Quote:
Originally Posted by bearbear
After my wife and I left the LCs the process of leaving and finding a new church was very uncomfortable.
In one church we visited one of the elders there asked us why we left our previous church. I tried to explain our situation but after I brought up the name of Watchman Nee he started defending the LCs even though he knew nothing of Witness Lee. It turned out he was a huge Watchman Nee fan and he started judging us for leaving and me for labeling my previous church system to be cult-like.
In another setting, a woman asked us what made us come to their church and we replied that we were just interested in visiting Christians around the area. To us this was a big deal because we had been living in the Local Church bubble for the longest time. She gave us a blank stare and said something along the lines of "Thats weird! You can just go to such and such an area for that you know? There's tons of Christians there!"
So basically there weren't many people out there who knew what we were going through and we felt very alone. I felt shame concerning my LC background and learned to never bring it up again towards other Christians.
Eventually the Lord led us to the church we're at. We noticed this church was unlike the others because the members seemed to really genuinely love each other. We liked that they practiced praying for each other in small groups during the meetings and there seemed to be so much joy and love being passed around. The teachings were also interesting and I felt fed with each passing sermon.
Eventually we were introduced to another ministry within the church. It turns out that the elder there was an ex-LCer! Finally we had someone who could understand us and minister healing to us. The Lord really prepared everything for us.
Gradually I came to trust in ministry leaders again. In the beginning I reasoned that if Witness Lee could deceive so many smart folks, what was preventing myself from being deceived?
But through the church, I learned to build up my foundation in God's word and develop intimacy with Jesus. Now that I've learned to trust and stand on Jesus and the word as my solid foundation, I've been able to "trust" myself enough to begin "trusting" others again. I know if the leaders ever go astray, I'll always have the word of God and the spirit of God available to tell me. I've learned that it's not leaders that are the problem, it's simply whether or not they have God's presence and if the Holy Spirit is welcome in the environment.
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
John 16:13
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
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I have this problem too. Meeting new people in a new church inevitably brings up the logical question of how you got there or where you came from - how do you even begin to explain where you came from without turning their smile into frozen steel and their eyes wide as they get a weirder story than they bargained for? From the get-go you are "weird", when you just need help and understanding about something that is impossible to understand unless you lived it!
Also finding out that elders in the LC are quite comfortable speaking half-truths makes it difficult to trust people in positions of authority anywhere as upright persons too.
It's amazing what the Lord worked out for your situation!