Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
Coworkers, Elders, etc view themselves as being God's Deputy authority. In one moment an elder is a responsible brother for a locality and a deputy authority. Once he falls out of favor with LSM, he's no longer a deputy authority?
For those reading who really cling onto this teaching, what would you say the basis of the deputy authority is? Teaching has been to say it's Christ, but practice has been to indicate an allegiance to a ministry. It also seems the base is on personal preferences, improper AND impure motives or ambitions.
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With both Nee and Lee, I believe authority was the main means by which they promoted their image and ministry. They both had the capability to have some form of ministry, but I don't think either should have been involved in such a large scale ministry as they each ended up with. Both men had weaknesses and rather than accepting these weaknesses, they needed a way to insulate themselves from their inevitable failures. That was accomplished through establishing themselves as authorities who answered to no one. I would note it is my view that these weaknesses would not have been so much of a problem if they had surrounded themselves with peers who they could work with and hold them accountable.
When Nee was alive, Lee was his "apprentice", not someone who could really hold Nee accountable. When Lee's ministry was underway he had his own set of minions. Never was there anyone that he answered to. Lee best said it himself:
When I went to Taipei, he said, I did not fellowship with one person concerning what I was going to do. He continued: None of you is perfected. Who can say that he is perfected? So you are not qualified to criticize what I am doing. I didn’t include you in my fellowship – how can I? So let there be no more talk about anything I do. You criticize my young trainers in Taipei, telling me their mistakes, but I was doing everything; what they did was to carry out my burden.