Second Letter

Jennie C. Rutty - April 21

Pomona, California

Bro. R. L. Berry

Dear Brother:

Greeting in Jesus’ name and praying God to bless you. I am slow in answering your letter on account of the sickness of a sister and the meetings held by Bros. Brown and Bolds. There are several points that I wish to draw to your attention if possible. You say you have a poor opinion of a sister’s experience who would take advantage of the brother’s necktie, to put on adornment. Ministers and workers ought to be examples to the flock, and are expected to be spiritual and obtain wisdom from God. Many weaker ones live to the example set before them, rather than directly to the Lord, and they reason in a natural way, that if it is right for the brethren to look nice like the world, it is right for them, and they feel that liberty of conscience should be given them, either to wear a modest little pin or a necktie, as the brethren.

In my twenty-eight years association with the saints, I have never seen a necktie on a mature saint, nor heard a word of desire for it until at Anderson, Indiana, four years ago; but I have heard dear good brethren testify how God showed them to leave off wearing the tie, because it was worldly conformity. Now you know, Bro. Berry, that a change has been made in counting the tie a custom instead of worldly conformity, for the reason that it is worn by worldly men who wear the European dress. That is just human judgment. Now to be consistent, we must see what is worn generally by all worldly women, who wear the European dress, and permit the sisters to wear the same. Here and there is adversity of such wear, sometimes one thing and sometimes another, but it is considered that there must be a fix up of the neck. The tie now is velvet with lace or streamers, or ribbon and buds. Will you give me a scriptural reason why, if Bro. Youngblood, our pastor, should wear the prevailing style of necktie that men wear, why should not I, his assistant, wear the style that is worn by worldly women? I had one given to me for Christmas, by a friend of my daughter.

Bro. Berry, you are not just in your reasonings about cutting the ribbons off of the necks of the sisters. In all these years of association with the saints, I have never seen a mature saint sister wearing a collar and a ribbon at the same time. They have worn ribbons in place of a collar, but not the two. For years I wore a tie of white bobbinet for a collar, tied with a lover’s knot, and the ends tucked in the front of the waist, as I saw in a picture of Mary D. James, a holiness woman of the Methodists, before I met the saints. But as I grew fleshy and perspired freely, that was not neat, and for years, I have made collars to turn over the band of my dress. If the brothers need a tie for neatness, I do too. Many suggested a pin or a little bow to take away the plainness. Do I want the plainness taken away?

NO, NEVER! I enjoy speaking in this way, for my heart is changed, and there is no place for ties or ribbons. Since liberty of conscience is preached, several sisters have worn bows of velvet and lace, and we think, how would it be possible to instruct the sisters concerning plainness, if your reasonings are carried out.

These things are not far away, but right on us. When you take hold of one part of dress as a custom, you have to dispose of all the questions that arise around it. It is not the part of law makers to make a law that leaves a gap or that interferes with other laws; so it is not consistent for preachers to take a position on any question that creates inconsistencies or imposes heavy burdens. I know of no greater burden that you can place upon women today than to allow brothers to dress like the world and preach that all the little things of women’s attire that makes her look like the worldling, is adornment, and worldly conformity. Why not call it all custom and let it all into the church? I hold you, Bro. Berry, to give me a consistent attitude on these things.

You are not the only one that gets a glimpse of the counsel of Gehenna. I have had several at a time when you were not looking. Let me show you one.

Satan was in trouble, for he saw that the consistency and humility of God’s children were having great influence wherever they lived. He desired to find some way to counteract it. He remembered that a very little, inoffensive-looking imp had done him good service, and now as he thought of him, he saw his face around the corner and called to him.

Satan: “Well, sir, what have you been doing?”

Imp: “Nothing, sir; only thinking.”

Satan: “What does that amount to?”

Imp: “I hope my plan will work out, one of the greatest inconsistencies that religious people have ever been led into.”

Satan: “Tell it to me immediately.”

Imp: “I can’t tell it all, but I will give you just a peep at my plans. You know that women love to look nice and be attractive in appearance, and many have kept from serving God in order to follow the styles of the world. Now those who serve God lose all desire for worldly adornment, and we find it very difficult to impose it upon them, especially where those brethren they have confidence in, are continually assisting them with scriptural instructions and examples. Men have their minds and hearts on things so much greater and of such vast importance to the religious cause, that they do not often value the importance of little things. Now I will just slip a little extra article of dress up on them as a custom or matter of conscience, and when the stir begins, I will keep them looking at the little piece of cloth, and the absurdity of having trouble over such a little thing.

“While they are thus engaged, I will suggest to the sisters that the brethren have been and are now unjust in counting the little extra trimmings in women’s dress as worldly conformity and adornment, instead of custom as they do for themselves. I will keep this before them until all the little worldly things will be accepted by them and they will be dressed just like the world, with pride in abundance, while they repose upon their liberty-of-conscience plea. Nothing stirs a woman’s heart like being treated unjustly by those she has confidence in.

“When we get those earnest, self-denying women, then we have gained the day. I will keep the eyes of the men on the subject of liberty of conscience and have them preach it boldly in order to get that little article of dress upon them. Whenever there is any resistance, I will term it fanaticism and say that not wearing a tie is a sect-mark, and thus deceive them and make them think it is really so. Then I shall soon suggest that all who do not wear the ties are bearing the sect-mark, and must be counted as sectarians. Nothing will have greater force to whip them into line, as they hate whatever seems like sectism.

“When the men begin to notice that the women are dressing like the world, their tongues will be silenced, for they cannot deny the liberty of conscience to women as well as to men; consequently, the dress question will be left as a matter of conscience and custom to all. Then the women will soon be wearing feathers, and flowers, and laces, and such like, for these things have been worn as long as the tie has, by all who wear the European dress.”

Satan: “Well planned. Just work it on, and you will gain more than can be seen by you now, and I will also have a hand with you in other ways, and we will darken their evening light. When we will make them believe that they have held a fanatical position on one thing, then it will not be hard to make them think that they have been fanatical on other lines, and that their Holy Spirit leadings were only a myth; and so we will have them in confusion, for their darkness will veil the two witnesses that they have talked so much about. Now just go ahead, but be very sly. Silently work your inconsistencies until they bring division.”

Now Bro. Berry, if you will look over our books, you will find they are full of exactly such teachings as you condemn in Bro. Orr’s tract. I believed just exactly that way for years, long before I heard of Bro. Orr. My books are full of implied principles of truth. There is not a sermon preached but what something is mentioned as evil or good that is not definitely spoken of in the Word. I have followed you and others in your criticism of Bro. Orr’s writings and am confident that you are wrong. A wrong spirit is surely at work. You say that God showed you the truth of the matter. Others say God showed them years ago that the tie was worldly conformity, and their leadings are in harmony with mine on other lines, and so I concluded that you are being deceived. May the Lord help you to seek God for the help that you need.

Yours in Christ,
Jennie C. Rutty