"In the divisions He sought us"

[InChristAlone]

Originally Posted by aron

There the Local Church hymn #1221 it says:

"In the divisions He sought us,
Weary and famished for food;
Into the good land He brought us,
Oh, to our spirit how good!"

If someone doesn't know much about the Church history, he may be hooked on the words easily. Besides, the hymn lines can be supported by the Bible: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me". (John 17:20-23, NIV)

So it sounds good until you dig into history.

But I am more concerned about "Into the good land" than "In the divisions". To me, the good land of the LRC is nothing but a barren desert, with the mirage of an oasis.

[aron]

Originally Posted by InChristAlone

I am more concerned about "Into the good land" than "In the divisions". To me, the good land of the LRC is nothing but a barren desert, with the mirage of an oasis.

Mirage is a good word. First you set up the mark with a simplistic version of history. "It was dark and dreary, then God raised up Prophet X to rescue us." And the listener is lured into becoming a co-conspirator; all they have to do is agree that this is in fact how history has played out. When in fact history contains much more than your narrative.

I myself do not know much of church history before the Great Schism of 1054. I was born a Protestant and church history effectively began for us in 1525 with Martin Luther. Everything before that was "the Dark Ages", an empty void. We were ignorant, and people like Lee prey upon our ignorance with their simplistic "just so" stories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_So_Stories

I may not know much, but what I have seen demonstrates convincingly that church history is not as Lee portrayed it to us.

And to complete the mirage of the Local Church as equivalent to the good land, once you've convinced your mark that history is "just so", then you present them with your shiny alternative. You can repeatedly yell at them, "We're in the good land!!!" Believe me, it was convincing when I went to my first meeting and everybody was shouting, euphoric, and enthusiastic. I thought, So this is what church meetings should look like!

And later, when the enthusiasm dies down, when the Prophet begins to demand more and more, when you hear of "rebellions" and "storms" and whispered conspiracies, when you start having questions, you just need to keep repeating the mantra. Just keep telling yourself that everyone else is Babylonian, in the divisions, in dead religion, and we the blessed Local Church are in the good land. Ignore what your eyes and ears tell you. Ignore the history not in your simplistic version. Ignore those pesky Bible verses that don't line up with the Oracle. Just keep repeating the mantra. Probably that's why they made Lee's teachings into songs, so people would just keep beating them into their brains. Just keep repeating the mantra - it's God's economy!

[TLFisher]

Originally Posted by aron

Just keep repeating the mantra - it's God's economy!

It's this fabled term God's Economy that is used to claim legitimacy for churches aligned under LSM as lampstands on the earth. All other assemblies and fellowships are deemed as counterfeits and illegitimate.

Do your research and do your homework and you will learn these fellowship of churches have much in common with the Exclusive Brethren among others. Terminology might be different, but in practice ironically similar. Just as with Darby's Exclusive Brethren, divisions were produced.

[Friedel]

Originally Posted by Terry

Do your research and do your homework and you will learn these fellowship of churches have much in common with the Exclusive Brethren among others. Terminology might be different, but in practice ironically similar. Just as with Darby's Exclusive Brethren, divisions were produced.

Revived Exclusive Brethrenism.