Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
I have a little trouble with this. Just because and elder, the founder, or a "trusted" minister turns out to be a con man has no instructive bearing on whether the organization in question is a church.
|
The word "con man" refers to someone who uses a "confidence trick". It is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their confidence. This is done by exploiting characteristics of the human psyche (I referred to greed or arrogance, but there are other possibilities).
To my understanding this would imply several things:
1. WL was not a genuine Christian, but always had a motive of defrauding the saints. (My current view is that he was a genuine believer who was caught up in his own error).
2. The saints were attracted to the LRC and WL, not because of Christ but due to greed, arrogance, or some other human failing. Not my experience, nor do I believe it was the experience of those I knew best.
Once again, I would defer to Witness Lee on this, he said that a counterfeit bill can be 99% correct and still a counterfeit. That to me is much more my experience. Likewise, I would compare WL to Eli, and Eli was not a "con man" he was a priest of the most high God. I would also compare WL to Balaam, the poster boy for false prophets, but a man who spoke the Lord's word and who blessed the children of Israel. According to the NT it refers to "the error of Balaam" not that Balaam was a con man.