[UntoHim]

Just as there are spiritual realities to the positive things typified and exemplified in the Old Testament (Christ as our living water, our bread, our rock, etc..) I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to say that there are spiritual realities to “negative” things as well. One such negative thing would be idolatry, I believe. Now, I don’t think you would find any people here in the 21st Century taking off their jewelry, melting it down and forming it into a golden calf, so just what could we expect that God might consider the modern version of idolatry among some of his wayward people in the here and now?

My thoughts from a previous post….

Originally Posted by UntoHim

My contention here would be very basic and very simple. Many, if not most, Local Churchers idolized the man Witness Lee. Many, if not most, idolized just about everything that came from this man’s mouth. Many, if not most, even idolized the “vision” that Lee and his co-workers so passionately and forcefully related to us day-in-and-day-out. Soon we found ourselves idolizing the man-made religion of the Local Church that spring forth from this vision. Some of the teachings and practices of this religion were biblical and good, many were arguably unbiblical and even harmful. The main point here would not be the percentage of good to bad or biblical to unbiblical, but that fact that a mere man and the teachings and practices themselves were idolized. Did we bow and worship the man Witness Lee? No, I never saw it. Did we literally bow down at the alter of the Life Studies and other speakings/writings of Nee and Lee? No, not literally. Did we climb to the top of a smoldering volcano and sacrifice our family members, spouses and children? No, I never saw it.

I am reminded by something John Myer wrote in the first chapter of “A Future and a Hope”: “They react to challenges with platitudes that do not really answer anything. These folks cannot be convinced by any logic. Truth is frightening to them – not doctrinal truth per se, since they allegedly love it, but truth as it relates to the real state of things”

Believe you me brothers and sisters, there is no doubt that this is definitely a very serious and frightening matter. I don’t think anybody would say otherwise. Yet, what is the “truth as it relates to the real state of things” when it comes to this matter of the idolatry of a mere man and his so-called ministry in the Local Church? Some (many?) have stated that, to them, Witness Lee was nothing more then a “good Bible teacher”(paraphrase). Sorry, but my personal experience and close observation over the past 30+ years tells me that the vast, VAST majority of LC members view Witness Lee as something much, much more then a “Bible teacher”. I don’t think Ron Kangas was thinking of Lee as a mere Bible teacher when he proclaimed “we only accept the one minister with the one ministry for the age”. I will spare you all the many other outrageous and absurd statements made by leaders over the years that plainly and strongly indicate that there was some form of insidious idolatry taking place.

Frankly, in listening to Andrew Yu and Chris Wilde kowtowing before “the Bible answer man”, and even in reading some of the posts on this very forum, there seems to be quite a bit of skirting the truth as it relates to the real state of things – at least as it relates to the past and present in the Local Church of Witness Lee. Andrew and Chris sounded somewhat frightened (in their case, frightened that Hanegraaff might actually ask them a tough question), and now some here seem frightened to admit that there was/is some form, and some level, of idolatry in the LC. Of course no current (or even former) Local Churcher wants to readily admit that such a serious deviation of truth and practice has taken place among a group of Christians, but again, to deny this is to deny the truth as it relates to the real state of things I believe.

What I am talking about here is a very, very strong and pervasive dynamic (atmosphere) among a group of people. When one is immersed in such an atmosphere, it is virtually impossible for it not to affect one in many aspects of their life and even affect their relationship with God. What I am hearing from a lot of you dear brothers out there is that you think you went for a swim in the pool but didn’t get wet. Sorry, but this kind of claim certainly defies all logic and reason. Nobody here is claiming that any of you filled the pool with water, or even forced anybody to jump in. (I think we all know who did that). Let’s just not try to fool each other about what we are really dealing with here.