[UntoHim]

Originally Posted by kisstheson

I believe that the following quote is the one you are after. WN spoke these words in Shanghai in 1940. He had already decided at that point not to republish The Spiritual Man. I am not sure of the name of the book within the CFP collection where these words can be found. I am quoting from LSM's The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Set 2, Volume 45, Conferences, Messages, and Felowship (5), p. 1015.

"Perhaps I should criticize myself a little. The Spiritual Man was published as a result of outward demands. As far as I was concerned, I was not that qualified to write that book. At that time the doctor said that I had only a few months more to live, and my thought was to put down what I had learned from the Lord. (Originally, I had thought of writing a very comprehensive exposition on the Bible, expounding all the subjects that men do not understand, could not understand, or would not understand.) I have decided not to publish this book again. This does not mean that there is anything wrong with The Spiritual Man. The problem is that the book is too complete; it contains theology and answers. As a result it is somewhat unspiritual—this is where the problem lies. God is after broken vessels, not nice vessels. God has no intention to see a book or a sermon so complete that a man can find all the answers without the need of the Spirit. The Lord knows the human weaknesses in every book and every sermon. This is why we need the leading of the Holy Spirit from within."

“The problem is that the book too complete; it contains theology and answers. As a result it is somewhat unspiritual”. Maybe later Watchman Nee was not as different then early Watchman Nee as I thought. What would make Nee think that ANY book was “too complete”, much less one written by a young man barely out of his teen years (Spiritual Man was penned in his early 20s) It almost seems as if he was speaking in jest, with a good dose of false humility sprinkled in for good measure. More important, what would make Nee think that “theology and answers” are “unspiritual”? I never have understood where Watchman Nee and Witness Lee came up with this bazaar and totally unbiblical notion. I can’t help but think that ancient Chinese culture played a part here. It certainly is not a concept, notion or teaching that came from the Lord Jesus, the scripture writing apostles or the early Church fathers. Regarding Nee’s contention that “God is after broken vessels, not nice vessels”, he took his followers far, far off course in teaching that theology and/or knowledge conflicts at all with Christians becoming useful vessels (whether they be broken or not). In retrospect, we now know that Watchman Nee really and truly had no problem with theology or knowledge at all…so long as it was HIS theology and HIS knowledge. Later, Witness Lee was to take this apparent conflict to much further and dangerous heights of hypocrisy and absurdness, and many of his followers are paying a steep price to this very day.

In Nee’s defense, I would like to quote something from John Myer in chapter three in A Future and a Hope that is very applicable here I believe:
“Watchman Nee certainly did it, and we have stories of his literally sleeping in between rows of books. It seems more than a little strange, however, that the very group originally owing so much to such inquisitive searching should then turn around and prohibit all those other books and ministries. I submit that a young Watchman Nee could not be produced nor even survive in today’s Local Church environment”
Man oh man, if John Myer had stopped his book right here it would have been a monumental work worth it’s weight in gold. Why? Because it exemplifies “early Nee - later Nee” in a way that hits home (or should hit home) for us Local Churchers in a monumental way. For EVEN IF this dear brother, whom God saw fit to tuck away in early 20th century Mainland China for His people there, was the author of a modern day “Lord’s Recovery”, what made Witness Lee or any of Nee’s followers think that such a move of God could be culminated, consummated or perfected by a people who simply parroted by rote this one man’s teachings, or practiced the church in a manner prescribed by him so many years ago? No…double no! Watchman Nee would not recognize the religious organization headquartered over there on La Palma in Anaheim. He would have nothing to do with the pigheaded, prejudiced and ignorant zealots who have proclaimed themselves as the “continuation of his continuation”. The only things of Watchman Nee that have been continued in the Local Church are negative things, such as his propensity to be overly exclusive in teaching and practice.

So for the purposes of our discussions here I think we would do well to admit that “a young Watchman Nee could not be produced nor even survive in today’s Local Church environment”. This holds one of the keys to understanding much of this phenomenon of “early Nee – later Nee”, at least as far as it relates to understanding what really went wrong in the Local Church Movement. How is it that a Christian group could wonder so far afield from the apparent heart and mind of it’s undisputed and revered founder? This is a question that cannot be answered by one person in one post for sure. Also I think we could explore whether or not the history of the Local Church, and the life and times of one Witness Lee, are simply a repeat of early Nee – later Nee. There were/are some positive things of course, but there is little doubt that the negative has overwhelmed the positive in a major way.

*** I just read kisstheson’s last post. I think it exemplifies a lot of what I have written above.