Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Lee was quite concerned about the kingdom of God and righteousness. This was evident from his books, but, and I say BUT, this was eclipsed by his megalomaniac notions of deputy authority and MOTAism.
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You are not the only person who has said this. But I can't really see it other than generic references. I think that this is a little like what was emphasized v what can be found in a book to keep the cult police at bay.
He was big on he kingdom of God, but what did he mean by it? Was it really about the living in the world as if part of the kingdom of God, or was it about being the kingdom of God because we have been saved, ordained to it, predestined, deemed, etc.? In other words, is it the "positional kingdom" that awaits the dispositional kingdom? Possibly even in the next life?
Was the righteousness because we are deemed righteous by His blood? Or righteousness that was supposed to arrive because we got enough dispensing? (And when things were clearly not righteous, then we could blame it on lack of dispensing and sit around and wait for more/enough?)
Was righteousness a goal that was achieved by turning to your spirit more? I don't recall Jesus suggesting that the great commandment(s) were optional, or could be deferred until we had enough dispensing.
It seems that Lee's version of righteousness was semi-optional. Mostly because there was always an excuse for failure to stack-up. And wanting to be rid of James was probably because that little letter did not let you off the hook. Lee wanted to be spiritual without righteousness, but James said it was a lie. Or a self-deception. And this is where I think Lee goes off the rails. He was self-deceived about so much. Not just his special status. Also his theology of Christian living. He seems to almost not care about it. Oh, he and Nee wrote about it and spoke about it. But there was always an out. You had to sit before you could walk. You have to walk before you can stand. And while Nee didn't say "wait for the dispensing" in that book, the groundwork was there. It was evident that there was a necessary groundwork required before you started trying to walk the Christian walk. There was an order.
And when so many (Nee, Lee and many evangelical preachers) talk about the Christian life, it is too often more about "serving in the church," or being called to ministry or to be a missionary, or to go door knocking. It is seldom about living out the righteousness of God in the midst of the world in a manner that is seen by the world so that they have to consider why these people are not hampered by all the moral problems that the rest of us are caught up with. That is the biggest part of living as a Christian that most of us will ever do. Yet it was semi-optional according to dispensing theology (which means according to Lee's version of God's economy). It is the thing that you just "turn to the Lord" (in the LRC way or according to so many other ways) and ask forgiveness for.
Oh, you should ask for forgiveness when you fail. But you should not live your Christian life expecting that one day it will simply change because of some miraculous intervention. If you take some of John and put it together (and I think legitimately), if you believe and obey, God comes to abide with you. If you obey, then you will know the truth that will set you free. To me dispensing theology is based on getting the truth that will set you free so that you can then obey.
Entirely backwards. The truth and being free are results for those who obey.