For what it's worth, one of the biggest "dissonances" to me in LC culture was the idea that
The Recovery is the only place with a vision for building up the body of Christ. As I said in my previous post, I have found this to be wrong on multiple occasions. For example, this snippet from a recent weekly newsletter from
our new congregation (emphasis mine), and I wanted to share it:
Quote:
Dear Christ Church,
What do we do with the agency and resources God has given us? This is both a leadership and a stewardship question.
<snip>
2] We have opened our doors to a central Austin campus of Gateway Church, who lost their meeting place during the shutdown of facilities during the pandemic. With nowhere else to go, we invited them to use our facilities for Saturday evening worship, and just extended their stay for another six months. Christ Church, we want to see the whole bride of Christ thrive in the city of Austin.
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That really touched me, and I think it represents the kind of attitude congregations should have for one another. This is a denominational congregation hosting a non-denominational one with no sense of judgement or disapproval.
(For the record, here's a link to the
Gateway Church he's referring to. I've not attended, but from the website it seems like a solid Bible-believing congregation.)
LSM teachings promised us divisiveness, degradation, tribalism, spiritual death, vain repetition, and lack of any vision for the building of the body of Christ in "Christianity". I have not made a comprehensive survey of congregations denominational and otherwise in Austin, and I'm sure those things can surely be found if you look widely enough. Yet I have found enough counterexamples to show that kind of generalization about Christianity to be outright wrong. We are enjoying Spirit-filled services where the Word is preached and (literally and figuratively) held high and where the congregation
functions by praying, reading, and responding. We are enjoying small groups where people
function through Bible study, prayer, service, coordination, and yes, speaking for the Lord by sharing our experience of Him.