Quote:
Originally Posted by alwayslearning
This brings us the suggestion that you made previously (perhaps in another thread): that for the sake of honesty and clarity the LCs should call themselves the LSM churches. I agree with this. And by definition that is exclusivity.
So if the young leaders coming up are more open and less condemning of other Christians what they are really saying is: "We are open for your to come and fellowship with us in our LSM churches. Here you will have a steady diet of Witness Lee materials and LSM sponsored events. If you are not comfortable with that you will eventually not feel welcome. If you speak out against such exclusivity we will send you on your way."
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Like I have pointed out in another post, this is not the ideal church as presented in the New Testament. However, this is much more honest. You are telling people that this is the main material you will cover - WL/WN's ministry. If someone speak something from another ministry in the meetings, you should not condemn them. They can still be part of the church. But if someone wants to cover other materials in a serious way, that person will need to do it on his/her own time. Otherwise, maybe that person should either start their own church or join another church.
Look, there is nothing wrong with this. I'm just being practical. In every denomination, they have their own material to cover. Try going to a Baptist church and suggest WL's material. They'll throw you out! Does that mean they are bad and exclusive? Of course not!
Idealy, it is best to be non-denominational and not be *for* a particular ministry. But it is hard to do in practice. I'm not saying it is not possible, but difficult. It will require a very special group of leadership. I have not seen such a church yet. Everyone has their opinions. Let's say we do form such a church. Well, who gets to say what material we should use? Everyone will have a different opinion. We try to be non-divisive by being non-denominational. But sometimes this kind of hard-trying brings us deeper into division as we have seen with the LCs. It is better to admit that we are a particular denomination. At least we are honest with ourselves, with the Lord, with one another, and with outsiders.