Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
an interesting thing about the connection between these kinds of groups (Local Church, Shouters, Eastern Lightning) is the skewing of scripture and the unbalanced obsession on certain "key" passages. One example is "Paul, a chosen vessel" in Acts 9:15. Paul was a chosen vessel, set apart. With the LSM spin on this, I guess Peter and John and Nathaniel were not chosen? Somehow Paul being "chosen" by God was different, to this view. And, guess what, so was Watchman Nee, and Witness Lee.
This elevation of some believers, and the creation of a special lineage, isn't too far from the Shouters worshipping Witness Lee as God incarnate, and the Eastern Lightning saying that God chose a humble Chinese girl, who failed her university exams and was in an existentialist crisis, to be today's unique light to the gentiles. There are differences in extremes but the theme is the same. A special messenger has been raised up, with a special message and a special work.
... when I googled "Paul a chosen vessel" that three of the first five sites were LDS sites. Again, this suggests to me that if we can convince people that the apostle Paul was specially anointed, above and beyond all the rest, then why not Mormon founder Joseph Smith as well? Or Watchman Nee or whomever your "man of the hour" happens to be. The pope or the current president of the LDS church or today's Blended Brothers or whomever is the "specially anointed" one(s).
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The problem with these groups (LSM, LDS) and their elevation of "chosen vessels" with "special anointings" is that they miss the basic concept of Christianity: there is one elevated Chosen Vessel. His name is Jesus Christ. Yes, Paul was set aside for the gospel to the gentiles, as was Peter to the Jews. Etc. But everybody is set aside (sanctified) for some work. Everyone is special in God's eyes. On this side of the Bema there is no "super special" Christian, to be elevated above the flock. To set someone apart, who is living on this earth, in the flesh of sin, as "special" as opposed to the "faceless proletariat" like Nee & Lee claimed, with one "chosen vessel" being the "apostle of the age" and the rest being "small potatoes", is just wrong. It is not biblical, it's an Asian cultural norm superimposed upon the scriptural text, and it completely distorts the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul would laugh Witness Lee out of the room if he tried to pull that stuff. Paul would neither allow Lee to elevate him to "acting God" status, nor would he "get in line" behind Nee and/or Lee. Paul got his marching orders from God, not from Nee or Lee, and if they needed marching orders from Paul, he would probably tell them to go and pray to their Father in heaven. Paul said, "We are men, like you" (Acts 14:15; cf Acts 10:26). If Nee or Lee tried to pull that elitist "chosen vessel" nonsense on Paul he wouldn't give in to them, not even for a moment (cf Gal 2:5).