Quote:
Originally Posted by djohnson
Hopefully one day those groups that leave the LCS will not define and identify themselves in antithesis and thus we will not see the LSM mentioned in their local websites or better yet: not mentioned at all!
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To day "hopefully", I think, is too presumtuous. Being fairly removed from the "LC", its often been easy for me to look upon it like a sick child. And to look upon dialogue on these boards like a committe of wise parents - sometimes warring about alternatives, but united in assessment about the childishness.
That, I say to myself now, is unfair.
Reference to LSM in a thought-provoking publication is not an indication of still-yet-far-to-go. In ANY articulation of a point - especially in a realm that is so enmeshed in subjective assessments - there will always be a FOIL (even if the speaker does not acknowledge one).
While its important that the FOIL doesn't become a caricature, which shields all other manner of missteps, (e.g. you're all good - so long as you don't do what "those guys" did), I think the practice is valuable - and not just in an "emerging-state" way. Our relation to what we've been in, what we are in now and what we observe outside of our sphere will always be the basis of our opinions. What is important is whether we realize, in all that assessment, is whether we need a SAVIOR, rather than a medal, after our realizations. Not how far we are from some identifiable group.
There isn't a "hopefully" in terms of where LCers should end up, in my opinion. There is simply a, where are you Lord? That might mean assessing where we've come from. It might mean embracing the unknown.
His wisdom is multifarious and his grace is varied, given to each of us. How His gifts plays out and how His light shines as things move onward, is far beyond our categorizing minds.
So, I guess what I'm saying is: can we, even those skeptical or condemning of the LC and its forms, hear in our brothers' words a seeking, even if the result doesn't match our own present state? Can we love their interaction with the Lord in the place they are at...? And value that as much as a brother who might agree with our substantive opinions more, but is no more seeking?
Does that make sense?
Peter