[UntoHim]

Originally Posted by THE BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF THE LOCAL CHURCHES

2. Who is your leader?
Our unique leader is Christ. We have no official, permanent, organized human leadership. Furthermore, there is no hierarchy of any kind and no worldwide leader. We regard no person as infallible, and we do not follow anyone blindly. On the contrary, we follow only those whose teaching and practice is in accordance with the truth of God's Word. Those who take the lead do not lord it over the saints, but rather shepherd them in love. Likewise, those who serve the Lord do not control the churches, but rather serve them as bondslaves of Christ in the ministry of the living Word.

This was absolutely not true when this booklet was published in 1978. There is MUCH evidence that this was not true in 1968 in America. There is a lot of evidence that this was not true in 1958 in Taiwan. By then, Witness Lee was already the undisputed, unchallenged "one minister with the one ministry for the age". Lee was already hiring and firing elders and co-workers on his personal whim. He was already selling meeting halls to cover his family business debts, and ripping off the saints in the process. He was already causing major division among the churches.

The simple truth is that there really was no such thing as "early Lee - later Lee". It was ALWAYS the same old Witness Lee. The facts speak for themselves. The "train of vanquished foes" speaks for itself. The condition of the religion he founded speaks for itself.

Could there be "a recovery of the Recovery", so desperately wished for by our dear brother Steve? Well, there would have had to have been a genuine recovery initiated and maintained by God to begin with. The institution we now know as The Local Church of Witness Lee has never been such a genuine recovery in my estimation. If there ever was such a recovery, I am certain that God would have never allowed such a man as Witness Lee to initiate it or maintain such a movement. Maybe there was, at one time, such a genuine move of the Lord in Mainland China during the early days of Watchman Nee. Even this has been called into serious question as certain aspects of Nee's life and ministry have come to light.

I know it seems that I have painted a pretty bleak picture. The good news is that God is the one in control of the picture...past, present and future. Actually it is his picture to paint. And it is always a masterpiece! And with this, I will leave you with a couple of familiar verses. "I will build my Church". (Matt 16:18) "He has made everything beautiful in its time." (Ecclesiastes 3:11) After all, it is HIS Church and HIS time, and let us worship and praise Him for these two glorious facts.

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