Quote:
Originally Posted by NeitherFirstnorLast
"everything you’ve ever told me about these people (the Saints)…I don’t understand.* I have to ask… WHY did you ever leave them?** Did you see Christ in them?* Wasn’t their living a real testimony to Christ’s work in them?* I’ve never even SEEN that in a Christian….”*
That stopped me. I had a reply and it died on my lips, because what that brother saw, through all of the stories I had told over the years, was something so simple that I don't know how I didn't see it. The answer to his question, which I came to after some fumbling, was an honest one:
"Yes... I saw Christ in them. And I... I don't know anymore."
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While there is much to be said concerning the peculiar and marginal (even marginally heretical) doctrines that are in their theology, they did not create it, nor are they of the character of the ones who hold them within that marginality. It was something in them seeking Christ that was unfortunately fooled by the outward display of spirituality of Nee, Lee, and or their teachings that captured them. But more than that, it was a lot of people like themselves.
Do no confuse the people With the system that ensnares them. That has so much magnetism and façade to keep them from realizing what is behind the curtain. Cherish them. If they will continue to have meals with you, keep doing it. But be prepared that if (more like when) the conversation turns to the beliefs and practices, they will assume that you are still on board, just having some other issue. Like when my sister asked me something like "You agree with Brother Lee about [I can't remember what these 9 years later]?" I thought about that particular item for a moment and said "No, I do not." It was not a dig at the LRC no matter what the point. It was an honest disagreement on doctrine or practice.
And since then there has not been a single mention of the LRC. If she and her family were not just that — family — I doubt we would be getting together later this month for my 62nd birthday. It may be no more than dinner at a restaurant on the nearest Sunday. But we are not strangers.
But without that connection, the desire to keep in touch will fade. Or they will be warned-off by the leadership saying you are lepers or opposers. and being dutifully followers of the "brothers," they will comply.
But the entirety of those in the so-called Church in Irving ceased to exist when we left so many years ago. One call from someone that I considered at least a little more real in his walk with Christ rather than his following of LRC traditions. But that was it. I do not see any of them anywhere (unless one of them happens to be at my sister's house when we visit there).
Once you are seen as beyond "recovery" even the more genuine ones will tend to let you go. Have excuses for not having dinner together. What is right about them is captured in a closed society and answers to its call or order, not what they would naturally feel inside. You may find some exceptions. But do not be surprised when it is pretty much as I describe here.