[Cal]

Don't you think there could be some saints who are divisive and "freely" move here and there on the grounds that that is Lord's will? Your model is also very vulnerable to the divisive saints.

In the first place, it's none of my business what others' motives are. I'm not their policeman. In the second place, a divisive saint is someone who sows discord, not someone who decides to meet somewhere other than where I think he should.

And if we follow your model, we have no choice but to confirm their "free moving."

Right. And that's as it should be. Now, we might have some reservations about someone's decision to do something, but that's far from condemning them.

It's just not our place to decide for someone else that they are not following the Lord when it comes to where they meet. Like I said, how do we know where we meet is really the place for everyone?

Gubei, it sounds like your model lends itself to being suspicious of every motive except the "approved one." You sound more like LSM than you think.

However, if we follow the ground of locality, we can condemn them.

There's the seed of the problem. The ground of locality boils down to knowing who to condemn. I already knew that, but I'm glad you confirmed it. This exposes it's purient nature. This is exactly what I was talking about, Gubei. The doctrine of locality has a dark side. You've just confirmed it. It cannot exist without condemning someone.


Here's the thing we need to realize about his matter, Gubei. God didn't make us or anyone else the policeman of other people's motives. Whether people are being led by the Lord or by they own selfish motives is really not much of our business. Besides, none of us has the discernment to consistently read peoples' motives.

Practically the entire Catholic Church condemned Martin Luther. Most of them went into eternity thinking they had sided with God on that issue. What a surprise they must have had! Now in the light of history, do you really think God has given us a church structure so that we can know who to condemn?

Please rethink our whole discussions thus far. I know you are a very considerate fellow Christian. I know no model is perfect. But, at least, any model should be based on the Bible. I cannot find any verse in the Bible which confirms "free moving" of saints.

I have rethought it. Many times. And the more I think about it the more I believe that any attempt to enforce "locality" is wrong. Believe it all you want. But once you try to enforce it (i.e. by "condemning" people who don't conform the way you think they should) you are out of bounds.

And if saints cannot "freely move," what, exactly can they do? Where can they meet? And where does the Bible say they cannot freely move?

This is the problem with your input here, Gubei. The other shoe never drops. You never give us practical guidelines for practicing your model. You say the ground of locality tells us who we can "condemn" (oh boy!) but then don't give us specifics. That's like giving a loaded gun to a blind man and telling him to try to shoot the apple off your head.