[UntoHim]

Originally Posted by UntoHim

One thing seems to hold true for most former members - the further one gets away, the worse things look. I think this is why we found John getting stronger and stronger with his criticisms, and at the end he could not hold back from a very strong word to his beloved mentor.

Originally Posted by Terry

I would disagree UntoHim. What is common among elders who are/were co-workers, while they're part of the work, there is not the liberty to speak honestly. It is not until they are separated from the work is there liberty to speak honestly about the work.
My feeling is while they're part of the work, co-workers do have concerns, but they are cautious to express due to the desire to remain one with the brothers.

Disagree with UntoHim??? Off to a thousand years of outer darkness with you!

Actually I really worry about people who agree with me too much

Seriously though, I'm not sure what part you actually disagree with. We all know why John could not be this honest and forthcoming while still having his wagon hitched to Titus Chu. It was the same for Ingalls et al in Anaheim back in the late 80s with Witness Lee. Its very problematic to be shouting out that "the king has no clothes" while still a subject of his kingdom.

I think you missed the main thrust of my post. Probably my fault for not being as clear as I could have been. Let me elaborate just a bit on what I meant by "the further one gets away, the worse things look". Let’s take the “ground of the church/vision of the church” teaching for example. While still entrenched within the Movement, it’s very easy to justify this teaching in one’s own mind and heart (or spirit as it were). But in retrospect, looking back, it really was not so much a matter that this teaching was biblical, but rather that “Brother Lee said so, so it must be so!”. The further one gets away from this mentality of “Brother Lee said so”, the more one can find themselves able to be a critical thinker in regards to many of the teachings and practices in the Local Church.