Living Church of God members are freshly back from the Feast of Tabernacles, where they spent eight days marinating in "millennial bliss." Love, unity, answered prayer, the usual harvest of glowing surveys, and the obligatory "this one was even better than last year" testimonies. Opening Night sermons painted vivid pictures of Christ's coming kingdom. The Last Great Day closed with hope for the masses. For one week, the brethren were kings-and-priests-in-training, rejoicing before the Lord and generally acting as if the world had already been remade.
Then they came home-and right on schedule came the familiar reminder that they cannot be trusted with the vision they just received.
Douglas S. Winnail's latest piece makes the point with the usual historical parade. The lessons of history, we are told, show that both mankind in general and God's chosen people have drifted off course again and again, due to Satan's deceptive influence. Adam and Eve made wrong choices that sent human history in the wrong direction. Ancient Israel turned away from God and suffered serious consequences-and modern Israelite nations are heading down the same path. The implication is clear enough for the recently returned Feast-goers: you are cut from the same cloth. You just spent eight days hearing about the Kingdom, and the moment the hotel checkout is complete you are already at risk of repeating the same fatal drift.
The Church, the piece continues, was established to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, to warn the world of the consequences of sin, and to announce events that indicate Christ's return is near. Its mission also involves preparing a people to rule with Jesus Christ as kings, priests, and teachers in His coming Kingdom. To qualify for this exciting reward, members must avoid being distracted by the trials and temptations of this world and remain faithful and focused on their calling and God-given mission. The closing exhortation is pure post-Feast form: "Let's stay focused on that mission!"
There it is-the annual transition from millennial preview to managerial scolding. The good feelings and warm intentions did not even last one week. Members who just left Feast sites where they were told they are in training for rulership are now being treated as people too prone to distraction, too easily deceived, too stupid to keep from losing their way once ordinary life resumes. Every week brings some fresh perceived indiscretion: a moment of ordinary human weakness, an insufficiently intense zeal, a failure to remain in permanent Feast-level focus. The leadership does not pause to be simply grateful that people rearranged their lives, spent their second tithe, traveled, and showed up. Gratitude is quickly subordinated to the next warning that the brethren are one careless step from the ditch.
That is the problem with the law. Under a system that measures people by continuous performance, holy-day observance, and ministerial oversight, the members are never good enough. The Feast high is temporary by design; the insufficiency is permanent. No amount of "best Feast ever" reports changes the underlying arithmetic: the law demands what human beings cannot sustain, then interprets the inevitable drop as evidence of Satan's influence, spiritual drift, or failure to stay focused on the mission. The New Covenant says otherwise. It speaks of a finished work, of righteousness that is not earned by perpetual self-examination, of a Spirit that writes the law on the heart rather than requiring weekly reminders that the people who just spent eight days in "millennial bliss" are already in danger of repeating Adam's mistake or Israel's apostasy. LCG does not teach that concept. It teaches the old pattern: rejoice on schedule, then brace for the correction that proves you still need the system to keep you from drifting.
The Feast pictures a future kingdom of peace. The post-Feast admonition pictures the present arrangement: members as perpetual spiritual children who cannot be left unsupervised for more than a few days without wandering off. One is a prophecy. The other is simply the management style of a law-based organization that has never quite trusted its own people with the freedom the New Covenant actually offers.
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