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Originally Posted by zeek
Again, he may be hinting at the problematic growth of Christendom which Lee explicated. But, the passage is too sketchy for certainty IMO.
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As I expected. Another bad position taken by a Brethren teacher used by Lee to demean Christianity. He clearly had an agenda that was looking for support.
But the problem for both Lee and Schofield is that they did not know what they were talking about. In that region, mustard plants actually grow just like Jesus described. (And we've been through this before fairly recently.) So there was nothing presumed to be unusual or problematic in it. They knew that the smallest seed actually grew to such a great height, with birds resting in its branches. It was Schofield's ignorance of horticulture, coupled with an expected outcome that drove him to make such negative comments.
And Lee loved it because it was another opportunity to paint everything outside the LRC meeting halls as errant and un-Christ-like.
"The kingdom is like the mustard seed . . ." does not direct me to conclude that Jesus is talking about a false kingdom. Or the negative aspects of the kingdom (if there can actually be such a thing).
I would suggest that Lee's penchant for character assassination of virtually anything Christian that was not in his group lead him to look for similar teachings. And from what quarter did it come? From a Brethren source — a source that cut itself off from even others of its own sect if they didn't toe every line drawn in the sand. And if they were anything like Lee, they drew line after line, forcing their followers to step deeper and deeper into their separatism while creating bigger and bigger gulfs between themselves and most other Christians.