Quote:
Originally Posted by UntoHim
Sometimes I think taking the Nee/Lee approach of "Everything is simply Christ" or "all we need is Christ" can lead us to a place where we are at risk of nullifying God's grace (or as Paul says here "to make his grace towards us in vain". Paul didn't just sit back resting on the laurels of God's grace, rather he "worked harder than any of them". Maybe "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" applies here as well.
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In the title of the thread, the words "fixing problems" and "helping leadership" jumps out. The original post showed the problem of a fallen human being trapped and isolated by the power structure that is supposed to protect him. Jesus, the One with all power, fully channeling the Father here on earth, let himself be so vulnerable to the machinations of fallen humanity. "I am a worm and not a man"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curious
King Xerxes was exploited in a sense by his own position and the set-up that elevated him also isolated him, harming him.
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Curious' point, as I see it, is that current LC leaders can learn from WL's mistakes, and be healed, just as previously Lee learned from Luther and Calvin and thence from the RCC, etc. All those forebears were part of the great passing-on of the gospel (and thank God for that!) but none of them were the equivalent of "Christ", deserving unrivaled place among the brethren, and slavish, unquestioning obedience. Only Jesus has that place, and he has that place precisely because he emptied himself. The Father elevated him, not he himself... Jesus emptied himself.
The Jews knew all this, I believe, which is why the failures of Peter were not hidden. Neither were those of David in earlier scriptures. Etc. But the LC created a farcical, bowdlerised history in order to hide their defects, especially of their leadership's history. And this very hiding is the proof of all the unresolved shame at the root of it all.
God: "Hey, Adam, why are you and Eve over there in the bushes with fig leaves plastered all over your bodies?"
Adam: "What fig leaves? What bushes?"
You can't fix the problem unless you realise there's a problem. Jesus' first words of ministry were 'repent'. That goes for everyone: at the end of the NT, the aged disciple John on Patmos was still writing, 'repent'.
And the masquerade shows the problem, it doesn't hide it. The LC power structure functions by transferring shame. It doesn't heal the shame. But we all need to be healed. All of us.