How to rescue those still in LCs in Korea?

[aron]

Originally Posted by Gubei

To my best knowledge, David Yonggi Cho didn't claim he is the minister of the age. At least he admitted other "ministries"

Originally Posted by Drake

Anything that could be destroyed should be destroyed.

To claim primacy for one's vision or truth is a fallacy and should be rejected. I did not see this when I joined the LC. It was so convenient, to have all the great truths of Christianity encapsulated in one ministry. One-stop-shopping.

The problem is, if there is error (and there is always error of emphasis or omission), there is no way to correct it, and eventually it swallows everything.

But the wisdom of the Bible (surprise!) has the answer. "In the multitude of counselors is safety".

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by aron

To claim primacy for one's vision or truth is a fallacy and should be rejected. I did not see this when I joined the LC. It was so convenient, to have all the great truths of Christianity encapsulated in one ministry. One-stop-shopping.

The problem is, if there is error (and there is always error of emphasis or omission), there is no way to correct it, and eventually it swallows everything.

But the wisdom of the Bible (surprise!) has the answer. "In the multitude of counselors is safety".

Exactly. This is why the Bible places the shepherding of the churches in the hands of local elders.

But then ones like Ignatius came along. He was obsessed with a false fear that some local congregation would succumb to Gnostic heresy. So he created the office of the Bishop. Ignatius spoke outrageous things like, "it is therefore evident that we ought to look at the Bishop as we do upon the Lord Jesus Himself." (Miller's Church History, p.152)

Andrew Miller responds, "Scarcely had the voice of inspiration become silent in the Church, that we hear the voice of new teachers crying loudly and earnestly for the highest honors being paid to the bishop, and a supreme place being given to him." (ibid.)

Sounds like the Recovery MOTA, doesn't it? If we don't learn from history, then we are bound to repeat it. And that's what has happened. Is not this Witness Lee's greatest error -- self-exaltation -- the bitter spring from which all other errors come forth?

Back to aron's point about a multitude of counselors, i.e. the elders in every church. Here we see the Spirit's wisdom caring for the church of God throughout the age of grace. Should error creep into one assembly, it stays there, protecting the rest of the body of Christ. But under the papal/bishopric/MOTA systems, errors are guaranteed to spread like metastasized cancer, enabled by employing agents from headquarters (think: DCP) attacking the immune system of the body.

[aron]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Back to aron's point about a multitude of counselors, i.e. the elders in every church. Here we see the Spirit's wisdom caring for the church of God throughout the age of grace. Should error creep into one assembly, it stays there, protecting the rest of the body of Christ. But under the papal/bishopric/MOTA systems, errors are guaranteed to spread like metastasized cancer, enabled by employing agents from headquarters (think: DCP) attacking the immune system of the body.

If a local elder goes off the rails, and pulls most of the local congregants with them, then neighbouring assemblies will see a cautionary tale. But if the local elder makes himself de facto pontiff, to rule ALL the assemblies, then his errors can spread unchecked. Then, "There is no one to restrain the madness of the prophet", as the saying goes.

Only Jesus is given unfettered sway. The resurrection from the dead, and the glories which followed, ensure this. No one else should presume such pride of place. Only Jesus is the King. If anyone else wants to be great, they should be the least. Those who presume greatness in this age are in trouble, and they trouble the church.

I keep coming back to the quote by the current President of LSM:

Originally Posted by UntoHim

That's all well and good, my friend, but the problem is that Local Churchers are being blocked from putting their full trust in the One who opens and shuts. There are many unnecessary and unbiblical "intermediaries" that they have to go through. They must believe that Witness Lee is the one minister with the one ministry for the age. There is the One Publication. There is even fear that leaving the movement will put them in spiritual danger, at best, and maybe even worse will befall those who stray from the Local Church of Witness Lee.

Don't believe me...just listen to the president of the Living Stream Ministry, Mr Benson Phillips:“In any case, do not leave the Lord’s recovery. I can assure you that if you go away from the Lord’s recovery, you will have no way for the process of sanctification to go forward within you. Instead, you will just enter into a bankrupt situation. I know of no one who has left the Lord’s recovery and today is a great spiritual person on the earth. The sanctification process is carried out in the Lord’s recovery”(The Ministry Magazine Vol. 8, No. 1 Page 189, first paragraph --

Notice the words he uses: "a great spiritual person on the earth". So they think there are those, on this side of the Bema of Christ, who can claim greatness. Wrong. They also use the term "spiritual giants"... the only "giants" in the Bible are the unholy off-spring of the fallen angels and the fallen humanity ~Genesis 6 & passim. Not really something to pursue as a goal. For us, there's one "great spiritual person" - his name is Jesus Christ. Anyone else who makes such pretensions is deluded. This is Christianity 101, folks.

Now, at the Bema, if Christ calls you higher - wonderful! We all rejoice. But don't presume anything before that day. ~Luke 14:8