Three more comments.
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Originally Posted by aron
But "localism" turned out to be an exceptional engine to remove the Chinese from the Western yoke, and it flourished in China. But in reality it was just another Protestant sect based on the shifting sands of its charismatic leader. Thus the ground went from localism to the Jerusalem Principle, to "getting in line" and "handing over" and so on. New winds of teachings blowing in every other week. No ancient paths..
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The shattered and divisive fruit of the localism idea as promulgated by Nee and Lee has been exposed today as the British Brethren were a century before, and its traction is mostly limited to Chinese, who like the culture, and college students who're ignorant and easily swayed by emotionalism. (In a nearby "locality" LSM church the Chinese and the non-Chinese meet in separate meeting halls, and have no connection with each other).
Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
But the modern "recovery" and "restoration" movements which flow out of Protestantism are merely cries to return home, based on the dis-connect of the age..
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The reason I say this is because if you told an EO-affiliated believer about the need to "recover the oneness" they would look at you in bewilderment. Recover the oneness of the faith? They already have it! No, this need has emerged from divided Protestantism. Just google "one true church" or "true church" or "recovered church" or "restored church" and you'll see a dozen post-Protestant splinter cells, all trying to do what Nee did, and the Brethren before him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
I don't force conformity. If I did, what freedom is that? "In Christ you have been set free; stand fast therefore and don't once again be entangled in the yoke of slavery."
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The key for me was Paul's advice to the Corinthians. "In what you were when Christ found you, there remain". I accept history. I was born into a Protestant culture, and "born again" in a Protestant meeting, under their gospel. I don't need to form a new group, to leave one group and join another. I need to repent of my sins, to confess, to live a new life in Christ. And whomever I meet on the way, may the blessed joy of salvation cover us, and fill our hearts. There's no need to get hung up on "church" as a litmus test of fellowship.