Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
Another double-standard is the LC principle when brothers come to leave, to leave like gentlemen. Yet, when brothers do leave like gentlemen, the same is not reciprocated. Rather comes the generic reasoning why brother so and so left: - unforgiven offenses
- unfulfilled ambitions
- negative
- opposing
- rebellious
- become cold to the ministry
- lost the vision
- attracted by the world
One of the symptoms is taking it personally when a brother or sister leaves. They're still a brother and sister. Just meeting with a different assembly. |
Over the years, I heard plenty of conversations regarding someone who left, or LC members would wistfully say that we should call up brother so-and-so and invite him back to a meeting. Of course, the assumption was always that those who left had somehow "drifted away" from the meetings. I believed this for a long time, but eventually I started realized that those who left had left for a reason. A few times, I actually asked fellow LCers, had they ever considered that maybe this person or family had left for a reason? I could always tell that asking LCers this question made them very uncomfortable, because they couldn't admit that there was anything wrong with the LC. The blame had to always be put on those who left, thus the labels that they have developed ("negative", "backsliders", etc).
What was a big point of frustration for me is that leaders always tried to get us stirred up to contact those who hadn't been meeting. Sometimes we actually did this. Sometimes a phone call did the trick, and they started coming to meetings again. But whenever these people were "revived", it was always short-lived, and then it was back to square one. Looking back, it was quite naive to think that a simply phone call was going to fix everything, but then again, no one every thought for a moment that the problem wasn't with those who had left, but with the system itself have some element that was deterring people. Why can't leaders admit this? Why do they lead everyone on thinking that no one leaves the LC for a good reason?