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Originally Posted by Indiana
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Yeah, I don't buy this. I think it is an interesting observation that WN made concerning one church in in one city as recorded in the NT. There is no direct teaching made by anyone concerning this unless you want to use that verse about appointing elders in each city. The idea that there is a secret formula to the oneness, is to my mind laughable. We are charged to keep the oneness, not a formula. If it were easy the Lord wouldn't have said it was a narrow way and that there were few that find it. Everyone is more than happy to jump at shortcuts, few are willing to take the hard road.
Also, I think the teaching of one church, one city is in fact a way to distinguish one group of Christians from another, and that by definition, is sectarian. You are not going to keep the oneness with a sectarian teaching.
In addition, this teaching lays the foundation for other teachings like "God's unique move on Earth" (an elitist and arrogant teaching sure to blind any that accept it), or "poor, poor Christianity" (an arrogant teaching sure to puff up and cut off from fellowship any that accept it) and of course the abusive and cultish teaching that if you leave the LRC you leave God's blessing.
So, it is true that the application of this teaching is off. The question should not be "how do we fix the application" but rather "why is it off?" If you ask the second question you will find, in my opinion, that the teaching itself is sectarian. Therefore the answer is not to fix the application, but to stop teaching the teaching.