were not engaged in pornography; and they didn't get in trouble for having affairs with students. The rules may have been severe, but which would you rather have--severity and integrity or hedonism and danger for your children? I Thessalonians 5:22 tells us to abstain from even the appearance of evil. Like it or not, people judge you by the actions and attitudes they see and you can't stop people from doing that. What kind of reputation do you have? What kind do you want?

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