I believe that when any teaching, no matter how good, supplants the foundation of our oneness in Christ alone, then it becomes another fleshly division. If one-church-one-city wasn't held to be a
core article of the faith, then maybe
it wouldn't have become such a big reason for division. (Personally, I think there's certainly precedent for that in the title given to ekklesias in the NT . . .) And I think your observation is accurate - it has been shown innumerable times that
oneness with LSM seems to be the main prerequisite for being in fellowship with the LC.
Now, as my fine-print legal disclaimer, let me say that division is just part of the package in Adam, and therefore we all have that propensity. If our focus is ANYTHING except Christ alone (i.e., lofty teachings - even about oneness), then we are just one big division and are in Adam. It's a litmus test of where we are, flesh or spirit. Are we experiencing oneness and fellowship with all other believers? Then we're experiencing fruit of the One Spirit and the new man. If we're experiencing division . . . then we're not experiencing Christ in that respect.
We are one loaf in Him - not in a teaching, a hierarchy, a publication, a ground, a whatever.
Once we latch onto anything other than Him, we separate ourselves and pride unknowingly comes in.
There - I'm off my soapbox for today!
