Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
To be honest with you, JJ, I did not accept the teaching of "one church, one city" (OCOC) based on scriptural evidence alone, but on the supposed reputations of Nee and Lee provided to me by the brothers in the church in Cleveland, i.e. they were great men of God, raised up by the Lord to recover lost truths, including the oneness of the believers.
As soon as I learned about Lee's real character ( in 2006, after serving in the LC's for 3 decades) surrounding the many "storms" in his ministry, I decided to examine all of his exclusive teachings, as the Bible says, " test all things, hold on to the good." (I Thess 5.21)
Brother John Myer of Columbus, in his monumental e-book A Future and a Hope, regarding leaving the LSM program, wrote the best line: " There is more support in the Bible for head covering than there is for the LC teaching of one church, one city."
Furthermore, regarding the teaching of OCOC, there has never been a Christian ( not Brethren, not China, not Taiwan, not USA) group who have actually practiced this in a healthy way. Oneness is a reality that is a fruit of love. Nee and Lee's OCOC doctrine of oneness is based upon the condemnation of all Christians for their supposed "failures," not actually on God's love. How can that be any good? In fact, I believe distorted oneness ( think "catholic" oneness, and the inquisitions of the dark ages) has been the most destructive heresy in church history. Millions of genuine children of God have died by the hands of its proponents. |
Yes, I've seen and been on both sides of the destructive side of OCOC teaching first-hand. I accepted "The Normal Christian Church Life's explanation of its basis, as it made sense, and initially I received much blessing from the Lord in my locality when we initially practiced it. However, I didn't realize that the way we practiced it was with a spirit of superiority, pride, and meanness, until I got out and began to have good fellowship with other believers.
When we would "take the ground" in a city, we would have the spirit "we are the church, and you aren't", when that wasn't supposed to be the point. The point was supposed to be, all believers in this city are part of the church. So let's not argue over who is right doctrinally, let's just enjoy and worship Christ who is our life. But, we made "the ground of the church" a doctrine to divide us, rather than unite us.