“Local Church ‘Cult’ Label has stuck”—says LSM Star turned Academic

[aron]

Originally Posted by SpeakersCorner

My point is that a romantic experience of Christ trumps everything else. Ephesus had it and lost it.

The LC experience certainly stressed love for the Lord Jesus in continual expression, both corporate and private. I don't really remember such talk before coming to the LC (though my initial church experience was pretty limited). It undoubtedly attracted me, as it did many others.

The other half of the Great Commandment, to love one's neighbor as oneself, can be problematic, obviously. Given the strong emphasis on the LC "corporate life" there was the appearance of love, at first glance, and again, this was attractive. People were visiting each other in the homes, staying after church meetings to talk, have meals, etc. We'd travel to other cities to have conferences, and would stay in the homes of the LC saints. They called it "hospitality", as in 1 Peter 4:9. There seemed to be an awful lot of love expressed in openness, reception, and giving and sharing.

So far so good. But what of those outside the ministry's sphere of influence? No love. I am thinking specifically our attitude toward "degraded Christianity", and also the "poor building material" like the poor, the aged, the infirm, etc. "Don't waste your time", I was told by the FTTA trainer. Go for the young, Caucasian, college students. That's what we're after.

Secondly, what of the inevitable schism when Leader A doesn't want to kowtow to Leader B? Leader A takes "his" flock away, and Leader B likewise, and you're like a kid whose parents divorce: you love both Mom and Dad, but Mom now seems to hate Dad and vice verse. What to do? How to show love? Do I love the folks in Leader A's flock now, or Leader B's? Or both? Or neither?

So we continue to attempt our love affair with Jesus, but under considerably straightened circumstances than when the journey first began. But we go on. In my case I take comfort in the word of God, and try to minister from it, to whomever my neighbour may be. Others, obviously, may be led to minister in more formal, structured organizational environments. Like SC in his church, f'rinstance. Some of us may occasionally feel like John on Patmos, gazing back "in spirit, on the Lord's Day", at the churches on the mainland. We're now physically removed, but something inside keeps us connected.