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Originally Posted by OBW
Quite duplicitous coming from the man who would later say that you would always know who was the most spiritual person in the room and defer to him.
Nee was a master of understatement. He "suggested" and "believed a lot, making it sound less extreme. But if you understood how strongly he believed it, you would realize that his was a belief in the top-f-the-heap position of one person — himself. Just like Lee who was to come later in Taiwan and America, he spoke of himself indirectly but the impact and intent of his words was very direct. He was the MOTA that preceded Lee.
And I expect that one or more of the blendeds will eventually latch onto this ruse and become the current and final MOTA. It worked for Nee when he said it was already over. Then for Lee who was after Nee.
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MOTA, FATETA AND THE GROUND
I think that the "local ground" was merely a setup for what followed. Like with the Brethren before them, the indigenous churches of China fell prey to Nee's strong-arm tactics. The Jerusalem Principle and "get in line" and "know who is ahead of you"and "handing over" were all machineries of centralization and control.
It probably wasn't planned that way, though. The contradictions of the various Protestant sects, the teachings of the Brethren, and the yearning for the Chinese to be free from foriegn domination all opened the doors for the mass exodus. And Nee's cultural lens dictated what the "normal Christian church" should look like: in his eyes, one with strong central control.
Thus the Little Flock/LC MOTA concept came forth, heightened with eschatological fervor into the FATETA, the final apostle to end the age. So a remark made in passing by Nee, that the age of spiritual giants was over, was spoken to us upon Lee's passing as if an age in human history had now turned.
But I wanted to make three remarks on this. First that the Lord Jesus did say that there were spiritual giants. There were one- and ten-talented persons. Paul echoed this by saying some stars shine more brightly. Some have degrees of glory. But Jesus made it clear that the glory was to come, not to be seized in this age. If you have ambition, be nothing. Let the Master raise you up. Over and over Jesus hammered this theme. Nobody knows whether Billy Graham, for example, is an extremely loud one-talented brother or a ten-talented one. We just don't know. Don't create distinctions of persons. And I think Billy Graham would probably agree. Place is given by God, not by human arrangement.
Second, Paul said that "God gave some as apostles, some as prophets" etc speaks to what was there. The 12 disciples were witnesses. That was their job. Paul came alongside, but nowhere did Paul or anyone else assume primacy. The apostles had a special role, because they were the ones who saw Jesus, day after day. Thus their testimony was crucial. If you wanted to be a Jesus-follower, you had to hang out with them. There was no Bible. There were no written gospels. So you had to be a disciple of a disciple, to follow Jesus. Paul was the exception, getting his revelation from the Lord, but here the exception proves the rule. And Paul never said his revelation should rule anyone else's experience. If he'd even hinted it, it would be antithetical to Jesus' teachings.
His organizational schemas (appointing elders, exhortations to obey those watching over you) were merely assenting to what was there. People clot together and some take the lead. Paul knew that. But nowhere did his work anticipate overthrowing Jesus' dictum to take the last place. Of course the danger is always there - the disciples showed it, in angling for "first place" and so forth. But Jesus shut it down. Never was it to be revived, by Paul or anyone else.
Third, neither did any of the other 12 kow-tow to Paul as having the "ministry of the age". They merely accepted him. But did John subject himself to Paul? Not for one minute. Nor should he. Only in the cultural lens of Nee was this a requirement. But this cultural lens required distortion of the scriptural record.
And that lens, that predeliction, led us to the "one trumpet" and the "Philip Lee is the office" and the FATETA, spoken to us as Lee departed. "It is now the age of small potatoes" is what I heard. And not one single Bible verse was given to support the new age. It was the tradition of men, and we were now caught in the net. No pretense of biblical support was even tried.