LSM's Sacrament - the "Ground of the Local Church" NIGEL TOMES

[alwayslearning]

Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah

We were taught that WN was bothered by the divisions in Christianity and so studied the NT looking for the solution, and from this study derived the "one city one church" doctrine.

However, this teaching is not the solution. Rather I would argue that the ground of oneness is the Lord's blood. That is the ground on which we must accept all believers and the ground on which all walls and barriers are broken down. Anyone who tries to create a denomination or sect of Christians through some teaching is denying "the Lord who bought them".

I frankly don't think Watchman Nee was so bothered by the "divisions" in Christianity. He wanted to start indigenous churches in China and needed a model so he devised one and it so happened that the one he devised by nature had to illegitimize all other churches for it to work i.e. he had to classify them as divisions. Witness Lee took this further and classified all other churches as either the whore or daughters of the whore who were spiritually blind and stupid. By doing so his church became the elect of the elect, God's best, etc. All other Christians were 2nd class citizens or worse.

This teaching was not a solution because there isn't a solution and IMHO to waste our valuable time looking for one will only prove futile. Often (not always) there are some very valid reasons that Christians decide to meet separately from each other otherwise we would all still be meeting in the Roman Catholic Church - the church with the most historical legitimacy.

I agree the ground of oneness includes the blood of Christ i.e. His work of redemption but it also includes His person and other work i.e. the "common faith". The ground is certainly not a piece of dirt in a physical city and to make it such devalues Christians and the Lord they love.