Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
One phrase Nigel uttered from message six should become our reality:
"we don't have it all, but we have a contribution"
I took his speaking as meaning when we gather with other Christians, we shouldn't act or conduct ourselves as Biblical know it alls, but we do have a content and a portion of Christ to share....
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Terry,
I can't recall Nigel's exact utterance, but I do believe he was touching on one of the crucial matters being discussed these days in the GLAs: how do we fit into the general body of Christ? Of course, from our LC days we thought ourselves to be a special subset of the body, but when that evolved into exclusivism, sectarianism, arrogance, etc., it revealed something underlying this idea of being "special" that is very dangerous. John Myers talked about this as well in the Goshen conference.
As for me, I'm not so sure where I stand on this issue. It seems to me that any subset within the body of Christ -- and by that I mean any church, sect, denomination, etc. -- must be a subset for a reason and that reason is related to having a clearer view of God's operation. I know the Mennonites around me clearly feel they understand peace issues better than the general body and that's one big reason they stay together. Likewise, Baptists clearly think they understand salvation and the "fundamentals" of the faith better than others and that's what keeps them, at least in part, together.
Further, I would say that the diminishing of the mainline groups is in large part because they are losing their sense of "specialness" or distinctiveness. It just seems to me that the reason we meet with whoever we do is because we have a common vision that we feel is better in some way than others around us.
Anyway, I'm grappling with these issues.
BTW, I'm the old "SpeakersCorner" from the other forum. I registered as such but never got an email response so I couldn't activate my account. If I were a paranoid sort, I'd think maybe they didn't want me here ... but I know that can't be true. They allowed Ohio in. (Just kidding, Ohio! It was a joke.)
SC or, sadly I guess now, LC
(Hm, this may not work at all.)