Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
This kind of speaking is a veiled control mechanism. TC claimed such absolute and abject fealty to WL, with the tacit understanding that everyone under him would also say, "I owe everything to TC".
The Local Churches claim "no hierarchy" but they have the most rigid, strict and unwavering hierarchy imaginable. Thus the repeated "storms" and "rebellions" when the burden of hierarchy becomes too great and the system ruptures.
The "stand" or "ground" of their "lampstand" is personal loyalty of the most severe kind. As was mentioned on this thread, it's been there all along, just cloaked in 'spiritual' garb so that the newbies get sucked in.
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Some time after the disastrous consequences of the "New Way" and the passing of WL, I had a conversation with an elder about
following the Lord. He told me that he had learned a lot from the Lord from all the failures we all experienced. I was encouraged by that since "being absolutely one with WL" was so disruptive to the rank and file saints in the LC's.
Eventually I came to learn what he had "learned from the Lord." With time it became apparent that he had merely transferred loyalties. No longer loyal to Anaheim, he became loyal to Cleveland, where his "spiritual father" was. Thus fealty to "next of kin" going up the totem pole was the veiled control mechanism which all zealous brothers were trained by.
From my earliest days in the LC's, I had always witnessed a battle of loyalties, sometimes hidden behind the curtain, sometimes in full battle garb. Like the Lord said, no man can be loyal to two masters, and LC history in the Midwest region proved that leading brothers could not be loyal to both Lee and Chu. The inherent policies of the program prevented that.
I left during the run up to the Midwest quarantines. We all were forced to make a serious decision. "
Choose ye this day whom you will serve!" Actually what each side told me was, "
you must take a stand for the truth!" Just another veiled control mechanism . . .