Good Material

Chris Fleming · 11-23-2013, 05:42 PM

Did elders/full-time-ers actually refer to people with that term, or conversely, as "poor material"? I've not heard of that directly when I was there but the unspoken message was definitely there--that there is a certain kind of person that the LSM churches are targeting and there are different classes of people there.

In Austin there is a heavy focus on college freshmen gospel preaching and campus outreach...to the point of exclusivity even. I've been in meetings where they say not to even bother trying to speak to people older than college freshmen. The goal seems to be to attract kids with a similar personality--those who will utterly throw themselves into the "church life", literally meeting every day in some form or another and eventually progressing to attending the LSM training, which I hear is now 3 or 4 years long.

In one meeting, a girl was testifying that a classmate of hers was meeting with her LSM campus meeting and also another Christian group's meeting. When she "shared" that her friend eventually stopped going to her other group in favor of going to the LSM group exclusively, everyone cheered.

Is this what they mean when they say they are looking for "good material"?

Why that kind of thinking isn't completely abhorrent to any normal Christian is beyond me, but then again, I most certainly would be considered "poor material" in their eyes...

11-23-2013, 05:42 PM	#1
Chris Fleming Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 45	Good Material Did elders/full-time-ers actually refer to people with that term, or conversely, as "poor material"? I've not heard of that directly when I was there but the unspoken message was definitely there--that there is a certain kind of person that the LSM churches are targeting and there are different classes of people there. In Austin there is a heavy focus on college freshmen gospel preaching and campus outreach...to the point of exclusivity even. I've been in meetings where they say not to even bother trying to speak to people older than college freshmen. The goal seems to be to attract kids with a similar personality--those who will utterly throw themselves into the "church life", literally meeting every day in some form or another and eventually progressing to attending the LSM training, which I hear is now 3 or 4 years long. In one meeting, a girl was testifying that a classmate of hers was meeting with her LSM campus meeting and also another Christian group's meeting. When she "shared" that her friend eventually stopped going to her other group in favor of going to the LSM group exclusively, everyone cheered. Is this what they mean when they say they are looking for "good material"? Why that kind of thinking isn't completely abhorrent to any normal Christian is beyond me, but then again, I most certainly would be considered "poor material" in their eyes...