[OBW]

I find Toledo’s apparent defense of the LC “ground” ─ whether of locality or oneness ─ interesting. Following are some quotes from a couple of his posts (in green).

The ground of locality takes the onus off the other guy (he doesn't agree with me...!), and puts it squarely on our own shoulders: "As much as lieth with you, be at peace with all men" ~Romans 12:18. It also give me a way to open up my heart to every believer everywhere, whether he prays like me, or looks like me, or reads the Bible the same as me.

It is not (and was never) a matter of agreement in doctrine, practice, vocabulary, or terms. It is (and always has been) a simple matter of the divine life: God is our father and we are all brothers.

But the practice was exactly the opposite. The onus was always on the other guy. He had to come to you or there was no fellowship. We testified about our efforts to avoid going to someone else’s assembly, even those of our relatives. If we had to go, we told horror stories about the deadness of the service. The sermon had to be picked apart; the music decried as worldly or dead.

If you fail to toe the line on the primary LC teachings, you might not be a real “local church.” If you individually weren’t on the same page, your testimony received silence, or groans. You might be counseled about the “flow.”

I would deny that the ground of oneness can change simply because some group or another wants to define it differently. Our oneness is based upon the oneness of our God Himself. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, etc. The ground of oneness means that we are one with every believer everywhere at any time. There is never any excuse for division except for open sin.

Yes our oneness is based on God himself. It is not based on locality. It is not based on Lee’s teachings. I submit that the oneness of my assembly is greater than that of any in the LC ─ even the entire LC put together. As long as oneness rises from the lips, but excommunication is the practice and separation and even derision of other Christians and their assemblies in your proximity continues, it will always be that way.

Pray for the gospel to go out in every place that God’s name is lifted up. Do it aloud together in your assembly on Sunday. Love your neighbor who is not in the LC, and may not even be Christian. Do justice to all who are oppressed.

The ground of locality makes our oneness practical. I am one with every believer in the place where I live. My claim of oneness with the saints in Moscow and the saints in Beijing rings hollow if I cannot be one with the saints in the city where I live.

Amen. But ground has nothing to do with that. You will find that there are many assemblies around you with affiliations, and no affiliation, whose only “ground” is the acreage their building sits upon. But they are one. They are often one across the “separators” of name that you decry, but cannot get across. They join in the gospel. They join in service. They pray for one another. When disaster befalls one group, others with no obvious link step up to help.

Yes, you can find examples of harsh sectarianism. There are preachers that demean every group that does not hold to their pet teaching, or follow their leader. Unfortunately, the LC has a history of the same. The oneness has been with itself and not with all Christians.

There are now exceptions. The movement away from the old LC ways in some of the GLA LCs has been encouraging. I pray for the day that many ─ even all ─ of the LCs drop their sectarianism, admit that they are another denomination, and join the rest (and much bigger part) of Christianity in a true act of oneness. That will be a true testimony of oneness.