[Cal]

I believe Hope was illustrating and Ohio was agreeing that leading a church or movement of churches is a tough task. Real troublemakers can cause real damage. I've never argued with the LCM leadership's right to maintain order and protect their flock. The Bible says that leaders have the right and even the obligation to do that.

Although one can make the case that LCM leadership was/is overbearing and abusive in their attempts to maintain order--and I think that case has been shown to be a good one--that, as regrettable as it is, is not really the central problem with the group. After all, leaders do have the right to maintain order and protect their flock. One can disagree about the extent to which such oversight is appropriate, but the right of oversight does exist.

The problem with the LCM was not that they sought to protect their turf. The problem was that they expected everyone, and indoctrinated everyone they could, to believe that their turf was the only turf. So they not only tried to control the impact members had on their group, they tried to control the very lives of those people as well, to the point of filling them with a fear of leaving the group. This was and is completely inexcusable.

That is the central sin of the LCM. It is the sin of Witness Lee, Benson Phillips and every other leader, or for that matter run-of-the-mill member, who ever pushed it.

Protect the turf God has assigned to you all you want. Just don't tell others it has to be their turf as well. That is not anyone's purview. And no rightful desire to protect one's flock excuses it.