[Jake]

Evangelical,

Even if we take your interpretation of Rev. 1:11 as accurate, that still doesn't provide justification for the practices of the Local Church Movement. If we consider that there is such a thing as a Biblical "church in Anaheim" for example, then that church exists so long as there are at least 2 or 3 in all of Anaheim who profess a belief in Jesus Christ and are in fellowship with each other. It doesn't require that a group specifically adopts the name of "church in Anaheim", follows the teachings of Nee/Lee, and distributes publications of LSM. A group of satanists could buy a building slap the name "local church in ..." on it--just because LSM-affiliated saints put that name on their buildings, doesn't prove that they truly do represent the unique expression of the body of Christ in a particular city.

I think the litmus test for whether the LCM really believe what they preach, is if a group of Christians decided to declare themselves to constitute the local church in a city without any LSM presence, and they decided not to use any Witness Lee life studies at their meetings, they didn't promote the FTTA or LSM conferences and trainings, and yet they sought recognition as the unique exression of the body of Christ in their city, would the LSM-affiliated churches still take their claim seriously and accept them as saints on an equal footing with saints who do use LSM materials?


That said, I don't think your interpretation of Rev. 1:11 is accurate. The verse refers to seven churches in seven cities, but it doesn't specify anything about the organizational structure of those cities. It's a massive logical leap to suggest that the only legitimate church is one that uses the name "the local church in...", and there's certainly no provision in the Bible requiring members of the church to follow WL and buy LSM publications.

I actually agree with Watchman Nee's idea that Christians need to become more unified in order to prepare the bride of Christ, but I don't think LSM-affiliated churches are the best way to do that, considering their teachings and practices tend to alienate so many Christians. I've found that a far better way to create Christian unity is through ecumenism, bringing Christians together for fellowship from many different traditions, with mutual love and respect for each other. If the LCs are serious about Christian unity, they should be reaching out to Christians in their cities and participating in ecumenical activities, and yet it's been my experience that members of the LCs are extremely reluctant to participate in any outside Christian activities or visit other churches, they disrespect their non-LC brothers and sisters by discussing "religion" and "denominations" as the epitome of evil.

Also, as others have mentioned, what are Christians supposed to do who live in an unincorporated rural area? Just because someone doesn't live within a municipality, does that mean he can't partake in the body?

While Nee and Lee surely were insightful men with valuable contributions to make, we should all have the humility to admit that no man has all the answers, so the best way to learn more about the truth of Christ is to fellowship with Christians from different traditions. All Christians can learn important lessons from the writings of Nee and Lee, but likewise the followers of Lee and Nee could learn from other Christian traditions if they weren't quite so insular.


I just want to finish by saying that the only reason I'm critical of the LCM, is because I actually think that overall they're doing a lot of good things, and I know that many of the saints truly love the Lord and are trying to do the right thing. If I thought they were total heretics and cultists, I wouldn't waste my time writing about them.