Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
It is almost as if the real healing is from finding a new place and new brothers and sisters in Christ and being with them in worship, study, prayer, etc., and even irrelevant activities that people do and wrestling with the bible without Lee-colored glasses and learn how the real Christian life is designed to be.
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Amen to that. I would add pray a lot.
I used to think the LC was unique, and that the treatments for it would be unique as well. But, aside from some specifics, the LC is just another in a long and regrettable legacy of
abusive Christian groups. If you Google for spiritual abuse online, you will see the same characteristics popping up: lording authority, isolation, claims of special mission, condescending attitudes, special language, oh and of course, claiming to house the unique apostle of the age. None of this junk is unique at all. It's just some more stuff from the devil's toolbox.
Like twisted sexuality, abusive Christian groups practice twisted spirituality. They take something good and pervert it into something it wasn't meant to be. It still feels good in some ways, but you know in other ways it isn't right. Still you begin to prefer it because, well, who knows why?
But
OBW is right on. The way through is to establish healthy, non-dysfunctional Christian relationships, which are not based on the idea that some group has rights to you, but still allow you to experience Christian community, and start relearning the Christian life. Trust me, there are healthy communities out there that respect boundaries. The LC considered boundaries a form of rebellion, a manipulative tactic practiced by the other abusive groups it resembles.