Quote:
Originally Posted by kumbaya
This is hitting home. I was talking to someone today (former family in LC) about this. They really are afraid to be exposed to any other idea. I believe they 100% believe they're right, but the FEAR of being "poisoned" is real.
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One way to deal with the fear and resistance is to meet people where they’re at. Jesus met the Samaritan woman at mid-day, at the well, and didn’t ask her to go to Jerusalem or the holy mountain. So if you want to talk to them, do it on their terms. Talk about their ministry today, about their admitted history in their own books, about the Bible that they use. Make them confront their own illogic.
Example:
Joe: “Hi cousin Mary. Nice to see you. How are you today?”
Mary: “Good, Joe. What’s going on?”
J: “Sorry if I was a bit confrontational last week. I’ve been thinking and I’m grateful to have been brought up in the Christian faith, and exposed to the Bible, and in a loving and stable environment. I have a lot to be thankful for.”
M: “Oh, good.”
J: “Yes; and actually, I was reading the Recovery Version the other day. I was wondering why “You will not let my flesh see corruption” in Psalm 16 was deemed prophetically indicative of Christ, while “You rescued me because You delighted in me” in Psalm 18 was deemed vain human concept. Both were written by David, a sinful human being. Yet in one the sin of the psalm-writer was accepted, while in the second it supposedly disqualified the validity of the statement? What do you think about this?”
Or,
J: “You know, Mary, I noticed in the footnotes that some passages were called “natural concepts” because the psalm-writer expressed ill feeling toward others, and wished them harm. Witness Lee said in the footnote that the NT principle is love, tolerance, forbearance, forgiveness. Yet in other places, the OT protagonist gets a free pass to be violent: David slaying Goliath, or Samuel killing Agag, etc. Or a verse like Psalm 45:5, inside a discourse Lee says is on Christ, gets ignored:
"Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies. . ." Why do you think OT violence is condemned in some places by Lee, but ignored or encouraged in others?”
Or,
J: “I was thinking about Watchman Nee, how he had a library of 3,000 books that he used for spiritual nourishment. How do you think that squares with the current “One Publication” idea? Do you really think that each of those 3,000 books was written by a single dominant minister of each era? Or were there multiple people putting out their ideas simultaneously, and Nee was able to profit from all of them? What do you think about this?”
Or,
J: “I was reading the biography of Watchman Nee by Witness Lee. In it, Lee shows how Nee was helped by Madame Guyon, on the inner life, and how Nee's “Spiritual Man” was heavily indebted to Jessie Penn-Lewis’ “War on the Saints”, and how Mary McDonough’s “Three Parts of Man” influenced his thinking (and later, Lee’s). Plus Nee credited Emily Fishbacher on the charismatic experience. Not to mention ME Barber teaching him all those years! (And Dora Yu, Peace Wang, Ruth Lee &c). Now, I'm wondering: if the ministries of all these women were obviously so instrumental in Nee’s spiritual development, why does the 'recovery' church he founded not allow women to teach? It seems that he was either illegitimately instructed by women, or his 'recovery' group is illegitimately suppressing valid and valuable women's ministries today. I don't see how one can simultaneously have it both ways here. What do you think?”
We can meet them where they are, on their own ideological turf, and ask them to face the apparent contradictions inherent in their thought-worlds. Now, Mary may have a good answer. Maybe Joe will learn something! Or she may say, “I dunno, let me ask an elder that question.” Or, “I don’t care. Why are you being so negative?”
But either way, Joe has asked her to think, which is always a good thing. People don’t like illogic. They don’t want incoherence: to simultaneously face two contradictory positions. If someone holds up the contradiction, and lets them face it, then the wheels are set in motion.
And my examples were just representative samples; one may find other contradictions without too much work. Incoherent thought abounds in this group - it's a direct result of the isolation. LC people typically avoid discomfort caused by dissociation by "compartmentalizing" and hiding the incoherence - make them face it. They possess a functional mind, given to them by God - open all the compartments, let the light in, and make them use it. They'll sort it out, just like you and I have. No need to be "negative" - just be open.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kumbaya
In REALITY, when you care and love someone- you're not "suppressive" or "poison" to tell them about something that concerns you that they're doing. As long as its done with love, its NORMAL to do that..
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Amen.