Quote:
Originally Posted by Thankful Jane
Dear Igzy,
We participated to varying degrees in this leaven while participating in the LC. The changes that occurred in our hearts' attitude as a result of being involved in all these things do not evaporate somehow. Our heart is healed as we purge them out of ourselves. We need to let God expose every remnant in us of thinking and practice that came from such leaven. We need to help each other do this also.
Thankful Jane
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Dear Jane,
Your point is well-taken.
But I would add that our testimony to each other should also be as positive as we hope it is to the world. A testimony which is chirpy to the world, but beats its own up in private is creepy. As a rule, we should preach the positiveness of Christ to each other, that's part of being gracious.
It's not that there is anything wrong with pointing out sin in others if one feels compelled to do so and does it humbly, always considering "there but for the grace of God go I." It's just a matter of degree and emphasis. You can look at your face in the mirror and see it as a whole being reasonably attractive, or you can look for the flaws and see only the ugliness. Then you can focus to a pathological level on fixing the flaws and end up with a face like Michael Jackson's.
There are serious errors in the LC mindset and I don't mind pointing them out. I don't mind your doing it either. But if I myself focused on those and never saw or commented on the positive, well, I hope no one ever does that to me.
John Nelson Darby, as Kennedy points out in TTOTT, was a seriously flawed leader. He had a mental stronghold of perfectionism that needed overthrowing and apparently never was. As Kennedy wrote, Darby would rather destroy the church than give in on a principle he thought was right. Lee had a similar problem, which led to a similar intolerance. Both of them probably thought they were just trying to purge out leaven, too.
Let's just be careful, that's all I'm saying. As Waylon Jennings sang, what goes around comes around.