Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeakersCorner
And that's where the non-named church helps. It forces me to be one with anyone who would agree at least to drop their name. I know this is true because, as I have chronicled here in the past, it happened in my very community. We ended up joining with some very unlike us believers (Jesus only crowd) just because they too took the stand of one church per city. It was extremely difficult and almost destroyed our own group. But we took this matter seriuosly unlike the LSM who sues for non-name rights.
So I think there is something very deep and powerful about this matter of not taking a name.
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I would say you should be one with anyone, whether they drop their name or not. It's not a matter of being forced, it's a matter of what is.
But I don't think we are required to "join up" in a way of organization with a group that is very different from us. We can cooperate with them, have occasional joint gatherings, but I don't seen the requirement to merge, especially just because we both have no name. But I guess you deserve credit for being consistent in your beliefs. To me they are sort of like those of my Catholic friend who keeps having kids on into his 50s because he thinks birth control is wrong. Devotion to principle for principle's sake.
The LCM notion of "practical oneness" is another extrapolation I don't see in the Bible.