[Cal]

Here's another way of looking at things.

If Lee was just another erroneous teacher, and there are plenty, he wouldn't be that big a deal. But Lee used his personality and influence to create a status for himself as some kind of special apostle. Once you have that status, then you are claiming and in some cases gaining special authority directly over the lives of others. You've gone from just someone with (ostensibly) good, helpful teachings, and become someone who can actually direct and control the practical lives of others.

Now, what should be our reaction to a person making such claims? Either he is who he says or he isn't. But if he isn't, doesn't that mean we are committing a grave error if we treat him as if he is? Whereas with a good teacher we could sift what he says, taking the good and leaving the rest, with the MOTA we must take it all. Questioning is not only out of the question, it's indicative of rebellion. If we consider someone such a MOTA, and he turns out not to be such a thing, we've wasted our lives.

The bottom line is the stakes are too high for anyone to have to make such decision, which is why the Bible never asks us to do so. Who is sufficient to make such a judgment as to decide whether someone is a modern day apostle, let alone MOTA? Let's be honest.

Ironically, in the end it's a completely unnecessary, unfruitful claim. All it did for Lee was scare a handful of people into following him and a whole lot more people away from having anything to do with him. Can you say "duh?" (Then again he may have had to threaten people to follow him because by all accounts he was difficult to work with. Maybe nobody would have followed him for long if he hadn't made threats.)

All the LCM has to do is drop the Lee reverence and open up to the fellowship of the whole Body and there will be healing. But until they do, the warnings from people like myself will have to continue.