EXPEL THE WEAKER BROTHER!!
ATHENS, Ga. — Tired of accommodating their legalistic friend, members of a men's group have asked Harold Beihn to loosen up or move on.
"His standard of personal holiness fits us a little too tight," says one member.
But Beihn says he just "wanted my guys to be holy as the Lord is holy. I think God put me in their lives to remind them of the rules."
By all accounts, Beihn's lifestyle was out of synch with the others'. He vetoed most activities the other guys wanted to do because they "didn't accord with righteous living." This ruled out movies, sporting events, even bowling because the atmosphere at the lanes is "too loose," says Beihn.
Beihn also took accountability so seriously that he often called the other men at 7:30 a.m. and asked, "Did you kiss your wife yet?" If the answer was no, he'd report them to the men's ministry pastor.
The situation recently came to a head when everyone but Beihn wanted to play darts and drink beer every Monday night in their garages, creating a casual venue for inviting unsaved friends.
But Beihn had a major hang-up with it.
"He kept saying, 'Darts, I can handle, but beer — I can't go there, guys,'" says one member. Subsequently, the other members asked Beihn to leave the group, saying they were "moving in different directions."
Beihn joined another group, which he enjoys and whose members "run a tighter ship, morally speaking."
"They have respect for the rules I live by," says Beihn. "We get along great."•
