Local Church Discussions - View Single Post - The God-Men: An Inquiry into Witness Lee & the Local Church

NeitherFirstnorLast · 02-05-2013, 06:43 PM

Chapter 5 Cont'd: Lee's Authority

The God-Men, pages 124-125

"Witness Lee's voice of authority carries Papal weight. Lee issues three written messages and one tape-recorded message weekly, distributed by Stream Publications to all Local Church assemblies for memorization and recitation by the teaching elders. Departure from Lee's original text would be severely criticized. (according to interviews with ex-members). {Note that today the HWMR, full of Lee's ministry, is what is required reading on a daily basis for devout members.}

Local Church elders and apologists are quoted as saying that Witness Lee is the embodiment of God's economy (authority/presence) on the earth today, just as the apostle Paul was in the life of the early church. Lee does not discourage that type of adulation. He does not dissuade members from confessing him as the oracle of God or the "apostle of this age" (ibid).

In "Against the Tide", a biography of Watchman Nee, Angus I. Kinnear describes Witness Lee's participation in Nee's church in China in 1947. Witness Lee was an "activist" with a "volatile temperament" who was "energetic and authoritarian, thriving on large numbers, and has a flair for organizing people". ("Against the Tide" pages 131-132)

Lee, Kinnear says, made certain structural changes in Nee's "Little Flock".

"The effect of so much energetic organization however meant that something of the earlier freedom in the Spirit began to be lost. A clock-in system was soon to be introduced at meetings which, together with a full index of believers' addresses, employment, family, etc., meant that your failure of attendance could be quickly followed up. The Lord's Table was "fenced" and you were formally introduced and wore a badge with your name. No longer might you be accepted simply on your own testimony that you were born again and loved the Lord. Witness Lee was careful of course to disown the concept of "organization", explaining that, like a cup containing drinking water, these arrangements were merely the vessels for communicating spiritual things. But he exhorted everyone in the church to be submissive. "Do nothing without first asking", he urged. "Since the Fall man does as he pleases. Here there is order. Here there is authority. The Church is a place of strict discipline." (pages 132-133).

Today Anaheim church members use the phrasae "catching the flow from the throne" to describe their attempts to sense the movement of God's Spirit in their large meetings. The "flow from the throne" clearly refers to Witness Lee's speaking as he teaches during the meetings (interviews with ex-members).

Local Church members have little opportunity to discuss with church leaders any major disagreements or dissatisfactions they may have. In most religious movements mechanism exists for internal criticisms to be channeled through certain officials, thereby averting open criticism of the charismatic leader or governing body. In the Local Church, however, there is no mechanism to express dissatisfaction, either privately or publicly. To raise questions is "negative"; to criticize is unspiritual and divisive. (inteviews with ex-members).

****************

It is fair to say, given the testimony of Angus Kinnear (son-in-law of T. Austin Sparks) , that Witness Lee's penchant for self-exaltation was already exhibiting itself back in 1947, many decades before his trip overseas to America. What wound up occuring on our shores was not some new failing of his, but was (rather) a monkey on his back from the very beginning... and one he seems to have continually fed, rather than wrestle with.

02-05-2013, 06:43 PM	#346
NeitherFirstnorLast Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 348	Our Reading Continues Chapter 5 Cont'd: Lee's Authority The God-Men, pages 124-125 "Witness Lee's voice of authority carries Papal weight. Lee issues three written messages and one tape-recorded message weekly, distributed by Stream Publications to all Local Church assemblies for memorization and recitation by the teaching elders. Departure from Lee's original text would be severely criticized. (according to interviews with ex-members). {Note that today the HWMR, full of Lee's ministry, is what is required reading on a daily basis for devout members.} Local Church elders and apologists are quoted as saying that Witness Lee is the embodiment of God's economy (authority/presence) on the earth today, just as the apostle Paul was in the life of the early church. Lee does not discourage that type of adulation. He does not dissuade members from confessing him as the oracle of God or the "apostle of this age" (ibid). In "Against the Tide", a biography of Watchman Nee, Angus I. Kinnear describes Witness Lee's participation in Nee's church in China in 1947. Witness Lee was an "activist" with a "volatile temperament" who was "energetic and authoritarian, thriving on large numbers, and has a flair for organizing people". ("Against the Tide" pages 131-132) Lee, Kinnear says, made certain structural changes in Nee's "Little Flock". "The effect of so much energetic organization however meant that something of the earlier freedom in the Spirit began to be lost. A clock-in system was soon to be introduced at meetings which, together with a full index of believers' addresses, employment, family, etc., meant that your failure of attendance could be quickly followed up. The Lord's Table was "fenced" and you were formally introduced and wore a badge with your name. No longer might you be accepted simply on your own testimony that you were born again and loved the Lord. Witness Lee was careful of course to disown the concept of "organization", explaining that, like a cup containing drinking water, these arrangements were merely the vessels for communicating spiritual things. But he exhorted everyone in the church to be submissive. "Do nothing without first asking", he urged. "Since the Fall man does as he pleases. Here there is order. Here there is authority. The Church is a place of strict discipline." (pages 132-133). Today Anaheim church members use the phrasae "catching the flow from the throne" to describe their attempts to sense the movement of God's Spirit in their large meetings. The "flow from the throne" clearly refers to Witness Lee's speaking as he teaches during the meetings (interviews with ex-members). Local Church members have little opportunity to discuss with church leaders any major disagreements or dissatisfactions they may have. In most religious movements mechanism exists for internal criticisms to be channeled through certain officials, thereby averting open criticism of the charismatic leader or governing body. In the Local Church, however, there is no mechanism to express dissatisfaction, either privately or publicly. To raise questions is "negative"; to criticize is unspiritual and divisive. (inteviews with ex-members). **************** It is fair to say, given the testimony of Angus Kinnear (son-in-law of T. Austin Sparks) , that Witness Lee's penchant for self-exaltation was already exhibiting itself back in 1947, many decades before his trip overseas to America. What wound up occuring on our shores was not some new failing of his, but was (rather) a monkey on his back from the very beginning... and one he seems to have continually fed, rather than wrestle with.