Quote:
In religion there is no light, life, truth, or reality; that is, there is no Christ. Christ is there only in name, not in His person and living reality. Likewise, there is no church in reality. The church is the living Body of Christ, but what surrounds us today is a religion full of traditions, organizations, teachings, doctrines, performances, and falsehood. The Lord cannot accomplish His purpose in this situation. (CWWL, 1977, vol. 1, “The Lord's Recovery and the Present Situation of Religion,” p. 476)
Because of our standing for the pure church life, others have been offended. But what can we do? Paul says in Galatians 1:10, “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a slave of Christ.” If we were men-pleasers, we would not suffer persecution as Paul did. The history of the Lord's recovery is a history of coming out of and being outside of the present evil age. We have burned the bridges between us and Christianity, but some among us have tried to build a bridge to bring us back. We need to burn all the bridges. There should be no bridge between the local churches and Christianity. Everything should be after its kind. The denominations are after their kind, and the local churches should be after their kind. We should be what we are without compromise or pretense. I am afraid that in the coming years, if the Lord delays His coming, some subtle ones will be used by the enemy again to try to bridge the gap between us and Christianity. We need to maintain such a gap between us and Christianity. The wider this gap is the better because it is a gap between us and the present evil age. Thank the Lord that Brother Nee was a pioneer ahead of us to come out of Christianity into the pure church life to accomplish God's will to have the Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 1, “The History of the Church and the Local Churches,” p. 95)
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In the above two excerpts WL makes some statements about religion and Christianity, regarding a condition that he perceives. He also likens Christianity to the "present evil age". On another thread, I posted a quote where WL states that standing is more important than condition. Here in-lies another double standard. WL wouldn't give any amount of consideration to the condition of the LC, and even some of those who have questioned the condition have been excommunicated. With respect to other Christians, there was no end to the criticism of their supposed condition. The condition was perceived to be so bad that WL stated that all bridges to Christianity had been burned, and 'evil' is a word that WL would use to describe Christians.
Without a doubt, LCers believe everything that WL spoke and have taken it to heart. WL's attitude towards Christians really tarnished the reputation of the LC (and that reputation isn't going away any time soon). Considering this, isn't it ironic that LC leaders would be willing to involve themselves with other Christians for the sake of improving the image of the LC? Obviously, the current process of "building a bridge" is not with the intention of genuine fellowship with other Christians, it its with the sole purpose of using other Christians as a means to create a better public perception of the LC. Behind the doors of meeting halls, criticism of Christianity abounds.