While I’m at it, whatever happened to praying and asking Jesus about who to marry and trusting in Him to lead us concerning who to marry? Who are all these other church people that they should be involved in such a decision? I don't care if they are as experienced as Methusaleh, this decision is the man's and the woman's. Their job is to find out the mind of the Lord. The stories I know where this was done have excellent results.
Whoever involves his/her self in making such a momentous decision other than the two parties and God may one day get blamed for the outcome, as they well should.
I think this is what I hate most about the LC teachings and practices. People were robbed of opportunities to have real experiences with God by looking to "the brothers" for advice and answers. God was robbed of His opportunities to teach His children about who He was and about His ways.
This is part of the harm to the second generation as Terry just (innocently) demonstrated. He was taught both verbally and by example to look to others to get His answers. I commend him for stepping outside of the LC box to find the wife God had for him.
Here is a hodge-podge of some reasons God and His children got robbed: leaders' unhealthy teachings; "body life" emphasis, i.e., don't act "independently"; saints desire to please the elders; laziness--it's too hard to learn of Christ for yourself and a bit risky; fear of violating one of those many unspoken rules; fear of following the devil--only the brothers know what was the Lord; fear of rejection; fear of offending God by being being in your soul thinking about things ... fear of being made an example of in a meeting ... fear of ..., fear of .... fear of .... etc.; elders coveting to fulfill their ambitions; elders seeking to keep WL happy and present him with an model church for their own reasons; elder's needing to control things to please Lee and also fulfill their own ambitions ... etc., etc., etc.
The LC teaching and all the dependence on "fellowship" from others was flat out unhealthy. Stick hierarchy and absolute submission into the mix and you have a recipe for disaster (one that obviously works). We should have been taught first and foremost to learn to depend on our relationship with Him. I've heard it said, "Well, it's not easy for young ones to hear what the Lord is saying and they can get deceived or make mistakes." If I knew what I know now, I would have said, "Well, if you don't get yourself and you voice out of the picture, they'll never learn the Lord's voice. Do they really need you as an intermediary? God will be there for them even if they make a mistake. Where will you be when they make your mistake?"
God is jealous for His relationship with each of us. All the getting "fellowship" practices opened us up to a world of hurt.
When I heard that Benson considered a prospective marriage in terms of the usefulness of a brother / sister--whether it would be increased or decreased, I wanted to vomit. He was definitely in the business of "using." How gross. Usurping, robbing God, playing with people's very lives and souls, using them to build his pyramids and treasure cities. Sorry, I know I'm foaming at the mouth. I'm just too close to some of the messes he made out of lives of people who followed his voice.
Back to the point: What about Jesus. What about Him being first in all things? Who are elders that they give "advice?" Instead of meddling in the practical lives of people and cheating them out of their inheritance of knowing God for themselves, they should have been laboring in the Bible for themselves to see what it really said.
They should have taught what it taught about husbands sacrificing for their wives and winning their wives love and willing submission. They should have taught about fathers spending major time to bring up their kids in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (nurture takes time, time, time) and made sure that they had plenty of time, time, time. (Sending children to babysittiing 6 days a week and children's meetings on Sunday, and leaving all the rest of the care of children to a wife who is exhausted from waiting hand and foot on all the "needs" of the church first, as dictated by the elders and the absentee fathers, just doesn't cut it.) They should have taught people about what how to bring every single detail of their life to Jesus because Jesus was longing to be involved with them, instead of telling them God was only interested in the church. They should have taught people they were free to follow Jesus even if that meant he led them somewhere else other than the LC.
I better quit and take a walk. Looking back, I don't see one LC "elder" that was doing the job described in the Bible. Even the very best had two minds and two masters. They vascillated between obeying Lee and his empire and their conscience. I think that's why God fired them all (see Ezek.34 and Jer. 23) and gave the sheep one Shepherd. Now if they can just ever figure out they don't have the job they botched any more.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow Me."
I am one happy little sheep who has returned to the great Shepherd of the sheep. I have been and will continue to pray that He will deliver all His little sheep out of the mouths of evil, double minded, shepherds and that He will bring them all out of all the folds of men into His pasture.
Thankful Jane
|