Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake
I like the duck analogy. Thanks for introducing it. Evangelicals' characterization applies to churches/groups even better than it does to individuals.
I have not encountered the "claim because the other ducks don't call themselves ducks they are not really ducks". Rather, it is one of the basic tenets of the local churches that ALL christians in a city are really members of the one church in that city. That is emphasized over and over. All are ducks essentially even if they call themselves chickens or turkeys.
Many and perhaps most of the ducks who call themselves ducks once thought they were chickens and turkeys. But then one day they chanced upon a pond with ducks who were apparently enjoying themselves thoroughly eating tasty plants, drinking fresh clear spring water, and living in a lush green garden. Then they realized that the chicken coop was no longer the place for them so they decided to take up residence in the duck pond. So pleased were they with their good fortune that they started to declare "Praise the Lord, we are ducks! We're so happy in this lovely place!"
That ruffled some feathers.
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No, what ruffled the feathers was that the LCM could not stop there enjoying the oneness. They felt they had to declare that the other ducks weren't really ducks after all, even though the Bible doesn't teach that. They declared they were the only legitimate duck and that all the other ducks need to be absorbed into them, the one true duck.
But the Bible doesn't support this in any way. The Bible says that there is a church in a city, but it never says that church cannot be comprised of smaller churches. The existence of house churches within a city churches shows this is possible. At the very least it casts reasonable doubt on the LCM claim that legitimate churches are only at the city level.
Further, if the LCM came to a city already with a church just claiming to be the church in the city, the LCM would eventually find a way to discredit it, push it aside and set up their own churches. Time and again doing this and thus establishing themselves as dirty ducks.
God values oneness. But he never said or came close to making it clear that one church could declare itself the true expression of oneness while discrediting all other churches. The LCM might like to think they have some outward form of "oneness" technically. But their proud, dismissive and exclusive attitude is anti-oneness, and so disqualifies them as any kind of standard. You might as well argue that the Pharisees were the standard because technically they did some outward things right.