Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
I think that, ignoring the rhetoric and practice of the LRC, Christianity actually has a pretty good model. Local assemblies mostly cover themselves. Or more correctly, cover themselves plus more. I'm not going through this to justify the ways of Christianity. I am doing it to parallel the practices of the LRC.
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I basically agree with this depending on which model in the vast arena of Christianity you are referring to. In his book John refers to his church and the church where Keith Miller is as community churches which I understand to mean autonomous yet in fellowship with other churches. I happen to think this model more closely matches what Watchman Nee had in mind rather than what the local churches under Witness Lee, the Anaheim Politburo, Titus Chu, etc. have become.
A self-supporting church may or may not invite outside ministers to come and speak, have a literature table at the back to sell books afterwards etc. But if they do it's their choice. They decide at the local level what's best for their church. It's not imposed from the outside. The downside of this is if the elders or pastors or whatever they're called go off the deep end doctrinally, financially, morally etc. Who to turn to? But I think with mobility and communications the way it is today people are savvy enough to know what's what and will just leave and go elsewhere if things go awry.