Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
I have relatives who accepted Christ as Savior in the mid 70's. Their lives and personalities started to change positively. They then became involved in the local church, which they are still involved in, and they became distant from the family, somewhat argumentative and critical.
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The attitude they adopted after joining the LC system in the 1970s is a result of Witness Lee's attitude, teachings and practices namely:
1. Be "sold out" and "absolute" for the/his church to the detriment and damage of family relationships.
2. We are God's best - the only true legitimate church and all other Christians are spiritually bankrupt and blind. We have all the riches and light and they have nothing.
Sadly like so many your relatives drank the kool-aid and in the late 1980s what existed all along became more boldly manifest i.e. Witness Lee is God's one divine oracle on the earth, the Minister of the Age, etc.
After he died he left behind coworkers who could by rote repeat his messages. His writings became an authoritative text for those in the LC system with a status at or above the Bible itself.
In 2006 a big division occurred between Titus Chu and his coworkers and the coworkers in HQed in Anaheim. What was the division about? Witness Lee of of course - who BTW had already been dead for 9+ years! Those based in Anaheim excommunicated Titus because they disagreed with his interpretation and representation not of the Bible but of Witness Lee. Later a similar division took place in Brazil. For the most part they are all still basically the same.
Truth be told they threw away the "Local Church" idea a long time ago. For all intent and purposes they are the Witness Lee Church and will continue to be so for the forseeable future. Too bad they didn't call it that back in the 1970s. If they did I'm sure your relatives would have at least had second thoughts about joining or more likely have run in the opposite direction!