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Originally Posted by Ohio
The whole "local" thing in the "local" churches is just a ruse to distract. The word is a farce without meaning.
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The meaning it had in 1930s China was by then long gone. Probably gone by 1978, even. It had served its purpose and was discarded.
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Originally Posted by Ohio
When LSM came to my town ten years ago or so, they claimed to protect us from "evil," and thus began quarantining church leaders. It was not us locals against Anaheim, in fact, there was no concern whatsoever about "local."
It was a fight between Amaheim and Cleveland, and we had to choose sides: would we be of Lee and the Blendeds, or would we be of Titus?
No one had the thought, "hey folks, we are a 'local' church, and praise God that fights between remote leaders never should affect us. Just like Nee told us."
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If you're in the local church in Elmira, Ohio, you find out they don't care about Elmira, or the church there. It's rather, Are you with Cleveland or Anaheim? And if your answer is 'wrong' you get cut off like the heathen.
How local is that? Most people can see through the ruse pretty quickly. They have to get young naive college students who are emotionally dependent and lack critical thinking skills. Get them to a conference and line them up to give their lives to 'turn the age' and 'build the Body'. Only later do they find out what the fine print says.
Back in 1965-72, Witness Lee hit the jackpot. Thousands of young, naive people were looking for reality. They came in by the dozens, and an air of palpable excitement hung about the place. New songs were composed weekly, and stories of hippies getting baptised in the rivers and lakes across the country were told, and marveled at.
Witness Lee hit the rising tide, but he wasn't the only one. A nearby church in Costa Mesa, for example, went from 25 people to 2,000 people in about 2 years. (Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel). So the "blessing" was seen as proof or at least strong indication of God's favor, but the favor wasn't contingent upon ground or ministry.
And we had a great time, in the pre-internet days. No one knew of the details of Nee's SCA expulsions, or Lee's dealings in Taiwan. We didn't know and didn't want to know; "Be simple, don't be hardened" was the mantra. When I heard whispers of storms and rebellions I was deliberately ignorant. When they told me Witness Lee was the ministry of the age I just quietly looked at the floor.
But eventually I needed a dynamic, healing church environment, not just doggedly going through this week's life lesson, or hearing yet another exhortation to take this or that college campus for the Lord. Right decision or not, the Lord knows, and all will be judged on that day. But I can say that I've never regretted the journey. The Christian life is full of revelation; I'm just trying to walk in mine.
But for what it's worth, the people who were there at Costa Mesa with the Jesus Movement wax just as poetic about their experience, as do the local church stalwarts who were at Elden Hall. Lee didn't bring the blessing, he just rode it. And now the curators of the Lee museum have to keep coming up with "new and fresh and living" projects to promote to avoid the decline.