Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
"We who live in the same locality cannot but belong to the same church. This is something from which there is no escape. If I am dissatisfied with the local church, the only thing I can do is to change my locality; then automatically I can change my church. We can leave a denomination, but we can never leave a church. To leave a sect is justifiable, but to leave a church-whether on account of unspirituality, wrong doctrine, or bad organization-is utterly unjustifiable."
|
The big mistake of this view is that it presumes that everyone knows which group is the church and which one is the sect. As if the church has a big sign out front (oops, can't have those) which identifies it for all, and likewise the sect.
But the very existence of the disagreement between LSM and non-LSM churches shows that this presumption is baseless. LSMers think non-LSMers are a sect, and vice versa--a stalemate. So, ironically, the criteria for deciding which is which reverts back the one Christianity has always more or less used--doctrinal purity and spiritual condition.
Christianity, however, has always left it up to individuals to decide this. But, if there is indeed supposed to be one church per city, then practicality manifestly dictates that someone must arbitrate for all on which group is the church. But who is qualified to make such a judgment for everyone else? Baseball has arbitration, the Body of Christ does not, unless you want to raise up another Vatican. So we are left with deciding by personal conviction,
the very thing Nee says is an invalid criteria. More irony.
So, in the end, the local ground teaching proves to be superfluous. It does nothing to resolve division, but rather guarantees it will occur. Why? Because if and when the doctrine ever catches on, we can pretty much bank on multiple groups claiming to be the genuine church in every city. And, because only one can get the prize, those groups will have animosity toward each other. So this would actually be a reversion back to the bad old days of inter-denominational rivalry.
The "good news" is no one will have a name. The bad news is everyone will be divided worse than ever.