[zeek]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

Almost sounds like something Lee would say - that any group which insists that other believe something in order to fellowship is a sect.

Then we must also believe that Catholics and Orthodox are sects (because they insist that others believe things in order to fellowship), and most denominations. In fact the requirements for fellowship with these denominations are much more stringent than us - they won't even let you take bread and wine unless you are a fully communicated member believing certain things about their church.

If not, then why are we a sect and Catholic/Orthodox aren't?

Here is the definition of a sect in Catholicism:

To the Catholic the distinction of Church and sect presents no difficulty. For him, any Christian denomination which has set itself up independently of his own Church is a sect. According to Catholic teaching any Christians who, banded together refuse to accept the entire doctrine or to acknowledge the supreme authority of the Catholic Church, constitute merely a religious party under human unauthorized leadership. The Catholic Church alone is that universal society instituted by Jesus Christ which has a rightful claim to the allegiance of all men
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13674a.htm

Thanks for the link. According to my experience religious organizations always have the flawed character of a human group. Witness Lee's Local Church Movement is no exception. But, an exception is exactly what it claims to be. Which means that it is doing the same thing as the Roman Catholic Church based on a different interpretation of the Bible. The parallel between the The Local Church's claims and those of Roman Catholic Church is very instructive. People who claim to be better than everyone else are the ones you've got to watch out for. Jesus teaches that. My experience confirms it. The same goes for their groups.