Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Date: August 30, 2019 09:21AM
You got an email?? I'm so jealous! :) Ok, not really. Still...
The letter did zero in on a big problem, and one which grieves me terribly. I DO feel awkward in this community. I DO get uncomfortable when I run into people who used to be like family to me. That was true when we left Shiloh several years ago, and is even more so now (in part because I have no sense of who's still "in" and who's "out.")
To be honest, if something could be done to overcome that feeling of discomfort, that would be GREAT! I am leery, though, when I read the part that says, "It would follow Scripture to have the same love and respect for each other as we do with our other neighbors and churches in the community."
Perhaps things have changed in the past ten years or so and this is no longer true, but I certainly heard it insinuated and openly preached from the pulpit over and over again that Shiloh was better/smarter/more right than the other "dead" and "religious" churches in the area. So, if people are looking now to only have "the same love and respect for each other" as they do (or, at least did) for their "other neighbors and churches in the community" - count me out!! I don't want to be humored, looked-down-upon, and smirked at behind closed doors, and that's very much what happened to other Christians (especially Protestant Christians) when I was part of the Body.
I genuinely doubt the inclusion of this wording is duplicitous on their part, though. I would guess that they are still functioning in the same mindset of being the "remnant," and perhaps aren't even aware of the implicit judgment they've had (still have?) of other churches. Maybe that's an area that this counselor could point out and work on, and which would help the healing and reconciliation process.
Just my two cents' worth.