[leastofthese]

Hey LifeGoesOn,

Looks like you weren't the first one to make that connection... Wonder why?

When we say that the new covenant ministry is unique, we do not mean that it is the ministry of only one person. For example, it is slanderous to accuse me of saying that the unique ministry today is the ministry of Witness Lee. We do not say this, and we do not mean this. By the unique ministry, the new covenant ministry, we mean the ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness. Whoever ministers the Spirit and righteousness to others is one in the unique ministry, no matter who he may be. Peter, John, James, Paul, Timothy, Titus, Apollos—they all had the one ministry. The ministers are many, but the ministry is unique. As long as you minister the Spirit and righteousness to others, you are in this unique ministry.

A number of times I have been asked something like this: “Brother Lee, you say that the ministry is unique. This means that there is just one ministry. When you say that there is one ministry, that the ministry is unique, do you mean that your ministry is this unique ministry?” Some of those who question me like this may have the concept that I think of myself as someone like Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. I always answer this question by saying, “No, I definitely do not mean that my ministry is the unique ministry.”

Others may go on to ask if we accept all ministries. The answer is that we do not accept all different kinds of ministries. Then some may say, “On the one hand, you say that your ministry is not the unique ministry. On the other hand, you do not accept all ministries. What, then, do you practice regarding the ministry?” Because those who ask this question may be short of knowledge and may also be under the drugging effect of traditional concepts, it is not easy to explain the matter to them. I may say to myself, “I simply am what I am. But you have been drugged and cannot understand what the New Testament says concerning the ministry.” The ministry of the new covenant is unique; it is the ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness. Although we do not accept all different kinds of ministries, we do accept the ministry of anyone who truly ministers the Spirit and righteousness.