Quote:
Originally Posted by bettercountry
I think the true benefit of this forum only comes when everyone has an “iron sharpen iron” mentality, and that none of us are correct on everything. We all have something to learn in our spiritual journey, and that will never stop on this side of heaven. That’s at least, my personal prayer for myself. To be willing and even grateful to be corrected where I ought to be. If that's not my stance, the usefulness of a site like this would be rather limited.
As I continue to ponder the points from “Just Saying” (and others in the same boat as him)….a crude analogy came to mind that might possibly help understand why those of us that left the LC may have varying/different experiences about the LC, and ultimately, different conclusions. If we can imagine the LC as being a large house with many rooms….let’s say there is a slow but constant carbon monoxide leak that exists. And, up until the mid-80s or at some point in the LC history (which is probably another item of debate), there were still a few isolated rooms in the house where the leak did not infiltrate. So, perhaps in the totality of my time in the LC, perhaps I was able to, on brief occasions, be in a few of those isolated “rooms” where there was still no exposure to the CO poisoning. And, perhaps for others, for whatever reason, the carbon monoxide happened to be present in every single room that they entered. Perhaps they never found any rooms at all that were secured from the leak.
In this case, when we reminisce about this "house", this could explain why “Person A” may say there were some good/genuine/profitable things about the LC, while “Person B” would say there is absolutely nothing about the LC that was/is not toxic.
For me, by the mid 80s, I found that the “CO” had permeated every single room of the house….and I simply had no choice but to leave. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that…at least in my opinion, I was sovereignly able to be in a handful of “rooms” prior to the mid 80s where I was not only protected from poisonous teaching, but I was able to “breathe” some of the best clean air that I can remember.
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Following up on your Carbon Monoxide analogy, we had a number of gifted brothers in the Midwest who were not ministry zealots, neither for WL nor for TC. Oftentimes they would just “open a window” and introduce fresh air into the room, dispelling stale toxins, and bring us back to a Christ-centered and Bible first perspective. But that’s not to say that everything and everyone in the Midwest LCs was healthy. Usually I personally would just “lean” towards those I was with, both the good and the worthless, especially in those early years.
Back to your “iron sharpen iron” mentality, I definitely have “leaned” away from many of the unique teachings of WL over the years I have spent here on this forum. Teachings like the ground of locality and God’s Economy were so ingrained in my thinking that it took many months of “sharpening” to be purged of that leaven. Then I would reach the point where I would stand firm against all criticism. One such item was “calling on the name of the Lord.” To me this was something precious in the scripture introduced to me by WL. While I definitely oppose what is now practiced and all programmed “chants” promoted by WL or others, that does not negate the admonition to call on the Lord out of a pure heart.