The LCS Factor

[Paul Cox]

Originally Posted by Matt

Roger,


I never said that simply being a member forced you to commit idolatry. What I said was that being a member caused most to stumble in regards to idolatry. There is a huge difference between these two.

If you are in an environment that is full of a certain kind of problem and everyone is saying, "the water is fine, jump in, it feels great". What do most do? They jump in.

Matt,

I will have to wade through your volumes and volumes of lengthy posts to find it, but you did say something to the effect that just remaining in the group means you commit idolatry, or maybe are somhow associated with idolatry. I will find it and post it. But if you are softening your approach now, I applaud you.

BTW, cultic activity and idolatry can very easily be proven to be one and the same. But for the record, I don't ever recall saying that the Local Church is an outright cult. What I have always insisted is that it is a sect of Christianity with cultic tendencies.

Okay, so idolatry is an important thing to the Lord in the Bible. But so is adultery. How many times in the Old Testament does the Lord talk about Israel (the Church) going a whoring after strange gods? The case can be made, I suppose, that the Local Churches have gone a whoring after LSM.

So then does that mean that just by being in the group, genuine seeking Christians who happen to find themselves there are guilty of spiritual adultery? I don't think so; and I don't think we can take that kind of black and white approach to the saints who remain there.

I have been one of the most harsh critics of the Local Church, for what it's worth. But I cannot bring myself to say that all the saints who find themselves there are engaging in idolatry. This is not a matter of everybody being in a pot of hot water. It's a matter of individual saints being dealt with on an individual basis.

Those hypocrites who sit on their thrones over on LaPalma deserve to be exposed for all that they are. They are Witness Lee bobble heads, and they refuse to know anything else. Yes, they are true idolaters.

There is little doubt that there is widespread idolatry in the Living Stream Churches. But many of us know too many saints personally to just paint them with the broad brush of "idolatry." This is not the Old Testament where the Lord just opens up the earth and swallows all who bowed before the golden calf. This is the age of grace.

While we must learn from the examples of the Old Testament, I find that many who rely too heavily upon the Old Testament examples become harsh and judgmental. Did this not happen in the Local Church? Every time they want to judge you, they break out with the Old Testament examples. Did we not recently engage in a discussion about a leprous house and the need to re-plaster the walls? What a mockery of Old Testament usage that was!

I still say there are many seeking Local Church members who are starting to eye the exit with favorability. They want to understand what is happening to them. There is psychological manipulation, peer pressure, cultural pressure and a whole host of things. These are the matters they need to become clear on. These are the things that started the lights to go off in me when I was at that point.

If someone had come to me and blasted me with “IDOLATRY,” I’m not sure that would have mattered a hill of beans to me. But group dynamics, now there is something that is very easy to see.

Roger

PS I had posted this before reading Toledo's post. He has already quoted Matt in the matter of painting all Local Churchers with the broad brush of idolatry. So I can avoid that homework.