[GraceAlone]

Hi UtahGiant,

Here are a couple examples that spring to mind. There are many more, but some have been well-covered by others.

1. Most impactful example: throughout my youth and adult years in the LR, I am told many many times, in personal conversations and in meetings and trainings, that “there’s nothing else out there,” other Christians “don’t know their spirit,” “don’t know how to enjoy Christ,” and “don’t see the Body.” Christianity (of which we are not part, somehow?) is dead, degraded, and stifles the function of the members. As the Lord arranges for me to gradually step out of the bubble and start encountering other believers, hearing and reading testimonies and teaching, and even occasionally visiting other congregations, it becomes more and more obvious to me that all the above simply isn’t true. Imagine my shock when we visited a liturgical denominational church (gasp!) and found them to be undeniably enjoying the Lord. (And empowering many of their members to function, as long as you don’t define “function” as “speak from prescribed material in the Sunday meeting.”) In fact, the only way I can maintain my belief in the superiority of the LC is to, during these encounters, mentally dismiss them with knee-jerk reactions like “oh but they don’t see God’s economy.” Which means I’m holding myself apart from them, not truly receiving and valuing their portion as my needed brothers and sisters in Christ. So I can either have an unbiblical attitude of arrogance or drop that and genuinely receive from them with an open mind, thus allowing for the possibility that “our” paradigm/verbiage/practices are not the ONLY or even BEST way to follow the Lord. It feels like a no-win situation.

I realized at some point that if what we had in the LC was the truth, it should stand up to scrutiny from others. It should also speak for itself, with no need to undercut, compete with, or put other ministries or ministers down. And there should be no fear or threat from saints reading or sharing from other Christ-centered ministry, if we truly are centered on Christ alone. That fact that we clearly weren’t was part of that cognitive dissonance.

2. Most silly example: In one locality where we met, there was a little-publicized rule that no brother with facial hair could usher or give the opening word. Why? When pushed to explain, an elder provided a Life-Study excerpt from Leviticus in which Witness Lee pronounced beards to be a sign of “self-dignity.” Therefore bad. Therefore unworthy of a public servant of the Lord. OK, this? Is actually so eye-poppingly, mind-numbingly ridiculous that it made me laugh out loud many times before banging my head against the nearest wall. Talk about unbiblical and illogical! Not only does the New Testament say nothing about a church leader’s appearance, only about his character and spiritual maturity, but also, by this logic THE LORD JESUS HIMSELF, an observant Jew who in all likelihood sported a beard, would be unqualified to give the opening word in the meetings of this church! No doubt his twelve apostles as well. Moreover, you could have a brother who spends hours in prayer and reading God’s word ineligible to give a ten-minute intro because of his goatee, while someone who spends hours watching sports, being shabby to their family, or even, hypothetically, being addicted to porn, qualified because they look the part and can talk the talk. This is one of those moments where I struggled to understand how intelligent adults are accepting these conclusions without question. And wondered what was wrong with me that I found it so ludicrous. Then finally understood that if I wanted to love the Lord my God with my whole being, including my mind, I had to stop ignoring all these red flags and accept that they meant something worth heeding.

I hope that clarifies a little bit.:-)