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Originally Posted by Ohio
Thirdly, it went from "like a father," to "my spiritual being came out of him," to "he is your father," to "whatever you are came out from him," to "whatever you obtained has come out of him."
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Originally Posted by John Ingalls
I was surprised when nearly four months later I had received a letter from Titus, co-authored by James Reetzke (an elder in Chicago long known to me), dated February 12, 1989, in which Titus reproved me among other things for not taking his fellowship to see Brother Lee. The letter was full of rebuking and censuring concerning the conduct of the elders in Anaheim and contained this statement: "Is it not a fact that you brothers and the church in Anaheim owe him {Brother Lee} your existence?" I am grateful to Brother Lee for his love and service to the saints (including myself) in past years, and I thank the Lord for what we have received through his ministry, but we surely do not owe our existence to him – that is absurd. The source of whatever we are and have, physically or spiritually, is God and no one else.
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WL is on the record attempting to instill a sense of guilt into co-workers who had concerns about Nee, implying that they should either feel indebted to Nee, or even feel that their existence as Christians would be nullified without Nee. Many years later, some of WL's coworkers attempted to use the same tactic in a letter to John Ingalls.
It's really disturbing to see how far off the deep end the LC has gone with regards to appreciating certain people. There's nothing wrong with looking up to someone as a "spiritual father"/mentor, but if the appreciation cannot remain objective, then there will be problems.
I also think that another factor at play is the cultural notion of
reciprocity. This has been discussed before. Many of the blendeds who were personally mentored by Lee likely were made to feel 'indebted' to Lee. Philip Lin is on the record saying that according to his culture he must remain loyal to Lee. Beyond just an excessive appreciation of Lee, because many of these men were given special attention and positions by Lee, their reaction was to reciprocate with loyalty.