[YP0534]

If you open the pages of the Bible and read with consideration and care, it is nearly impossible to read a page without touching in some way upon the topic of God's authority in the universe. He is the Lord over all, however, so this should not come as any great surprise.

However, if you open brother Watchman Nee's book "Authority and Submission" in the chapter entitled "God Intends that Man Submit to Representative Authority" you could find a section entitled "C. In the Church" where some verses are given.

Just so that we are perfectly clear, I will restate that these are the verses Watchman Nee gives in his book called "Authority and Submission" on the topic of God's intention that man submit to representative authority in "the church." (I'll just note in passing that we aren't clear if the so-called "universal aspect" is intended here or not in Nee's writing.)

Here are the verses, and I'll make a brief comment on each one after citation. (Also, please note that I am actually quoting a slightly larger passage in some cases than what Nee cites in order to give a fuller context.)

1Th 5:11 Wherefore encourage one another, and build up each one the other, even as also ye do.
1Th 5:12 But we beg you, brethren, to know those who labour among you, and take the lead among you in [the] Lord, and admonish you,
1Th 5:13 and to regard them exceedingly in love on account of their work. Be in peace among yourselves.
1Th 5:14 But we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, sustain the weak, be patient towards all.
1Th 5:15 See that no one render to any evil for evil, but pursue always what is good towards one another and towards all;

The brothers are begged to know and love the ones who labor and the lead and admonish them. They are directed to be in peace among themselves. Then, the brothers are also exhorted to admonish others themselves, while also comforting, sustaining and being patient.

If this is a matter of the so-called "deputy authority" why is Paul merely "begging" that the saints recognize and appreciate the leading ones that admonish them while "exhorting" them to render similar aid to the others? Perhaps Paul, as the "deputy authority," was being political and nice to "beg" when this was a matter that touched the important issue of "authority?"

I think we can see why this does not give much strength to the teachings about "deputy authority" - if there was such a thing, Paul here doesn't even use it himself while supposedly directing people to obey it.

1Ti 5:17 Let the elders who take the lead [among the saints] well be esteemed worthy of double honour, specially those labouring in word and teaching;
1Ti 5:18 for the scripture says, Thou shalt not muzzle an ox that treadeth out corn, and, The workman [is] worthy of his hire.

I'm not sure why this is cited other than to note that for the ones who take the lead and spend more time in the Word than they do in making tents, their practical needs should not be left met by those who benefit from their work. I suppose you might consider this a kind of submission but, once again, Paul doesn't really make a direct statement out of authority, does he? All he says is that they "should be esteemed worthy of double honor." He doesn't even say to render any "honor" at all. A feeble exercise of "authority" if that is what you seek to find here.

1Pe 5:1 The elders which [are] among you I exhort, who [am their] fellow-elder and witness of the sufferings of the Christ, who also [am] partaker of the glory about to be revealed:
1Pe 5:2 shepherd the flock of God which [is] among you, exercising oversight, not by necessity, but willingly; not for base gain, but readily;
1Pe 5:3 not as lording it over your possessions, but being models for the flock.
1Pe 5:4 And when the chief shepherd is manifested ye shall receive the unfading crown of glory.
1Pe 5:5 Likewise [ye] younger, be subject to [the] elder, and all of you bind on humility towards one another; for God sets himself against [the] proud, but to [the] humble gives grace.
1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in [the due] time;
1Pe 5:7 having cast all your care upon him, for he cares about you.

Nee specifically quotes only 5:5 in this section. Without going into a complete statement about what seems fairly apparent across all these verses, it is surely a practical thing that the younger be subject to the elder. Of course, the RcV does render this as "be subject to elders" which reinforces the poor title of "elder" but even granting that, "being subject to" is not a command of so-called "deputy authority" in the context of everyone being humble towards one another under "the mighty hand of God" after casting your care upon Him. He is the one who takes care of all of us and He is the one who gives us grace and exalts us when we humble ourselves to Him. In that atmosphere, we need to be humble towards one another and as younger men, we need not exalt ourselves over the older ones but even be subject to them. But this word "be subject to" does not mean "be the subject of." The elder ones surely are not the kings with the younger ones as their subjects to follow their whim. Moreover, all of them, the elder ones included, must be in all humility toward each other and before God, for God isn't going to be blessing the efforts of the proud. I think we can all understand this. As opposed to the previous two, it could give a little ground to the doctrine of "deputy authority" but clearly not too much.

1Cr 16:12 Now concerning the brother Apollos, I begged him much that he would go to you with the brethren; but it was not at all [his] will to go now; but he will come when he shall have good opportunity.
1Cr 16:13 Be vigilant; stand fast in the faith; quit yourselves like men; be strong.
1Cr 16:14 Let all things ye do be done in love.
1Cr 16:15 But I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the saints for service,)
1Cr 16:16 that *ye* should also be subject to such, and to every one joined in the work and labouring.

Nee only cites verse 15 and 16 here.

After explaining that Apollos refused to follow Paul's "deputy authority" which was again exercised by the grave technique of "much begging," Paul this time "beseeches" the saints at Corinth to "be subject to" the "house of Stephanas," which is presumably a dwelling composed entirely of elders and co-workers, and hence the charge. He also gives the same direction regarding "every one joined in the work and laboring" even though this is pretty confusing in the context since Apollos just got himself separated and cannot be considered joined any more and should probably be considered for quarantine for publicly refusing to be one with the unique ministry of the apostle and building up his own kind of work.

Yeah. This is clearly the right way to read this.

Actually, because that house of Stephanas was an early fruit of Paul's ministry, he charges Corinth, not unlike his charge in Timothy, that the younger should be subject to the elder. This is not about establishing some kind of governmental arrangement. It is a mere recognition of the practical consequences of the flow of life within the Body. Does the Head not have the proper authority over every member? Why would we dream up that we should set some up as bearing His authority externally for Him? We need to recognize that the flow of authority in the Body is just of a completely different kind from that in the world and we should not imitate it.

This chapter has some more points, such as a citation to Luke 10 where the Lord sent out seventy by twos, keying in on verse 16:

Luk 10:16 He that hears you hears me; and he that rejects you rejects me; and he that rejects me rejects him that sent me.

But again and again, the problem with Nee's analysis is that, while it is unopposed that there is such a thing as God's authority in the universe, and while it is probably not reasonably questioned that God can and does exercise this authority through living human beings, the concept that God has set up "deputy authorities" to have an appointment as a benevolent and gentle ruler over a governmentally arranged company called "the church" is just without basis in the Scriptures. This is a matter of religious custom, handed down by traditions that have their only real origin in the error of the doctrine of catholicism. Moreover, to the extent that one holds such a belief, one opens the door for all kinds of problems.

Nee discusses the problems by basically saying the followers are off the hook.

What a dangerous risk it is for God to set up authorities for Himself! How much He has to suffer if the delegated authorities that He set up have wrongly represented Him! But God is confident in the authority that He establishes. It is much easier for us to be confident in submitting to representative authorities than for God to be confident in setting them up. Since God is confident in handing over authority to man, are we still not confident in submitting to man? We should be confident in submitting to the authority which God is confident in establishing. If there is a mistake, it is not my mistake. It is the mistake of the authority. The Lord says that every person should be subject to the authorities over him. The difficulty is more on on God’s part than on ours. When God trusts man, so can we. When God is confident about His trust, so should we be even the more.

Watchman Nee, Authority and Submission

Just as our brother Paul Miletus has done here, brother Nee assumes the point that he needs to prove. We don't deny that God's authority as exercised within the realm of His Kingdom is surely something of very great importance and which has rather clearly been neglected for all the centuries. However, to simply duplicate again the errors of the past with regard to such an important issue is just a shame to the Lord, a real frustration to His purpose and an injury to His precious Body.

These devilish words "apostleship" and "eldership" need to be purged from our vocabulary surely just as much as "episcopy," "bishopric" and "papacy" for there are not such words in the Bible nor is there any such a thing in the Body of Christ. They are the natural consequence of the erroneous teachings regarding the "universal Church" but they have been demonstrated once again among us to be contrary to God's ordination in the manner of His carrying out of His eternal purpose in His divine administration.

By the way, I just discovered that my copy of this title published by LSM in 1988 as an apparent reprint of a 1967 publication of the Taiwan Gospel Book Room has only 11 chapters but the online version and the edition published in 1994 is both slightly revised in its text and substantially expanded to nearly double the original length! I see that the new section primarily deals with this concept of "deputy authority." I now will have to review it and amend or supplement this post as a consequence of my review. The appearence of this second section after so many years does appear odd, however, and it would seem that it should have merely been published as a separate but related title rather than in the fashion done here. Here is the explanation given in the publication itself, for what it's worth.

Authority and Submission, based on a series of messages given by Watchman Nee in his training at Kuling Mountain in 1948 through 1949, contains two distinct but related parts. In 1988 the Living Stream Ministry published the first part under the title Authority and Submission, covering the general subject of spiritual authority and submission. This edition includes a second, previously untranslated, part covering the matter of being God’s deputy authority.