Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
Given Witness Lee was older and probably had more maturity, but I wouldn't say an apostle? The term apostle as I understand means sent one. Keep in mind John probably gravitated more to Witness Lee because 10 years prior to meeting Witness Lee, John met Stephen Kaung another brother mentored by Watchman Nee. So there is a commonality being influenced by Nee's ministry.
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As a point of clarification it is
not my view that Witness Lee was an apostle to John Ingalls, etc. This is
Indiana's view. My view is that Witness Lee was just another flawed bible teacher out there who had loads of baggage from the Far East he didn't want anyone to know about when he arrived in America.
Further I believe if those young men did know about Witness Lee's past they would probably not want to work with him that closely if at all. I think their age meant they still had some of the innocence and naivete that comes with youth especially among eager and earnest Christians who want to serve the Lord. They attached themselves to Witness Lee with limited information because he did not provide full disclosure. But over time little by little the hidden side of Witness Lee became manifest.
In the late 1980s when they were no longer young men they expressed some concerns about "the work" and Witness Lee dismissed them as mere school boys while promoting himself as the one oracle of God on the earth etc. Eventually he publicly discredited them in writing, video and audio form that was widely distributed throughout all the churches so they became personas non grata i.e. disfellowshipped. That is the treatment they received for doing what? Politely expressing some legitimate concerns to a man whom they had been working with for 27 years! Their 27 years of faithfulness and loyalty meant zero to Witness Lee. "You disagree with me (or my son) you're out."
BTW I don't think it was by accident that Witness Lee surrounded himself with men 20-30 years younger than him. This gave him a built-in natural advantage and senior position i.e. no peers. And 27 years later he still didn't consider them as peers and still had no peers. He was the CEO of the "Lord's" global work and God forbid you ever cross him. No peers would put up with Witness Lee's behavior and that's why he didn't have any around.