Attempting to SEEM inclusive

[TLFisher]

Originally Posted by Freedom

[/I]So, LCers believe the church to be primary an out-calling, and importantly it seems that this out-calling is supposed to primarily from none other than denominations. It's no wonder that 'church' has become a loaded term to them. They can't view any normal assembly as being part of the church, their assembling only occurs by dividing and separating themselves from other Christians - as an "out-calling" from everything they chose to criticize.

If we replace the word 'church' with assembly, and apply that to their nomenclature, what we get is them saying things like "we are THE assembly in Rome." Their whole one church one city rule works for them because their semantics differ from everyone else. It is obvious that within a city, there are numerous Christian assemblies, and for any one group to claim that they are the only assembly or the most important assembly is both ignorant and prideful.

There's the thought just because the words "local", "locality", or using the phrase "Christians meeting as the church in" invokes inclusion, generality, etc. Yet in practice basing fellowship on a ministry makes in fact a ministry church. There is no way for a general visiting Christian to sense any inclusion. In reality churches that base fellowship on a ministry should realize their meetings are not for anyone except those who share the vision the ministry promotes.