Curious!

[Curious]

Hello Cal and Local Church discussers.

I have been following this forum and your YouTube messages with great interest.

Cal, you have made many wise and insightful observations and I believe you have approached the whole subject of the LC very, very well. (Additionally, from the topic of the LC, I am very impacted by the commentary on Noah and his cursing of Ham, I have taught it to my kids already!) I will start with a very brief introduction of myself. I have been a trophy hoped for by and LCer, whom I knew for a number of years. Within that time, I attended their weekly meetings with a shared meal, fellowship, songs and a “study”, for several of those years. I never joined, as they never told me that was their hope, and the longer I attended, the more I became aware of my own alarm bells going off. I have been ‘shunned’ already for some time. That is the bones of it.

However, I happen to know some others who are currently in, and one who has been and come out of, some other similar ‘christian’ groups. What makes me call them similar I the following: exclusivity, rejection of regular Christianity as fallen and spiritual Babylon, high demand, no accountability for leadership, sexual abuse, excommunicating those who object in any way, hiding and dismissing their crimes. I have been studying and considering how people become ensnared and I have a comment to make on it, that I think is relevant to this forum.

The group starts off meeting their needs, rather than teaching them truth. Persons whom have a deep need for the following: belonging, certainty, security, significance. Young adults today are increasingly dealing with lack in these areas, through divorce of parents, fears of planet destruction from the media, social media, cyber bullying etc. Those whose needs in these areas have been met by their inclusion in a group like the LC (and others with the same set of beliefs about themselves), and whose fears have seemed to be resolved by the answers they’ve been given, who are sold out on it, will not listen to you and me or any evidence or reason we can supply. It threatens the source of their newfound stability and certainty about the world and their place in it. They aren’t actually seeking truth yet, they are meeting their own needs. Until they mature, or become significantly hurt by the group, and are able to see it clearly, they won’t listen to us.

The big problem in the long run with valuing certainty, significance, and a rigid and strict interpretation of the bible, is that it feeds arrogance not humility. It leads the convert away from a Christian character not towards it: -Sense of certainty + exclusivity = arrogance, pride (even if hidden), self protection, self preservation. Its all about self and feeling safe. -Faith that surrenders self + acceptance of everyone as they are, but longing for the best for them = humility, awareness of own limitations, love for others and reliance on Gods love and mercy for self.

The second scenario actually delivers a much deeper sense of security and is the only true way to drive away fear. The first doesn’t really deliver, only seems to. In fact, in the first equation, one’s security becomes the doctrines of the group, and not Jesus himself. It doesn’t involve repentance either, and seeking security is the opposite of activating faith, as faith requires the letting go of safety security and control, to hold on to Jesus, think of the disciples in the boat when the storm flared up and put yourself in their shoes!

For the person longing to belong, fearful of their future, lacking confidence etc, it’s easy to feel so comforted by the strong sense of certainty provided by these charismatic and narcissistic leaders, (as to be so certain one has to have little actual conscience). That is what hooks them. I know because I was once young, afraid, had no confidence and longed to belong. I made my own mistakes too.

So, to any LC lurkers, I lay the challenger to you. What motivates you? Do you believe everything you are taught and tow the line because it meets your own needs? Or because you have independently assessed it all to be true? (Of course it’s a trap, you end up living in fear in the LC, exploited by the needs you had, trapped by fear of consequences if you leave, challenged to face those fears that caught you in the first place, like ground hog day!)

That’s my comment. I have much more to say. I’ll save my other points, for a future post.