Quote:
Originally Posted by OnHisPath
I agree with you here. In any group of people, even congregations of believers, you may have a percentage of people with personality/mental health disorders or who participate with false motives. In fact, the one person associated with the LC who has hurt me the most, clearly has some mental health struggles that contributed to a very oppressive dynamic in dealing with other people. However, in experiencing this behavior it helped me to see the thread of dysfunction in the LC system itself, rather than excusing it as one person's poor behavior.
I do not think, if asked directly, Witness Lee would have ever said that those outside of the LC cannot be true Christians (same is true for most LC members). However, the informal speaking, and even testimony during meetings that I witnessed many times, clearly highlighted the dysfunctional group dynamics of a religious system that thrived on an "us against them" mentality. To me, this is true division. Not a sign on the outside of a building. It is the cultural dynamics of the LC that foster a, possibly inadvertant, divisive spirit among some people. We know that God looks at the heart, and "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". The divisive speaking against other Christians is a real problem.
|
By your logic, then Christ as a Jew was being divisive because He constantly spoke against the Pharisees, also Jews. I agree it is division, but it's a right division. An environment that cultivates a divisive spirit is not good, we try not to do that by focussing on Christ. When our focus is taken away from Christ we may see the differences. To be honest I see no difference between myself and another Christian, on a personal level. I/we do not even ask to what denomination a person belongs, as that is also divisive. They are "Christians who attend such and such denomination". But on an organizational/structural level (when I see A Christian bowing before Mary's idol for example), I see a world of difference from which I must separate.