[UntoHim]

Some of you are old enough to remember that the late President Ronald Reagan was dubbed as "the great communicator". Of course he was a politician, so for the most part this nickname was referring to Reagan's mastery of political dialogue, wrangling, accommodation and compromise. Of course all this dialogue, wrangling, accommodation and compromise was taking place within one particular political State, or kingdom as it were, the United States of America. But when something or someone came against and threatened the well-being of the USA, the great communicator communicated something less then accommodating or compromising - "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Now before my example gets more convoluted then it probably already is, I think there is something we would all do well to keep in mind - We are (hopefully) all citizens of the same Kingdom, the Kingdom of God. This is the most basic, unbreakable relationship we have with each other as Christians - as joint heirs of the Kingdom of God. I think if we former and current Local Churchers can somehow, some way keep this relationship, this reality, as the basis of our discussions, then we can probably dispense with all the 1X2s and 2X4s, lest they become a great "log in our eye", preventing us well-meaning, but blinded, would-be surgeons from "removing the speck in our brother's eye". You needn't worry about who's the schmuck with the log in his eye, and who is the saintly fellow who merely has a speck - we have all played both parts at one time or another.

There is little doubt that there is a substantial wall between current and former members of the Local Church Movement. There is also little doubt that current members believe that it is us, the former members, who have erected the wall, while we former members believe that it is they who have put up the wall. (Maybe this wall has been constructed with all those 2X4s we've been pulling out of each other's eyes all these years!) In any event, it seems to me, there have been two approaches to dealing with this wall. One is to simply deny that there is any wall...it's all just a problem of semantics and misunderstandings, with a bunch of bitterness and hard feelings thrown in for good measure. If we would all just get together and admit we were wrong about this or that (like what happened with Hank Hanegraaff et al over at CRI) then all would be hunky-dory. The other approach is that the wall is an impassable, impenetrable monolith, and the only thing we can do is indiscriminately lob hand grenades over the wall at each other, and not worry about what kind of collateral damage follows.

Witness Lee is dead. We can scream at the top of our lungs "Mr. Lee, tear down this wall!" and nothing will happen. (actually this was tried by many from within and some from without the Movement over many, many years and nothing happened then either) Now we have the Blended Brothers to scream at. Years and years. Nothing. They haven't budged and why should they? They are "brother Lee's continuation". They speak what Lee spoke. They do what Lee did. Lee conceded nothing. They concede nothing. Maybe in their consideration, Witness Lee built the wall and they are not going to tear down anything that Witness Lee built.

So here we are. LocalChurchDiscussions has been here for about 7.1/2 years. I have tried my best to make this venue a place for bridge-building and not wall building. Many of you have contributed a lot, and have given your heart and soul. Maybe the wall will always be there. Maybe God wants it there. But this does not mean that we have to throw the hand grenades...over the wall, or at each other. If we really care for the people on the other side of the wall, we will treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve, and which God calls us to give to all men, "especially to those of the household of faith"(Gal 6:10)

So even if a dear Local Churcher does come by with only a "hit and run" post or two, so be it. Most of us former members probably consider the Daystar saga to be a humongous log, yet Donnali Peters no doubt considers it to be a mere speck. So be it. If the truth is somewhere in the middle, then maybe God will lead us both in that direction, and if so, I hope that our little forum can be instrumental in making that happen.
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