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John · 12-20-2011, 02:36 PM

It is very difficult for those of us who were or are members of the Local Church and were or are saturated with Witness Lee’s ministry to read the Scripture for what it states without reading something of Mr. Lee into it.

Consider the one word, “body,” in 1 Cor. 12:12. What do we think when we read it? Do we do as Cassidy did and capitalize it to “Body”? If so, why? I would guess that unconsciously, upon reading it, the Witness Lee sermons take over and control what we think, obscuring the intended meaning of its usage in 1st Corinthians. In our minds, there is a little lee doing the “Christ=Body” association whenever we read “body.”

This can be very destructive. Think about how “The Body” became a controlling vision for most or all in the Lord’s Recovery, to which all else must be subservient (since, in Lee land, Christ=Body and Body=Christ, and we must be subservient to Christ). In the land of Lee, a term was even coined for this: the Body-Christ. I’ve found that it can take decades to get some of these things out of my mind and get back to the unadulterated Word of God. And this is just one example.

To give you a further idea of just how difficult it can be to read the Bible without the little lee intervening, take Cassidy as an example. Read back through his exchanges with Jane about 1 Cor. 6:17. She wrote to him about the meaning of the simple English of one verse in the Bible. He was so indoctrinated with Lee that he couldn’t even understand the basic English of it until she basically hit him with a 2 x 4 (after several softer posts didn’t work).

Some of us, I think, don’t even realize the truth of what we read because the associations with Lee’s vocabulary and theology are so strong and enduring. I wonder just how many of us who are physically out of the Local Church are still in some kind of a semi-Lee state, unconsciously filtering the Bible through Lee, not realizing that we are still captives of the Living Stream Ministry, at least to some degree.

Birds of the air; thorns of Lee

While thinking about having our minds usurped by the doctrine of Lee, I remembered the parable about the one who sowed seed into different kinds of ground. I thought of (1) birds flying through our brains and snatching away the seed of the pure Word of God and replacing it with Lee before it could even take root, and I thought about (2) having the seed of Christ’s word begin to grow in us only to have the cares of Lee grow up and choke out what God would speak to us.

May we all get to the unadulterated Word of God, for it is the truth. And we shall know the truth, and the truth shall make us free.

12-20-2011, 02:36 PM	#170
John Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 62	Have Our Minds Turned to Mush? It is very difficult for those of us who were or are members of the Local Church and were or are saturated with Witness Lee’s ministry to read the Scripture for what it states without reading something of Mr. Lee into it. Consider the one word, “body,” in 1 Cor. 12:12. What do we think when we read it? Do we do as Cassidy did and capitalize it to “Body”? If so, why? I would guess that unconsciously, upon reading it, the Witness Lee sermons take over and control what we think, obscuring the intended meaning of its usage in 1st Corinthians. In our minds, there is a little lee doing the “Christ=Body” association whenever we read “body.” This can be very destructive. Think about how “The Body” became a controlling vision for most or all in the Lord’s Recovery, to which all else must be subservient (since, in Lee land, Christ=Body and Body=Christ, and we must be subservient to Christ). In the land of Lee, a term was even coined for this: the Body-Christ. I’ve found that it can take decades to get some of these things out of my mind and get back to the unadulterated Word of God. And this is just one example. To give you a further idea of just how difficult it can be to read the Bible without the little lee intervening, take Cassidy as an example. Read back through his exchanges with Jane about 1 Cor. 6:17. She wrote to him about the meaning of the simple English of one verse in the Bible. He was so indoctrinated with Lee that he couldn’t even understand the basic English of it until she basically hit him with a 2 x 4 (after several softer posts didn’t work). Some of us, I think, don’t even realize the truth of what we read because the associations with Lee’s vocabulary and theology are so strong and enduring. I wonder just how many of us who are physically out of the Local Church are still in some kind of a semi-Lee state, unconsciously filtering the Bible through Lee, not realizing that we are still captives of the Living Stream Ministry, at least to some degree. Birds of the air; thorns of Lee While thinking about having our minds usurped by the doctrine of Lee, I remembered the parable about the one who sowed seed into different kinds of ground. I thought of (1) birds flying through our brains and snatching away the seed of the pure Word of God and replacing it with Lee before it could even take root, and I thought about (2) having the seed of Christ’s word begin to grow in us only to have the cares of Lee grow up and choke out what God would speak to us. May we all get to the unadulterated Word of God, for it is the truth. And we shall know the truth, and the truth shall make us free.