Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
...until we see the mainstream of Christianity as the norm (and the proper norm at that) and the LRC as the anomaly that needs a serious course correction, we are still caught in its error. As long as we continue to view Christianity, even to a lesser degree, as the problem that Lee taught us to think of it as, we are mired in the pigpen of LRC-think...
If there is an assembly that approaches the true label of "Babylon the Great" or even one of her daughters (and I do not say that any actually do), it is not the Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Church of Christ, charismatics, etc. . . . It is the LRC. They more than any other exemplify the position of proud yet bankrupt. ...there is a common denominator in it and it isn't the people. It is the system they have hitched their wagon to. It rides a fine line between thoughts of superiority and of despair. There is no "normal Christian life." It is very abnormal.
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To this I'd add the comments of Jesus, to "love those who don't love you in return." He said, "If you only bless those who bless you, where then is your reward?" In this I find Christianity to be quite normal, because it is full of people who are caught in all sorts of error! And so, dear readers, am I! This is not to say,
"Let us sin that grace may abound" -- no. But I acknowledge my many failures and lacks before God, remember that Jesus died to save sinners, of whom I am foremost, and know that these "degraded" assemblies around me, full of error-saturated and superstitious believers, contain all sorts of opportunities for me to practice mercy. Because Jesus clearly taught that if you show mercy to others, then God will show mercy to you! So what an opportunity, here, for me to obtain God's mercy!
Why search in vain for "the proper ground" when there are sinners all around you, some of whom go to church? Stop despising them according to your man-made doctrines and humble yourself and join in the great parade of God's salvation in Jesus Christ. It took me years, post LRC, to rid myself of the "I'm better than you through my superior teachings" attitude, carefully disguised in Lee's terminology (think, 'reality', etc). The reality is that God loved us and sent His Son while we were yet sinners. Shouldn't this same sending reverberate in love through us toward
all those around, not merely toward those whom we deem 'proper'? Why place arbitrary burdens on others which we know they cannot keep, thus excusing ourselves for our lack of charity?