[YP0534]

I think it most likely that, as Lee himself never perceived his own sectarianism, devotees of his denomination are also unable to see it.

It is a difficult question and one I wrestled with at the very start of my Christian experience and attending the formal Local Church meetings.

The definition of the Local Church congregation as the single authentic instance of Christian assembly in every place, while clearly sectarian, proves to be a great hindrance to seeing that sectarianism clearly.

They surely are believers. Any group of believers meeting together anywhere freely calls themselves "a church." This group says we are surely "a church" and no one can deny that. They then further say that other places are in fact sectarian divisions and not "churches" at all. This seems easy enough to perceive. The syllogism concludes that "a church" which is not a "division" of one sort or another is "the church." By conveniently ignoring or explaining away all of the clear indicia that in fact they are also a division, they become trapped into believing that they are unable to meet apart from this one group.

The idea seems to me firmly rooted in the notion of "belonging" and founded upon a belief in a shared concept of "Universal Church." If we all agree on the big picture story, then we all belong to the same club wherever we live. You can generally disagree about minor issues as long as you have the same "Big Church" idea composed of similar "little churches" and this worked for awhile. The problem in the Local Church became irreversably manifest when the idea about "Big Church" subsumed every minor issue as well. Lee's declaration that they could by much effort bring the Lord back in 13 years was the major error of his entire life of teaching. You can't get the "Universal Church" built without knocking on doors in just the correct fashion, don't you know? Words about oneness relating to "Big Church" ideas were then exchanged for words about oneness in every little thing. You cannot be one in Christ without being one in HWMR became the lie. In fact, it becomes more than difficult to be one in Chirist if you ARE one in HWMR and such practices.

This is why they need to pay the price to buy the eyesalve.