Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
Listening to brothers and sisters every Lord's Day morning give testimonies of their daily experience of Christ throughout the week, did I get a partial understanding what it was to experience Christ.
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There were a number of advantages to the scheme. One was what you allude to, that the "simpler" ones gave their own testimonies of what it was to live Christ, and this might be more accessible, and less laden with theoretical jargon ('processed', 'consummated', 'all-inclusive'); just real people having real experiences. This might make more sense to a high schooler or someone coming in off the street.
Second, it gave "newbies" the opportunity to open their mouths and talk, instead of being captive in the "pulpit and pew" dynamic of professional speakers. So people got to "function" irrespective of their understanding or rhetorical gifts.
Third, it allowed ones who did have a portion, and there were many, to balance the meeting. There was no dominant "big potato" personality cult brewing when everybody could function, and some quite well.
I could go on, but you get the jist of it. Later on it just became "who could memorize bullet points". If you didn't subsume your experiences to the bullet points and training outlines you were suspiciously independent. Your "individuality" wasn't yet "worn away" by the "church life".