Quote:
Originally Posted by djohnson
countmeworthy there is no need to be afraid of the truth that Lee did not control anybody and could not do so in a free society. As OBW has pointed out either one aligned their will with Lee's and thus their actions were voluntary or there was involuntary mind control going on in which case it was a cult.
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That's why people have been leaving by the hundreds if not thousands over the last 30-40 years. At one time in their tenure in the LC,
people believed they had 'the truth'...'the answer'. Fellowship at the lowest level of the totem pole proved to be very good. It has to be for people to stay and stick it out. It was for me. I also know I needed to be there for the time I was there. It was GOD HIMSELF who led me there and it was GOD HIMSELF who led me out.
For many, many others, leaving the LSM/LC was more complicated...more complex. The closer they were to the top, to Witness Lee, they either saw through him or they embraced him wholeheartedly. That's part of the reason I inquired about the 'promotions' in the LC...co-ordinators, service group leaders, deacons, ushers, elders, co-workers etc.. They didn't just jump into the LC and were given those titles. They 'earned' those titles somehow. They were trusted probably as they demonstrated their loyalty and their commitment.
In the 70's, I would hear John Ingalls was the closest co-worker to Brother Lee. Where Brother Lee was, there was John Ingalls. When I heard he left, I was shocked. No one ever would have imagined John & Lee going separate ways. Max on the other hand was shafted very early on. He was blamed for the debacle at Berkely and who knows what else. Some of it was true I'm sure and some of it not. But no matter, he ended up getting the bum deal..until the next wave of 'rebels' which came from the higher ups questioning Lee's doings.
Still, many continued to hold on to Hope...the Hope of Glory...the HOPE that there actually was a body of believers who stood in one accord
with THE WORD of GOD. As time went on, it became clearer and clearer to many that the "in one accord' was about
being in one accord in Lee's ministry. Not in Christ.
IF YOU WERE NEVER AN INSIDER,
YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND what it was like to be there....no matter WHO YOU KNOW who was in it or is IN IT. You might think you have a handle because of what you know, what you've heard, what you read...but you were never there. Even I who was only there a short time, can only imagine how hard it was for many people to leave who were there for a much longer time than I ever was.
You may pride yourself in thinking you can walk out of controlling situations..walk away from controlling people but you certainly have your shortcomings and weaknesses.
And those shortcomings and weaknesses CONTROL YOU, not always perhaps but at times. You are NOT EXEMPT from being manipulated or controlled. It could be something as simple as a candy bar that you can't say no to. Maybe candy bars are not your weakness but something is. And when it grabs hold of you, it's got you under its' control.