Quote:
Originally Posted by Indiana
Witness Lee and his ministry have become the ground of the church;
and this ground has become the cause of division in the Local Churches worldwide.
1988 Godred Otutye - During late eighties turmoil
“The next afternoon I joined Godfred and Al at Brother Lee’s home. Godfred spoke
strongly, asking Brother Lee first if he had spoken anything against us recently. He replied
that he had not. Then Godfred reasoned with him: How is it that you speak against
autonomy, considering that a problem, but you will not deal with the problems that we
brought to your attention. Godfred spoke earnestly and impressively.
He said,"the center of the church should be Christ, but He has been replaced by you and your ministry."
Brother Lee was touched by what Godfred said, and perhaps considering that what he had
just alleged afforded some light for clearing up the problem, he said, "I like to hear that." I
recall the scene vividly, and his words still echo in my ears. It seemed that this time
Brother Lee appreciated the frank fellowship and was trying to warm up to us. But we
could not seem to make any real progress. Brother Lee remarked that everything that had
happened in Europe which had caused so great a problem between the churches and the
Living Stream Ministry was just a misunderstanding. After the meeting Godfred told us
that he wanted to leave the eldership and was fully disgusted with the whole situation.”
- John Ingalls, Speaking the Truth in Love
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This is the whole weakness in the "we follow this man because this man is following the Lord" logic. If you are not practiced at hearing the Lord's voice and following him then you will not be strong enough to hear it when the man you are following deviates, which he will.
Also, the fact that he was "disgusted" shows that this was his case. If you follow the Lord from the beginning the fact that someone else deviates is not going to surprise or disgust you.
WL's doctrine focuses on following leaders, yet the NT says "my sheep hear My voice".
“First, we must be very clear that when a leader violates an essential truth either in teaching or in practice, we cannot follow him. If the path that leader is taking leads us into division from the Body of Christ or from the proper standing of a local church, we cannot go along with him. (Nee, vol. 50, p. 824)