Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
I think that separation from the local church is possible if one does it by manageable degrees..
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To add to those comments, it's probably worth considering what you're going into, instead of just on what you're leaving. In my case, clueless as I was, I got right into a group that was even more religiously legalistic. I've told the story before, so won't elaborate, but suffice it to say that I left that one even more frustrated than when leaving the local church.
In retrospect, the reason was simple: I had no purpose nor meaning to my life beyond what someone supplied me externally. I was ripe for anyone to come along and put "their" purpose on me. Or, barring that, to drift into the sensuality and empty pleasure-seeking of the world. It took a while, but one day, by chance or luck or God's mercy, I figured out my purpose, of why I should get out of bed every morning and face the new day. As Robert Frost wrote, "that made all the difference."
Getting "tea leaves are meant to go into water" or "gloves are made in the shape of a hand" or someone's homespun religion or philosophy didn't work. I don't need Witness Lee's purpose for my life, but I needed to know
my purpose, why was I here? What was I going to do with my life? Nobody else can answer those questions for me, and I can't answer them for others. But in the words of Jesus, if first you seek, then you'll find... i.e., no seeking, no finding.
Don't just "run away" from the local church, but allow yourself the necessary luxury of searching the realm of possible state spaces that are available. Find your own specific purpose and everything will follow. And when you know, you know. That's what's so cool about it. Nobody needs to say 'this is it' - you'll know. In my case it was a long frustrating road. But I daresay it was longer because I didn't make a conscious effort to use the tools given me, and the opportunities around me, to explore the realms of the possible. I just drifted in apathy, waiting for some charlatan like Lee to come in and foist his dreams on me. It was a rough road, I'll tell you! But one day, I figured out why I'm here, and everything changed. It was like, -- flash -- the world suddenly had meaning. Incredible.