Choosing to See No Iniquity in Israel

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by Igzy

Lee was definitely guilty of "straining gnats and swallowing camels," as were those who modeled themselves after him.

I remember a new member in our small group. He and his wife were in that new period when they were just enjoying the freshness and hadn't yet been conformed to the LCM accepted cultural model. (I always felt sorry for those delightful new people because I knew either their individual uniqueness would get stamped out or they would leave the movement disillusioned.)

I can't tell you how many new people I saw come into the LC, only to last a short time because someone decided to lay down the law on them. It was sad, but it was probably for the better. It sure beats spending years in the LC before coming to that same realization that there is something wrong.

Originally Posted by Igzy

Anyway, he said he was having some lunch at a Mexican restaurant and having a beer with his dinner because to him you just don't have Mexican food without beer. (I concur, by the way.) He said an LCM sister came in and greeted him, but once she saw his beer her expression changed and she couldn't take her eyes off of that beer. To her it was indicative that there was something seriously wrong with the brother.

Now, where does it say a Christian can't have a beer with his Mexican food if he wants to? Nowhere. The Bible warns against excessive drinking, but never says don't do it at all. But Lee decided the Bible standard wasn't good enough and he was going to put the screws to everything and create a movement of super-spiritual, super-proper people. And we know the rest of the story: Hypocrisy run rampant. Gnats expelled and camels embraced.

It's a good thing the Bible doesn't forbid beer, because I like it. It was indeed a relief to finally come to the realization that so many of the knats the LC loved to strain mean absolutely nothing.

Originally Posted by Igzy

16 Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? 17 Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them. (NASB)

The Easy Read Version renders it this way:

16-17 So why ruin your life? Don’t be too good or too bad, and don’t be too wise or too foolish. Why should you die before your time?
18 Try to be a little of this and a little of that.

I think these verses offer a good standard to hold ourselves to - not being "too good" neither "too bad". It's a hard concept to grasp, coming from a background of extremes. It might even sound a bit paradoxical to LCers, however, things don't work according to their extremes.

What if the LC could stop nitpicking in the name of "perfecting", and learn to meet people where they are at? What if they could let each individual live according to his or her own standards instead of imposing WL's standards as the model to live by? Of course, that will never happen, but I think there could be a night and day difference.

It really seems that hypocrisy develops from the extreme of being "too good". If people see themselves as super-spiritual and super-proper, it is just asking for trouble. I think it becomes a matter of pride, and when a camel appears, the reaction is to swallow it. That is WL's legacy. He spent so much time nitpicking and criticizing others, but when he was put to the test, he failed miserably. I feel fairly confident that he neither saw it coming, nor was he completely clear as to where he failed and went wrong.