[Freedom]

Nee had the personality and mindset that allowed him to start a group of his own. However, he didn’t necessarily have the maturity or foresight to go about doing it the right way. Nee’s desire to start a homegrown movement is something that he was perfectly entitled to do. It wouldn’t have been a problem except that he mischaracterized what he was doing.

Nee didn’t want anyone to see the LCM as just “another group.” So he introduced and promoted a teaching (ground of locality) that called into question the legitimacy of other groups. Standing on the platform of a supposed legitimacy, it gave Nee and Lee a level of credibility that they wouldn't have been able to obtain otherwise. A sly way to gain traction for a movement that would have otherwise been just one of many groups.

The other issue is that the 'positive' side of the ground of locality teaching suggested that there would be no control, headquarters, etc. In other words, in order for Nee to start something that would be perceived as unique, he had to introduce principles that he very well knew he would later reverse his position on.

So because Nee and Lee put so much effort into contrasting the LCM from other groups, it seems that having teachings like autonomy or locality were initially desirable. The reality is that these teachings never meant anything in practice, the only served to maintain an illusion. As LCM history indicates, eventually it because desirable and even necessary to pull in the leash to maintain control over the churches associated with the movement. This happened with Nee at the helm, then again once Lee was the one in charge.