Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
What makes this so difficult was that Irving initially was composed of immigrants from other LC's who moved there to "serve the ministry." Irving existed solely for WL and his ministry. WN called these types of churches ministry centers or work centers. Since WL had appointed the elders in these two centers, he supposedly had the right to remove and replace these elders, which he eventually did.
I believe there is no way to extricate the church from the ministry in such a place as Irving or Anaheim. Even the repulsive stories of PL could not provide the tipping point. Even brothers ready to re-enact "wild west justice" and go after PL with a gun did not succeed. WL only needed to call other leaders from around the globe, and cash in on his established credit. He had done it before, and was almost Clinton-esque in his ability to escape scandal ... and accountability.
I watched a 60 Minutes special on Michael Morton the other day. What a horrific story of a man wrongly incarcerated for life for the brutal death of his wife. Without even time to mourn her death, he was immediately targeted by a young and ambitious DA, yet without any evidence at all, and all the evidence which would have exonerated him was suppressed. The story had me in tears.
After he was finally released, due to years of work by the Innocence Project to expose prosecutorial abuses, Michael was asked to comment about the legal system that nearly destroyed him, he said, " I try to be very forgiving ... revenge, I know, doesn't work, but accountability works, it's what balances out, it's the equilibrium, it's the social glue, because if you're not accountable, then you can do anything."
Chilling words, yet spoken by him so graciously. Immediately I thought about WL and LSM.
If you're interested, this clip is well worth the watch. |
When I study this history my concern is "how do I learn from that so I don't fall into the same pitfall". If I was a regular member of the church of Irving and I learned of PL I would go through the proper channels up to and even including a public testimony as to why I was leaving and then just leave to another locality. The same goes for Anaheim. If I was serving in the ministry I would stop and tell the leading ones why.
However, what gets trickier is if you were asked to be an elder. That could be a very difficult to impossible request to refuse. However, you should clearly be able to see the compromised position it puts you in. If the meeting hall belongs to LSM then what real authority do the elders have? Are they just puppets? I think you would have to see that you were being asked to be a puppet and request that there would have to be conditions placed. For example, if a brother was being disciplined by the elders it would be a slap in the face that this brother can walk in and out of the hall with impunity because they are "serving the ministry". I think in a hypothetical situation WL or any other leader would agree, in writing, that as a condition for the church to be a tenant the authority of the church covers the entire grounds, and is not restricted merely to the meeting hall. In return the church encourages the saints to serve the ministry, the church pays the bills for lights, heating, etc and the church maintains the grounds. These conditions are really no different than if you were leasing the property from a worldly owner.
I believe that the WL/PL case should be for our example, and that this age is designed to train us to exercise the Lord's authority.