Quote:
Originally Posted by StevenLi89
I assume some of the former members from Taiwan switched into Buddhism.
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I don't know the Taiwan scene, but if it's like the rest of the world, I can imagine somewhat. You have the "old guard" trying desperately to hold onto what they think is true, the core. To them, any change is bad (yet they represent what was once change!). You have the ones making concessions and adaptations to the new age, while still holding the core. You have some going off to Buddhism or atheism or whatever. Many give up trying to figure things out, just try to survive today, that's enough.
Against that backdrop of confusion and disgust, of lethargy and desperate grasping, I offer this: there's a story in the NT, told by Galilean fisherman, of the Messiah who suffered and died and rose again. That's the irreducible core. Added to that is the command to love one another and live in a manner befitting the Messiah. "As He is holy, so you be holy."
That's about it. Everything else points back to this gospel message. So, from this, the right question isn't, "How do I find a church" but "How do I help others who struggle with the same situation as me". Remember, as you do to others, God will do to you. So if you make it about you, you get nothing. Witness Lee made it all about you - your experience, your subjective "enjoyment", your "overcoming" and "intrinsic metabolic transformation." It was all a ruse, because his revelation centered on him. He drew you in by feeding your ego, your self. Don't repeat that mistake (I don't speak specifically to any reader here, just my experiences in particular, and observations in general.)
So, how to help others? It's critical to understand that many leave the Lord's Recovery (or leave in spirit, whilst bodily attached due to family or other constraints), will leave frustrated and emotionally embittered. They gave years of their lives, for what... nothing. Plus, they were told from Day 1 to despise everything else, so that when the "vision" of the "glorious local church" collapses into ruin they're mentally and emotionally lost... so they rush out -- it's all 'out, out' with little consideration what they're going into. They flee the thorny briars but plunge into a pit. Or they crawl out of the pit and run, run, run, headlong into briars.
So your job is to provide useful information for decision-making, and present a pattern of careful and wise decisions. Remember, "Be ye wise as serpents but guileless as doves." The first part of that isn't stressed enough. I could go on for pages but will give one example.
Watchman Nee is widely held to be one of the influential Christian thinkers, writers, leaders of the 20th century. I've read a survey asking the Jesus Movement participants of the 1970s, who were their 20 most influential Christians, where they listed those who'd impacted their thoughts, beliefs, and practices. I think WN was like #6. And yet, what do we know about him? There is Witness Lee's encomium Watchman Nee,
A Seer of the Divine Revelation , there's Angus Kinnear's
Against the Tide, both biased and incomplete, listing certain information to help the narrative. There's Lily Hsu's
Unforgettable Memories on the other hand, also biased. But at least she was a first-hand participant, a voice. WN spoke on Sunday morning to several thousands in Shanghai, yet of first-person accounts from that era, there are few. Instead of information there's misinformation and cant. [Webster on
cant: the expression or repetition of conventional or trite opinions or sentiments; or, the insincere use of pious words.]
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journ...E17A4767292A35
If you want to help people, give them information to make empowering choices, to free themselves from predators like WL and his minions. I link the article by Joseph Tse-Hei Lee as an example of what appears to be an attempt. But it is very, very hard! Don't be ambitious, be cautious and work hard! And you may get a story that you can share with those in Taiwan, to help them. And if you do, God will help you. Pray for others, Christ will intercede for you. Encourage others, you will be encouraged. Comfort others, you will be comforted. Guide others, and you will find the way.
Last request. If you want to be of service, please translate and release primary and secondary source documents. All Christians have a lot to learn from the Chinese Christian experience. If we don't learn from history, we tend to repeat it... see, e.g., Leung Ka-Lun,
Ni Tuosheng de rongru shengchu [Watchman Nee: His Glory and Dishonor] (Hong Kong: Alliance Bible Seminary, 2003); and Ying Fuk-Tsang, "Ni Tuoshe sanzi gexin yundong [Watchman Nee and the Three-Self Movement, 1949-1951],
Dao: A Journal of Bible and Theology 20 (July 2003; 129-75). Anyone who'd bring such documents to the English-speaking world would do us great favour. Thank you!