Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Lee definitely emphasized forgiveness, and looking back, it was entirely self-serving. He stressed to others about forgiving and forgeting, talking about the "fox tail" which surfaces concerning offenses, which would prove that we have completely forgiven the offender by wiping our memory clean of the offense.
It was commanded that we forgive, but why did Lee never forgive others. Neither did he ever repent for what he had done to hurt others. In all honesty, even genuine forgiveness does not demand complete forgetfulness. Somethings we may never forget, but we still have decided to forgive, and are genuinely released from that offense.
If forgiveness demanded forgetting, then why are the stories of David's and Peter's failures still recorded for all to read. The failures of the greatest of Israel's kings and the greatest of the N.T. apostles are there for all to read for all time.
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I always operated under the assumption that everyone in the LC was taking care of forgiving one another. Probably most at least tried to, but in relation to elders and different leaders, I've seen a number of situations where it was abundantly clear that were some unresolved problems. In the LC I'm from, I've seen several leave and start meeting with a different LC just because they couldn't work through a disagreement with a certain elder.
It is especially difficult to forgive if there has not been at least some form of repentance on the part of the person who has offended others. In the late 80's when Lee's out of control son was in the midst of his shenanigans, I'm sure there were quite a number who were waiting to see when Lee would attempt to make the situation right by repenting/apologizing for what had happened. When that didn't happen, meetings erupted into shouting matches. My guess is that many saints felt that they had turned a blind eye one too many times. Without any form of repentance from Lee, the situation quickly eroded.
The way I see it is that there were so many in the LC that were all too happy to forgive, until their willingness to forgive was taken advantage of one too many times. I can't blame those who have walked away from the LC with trouble forgiving. It is a system that takes advantage of one of the basic responsibilities of a Christian. What I have come to realize is that it makes a difference looking at the issue of forgiveness apart from the LC paradigm. Forgiveness is about moving on, and not being stuck with feeling wronged by the LC.