Quote:
Originally Posted by byHismercy
There is no LC right way vs. Christianities evil, fallen way. Jesus Himself actually is the Way. He is the only Way to the Father. Every believer is with the Way! No difference.
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On another thread (The Asian Mind/The Western Mind), I wrote that Asian values and mores are in no way inferior to the West, having served them for thousands of years. And I'd add that in the divine revelation it speaks of "every tribe and tongue and nation" glorifying God in Jesus Christ (Rev 5:9; 7:9). Surely God loves, appreciates, cares for every distinct tribe and tongue and nation. He didn't efface them into a grey proletariat. There are still clearly distinctions implied, in culture, language, custom, dress, mannerism, etc.
As such, the Chinese-birthed Little Flock and its promulgators Nee & Lee were a valid rejection of the "Western way" imposed on them. Why should the Sinim (cf Isa 49:10) queue up behind Britannia (Anglicans) or Italia (RCC) or Allemande (Lutherans) or USA (Baptists)? It made no sense. Nee rightly called out the abnormality. And the natives came into the Little Flock by the tens of thousands.
But I daresay "normality" for Nee, aka his "Normal Christian Church Life", was as subjectively skewed as the one that he rejected. It also was shot full of culturally-laden presuppositions, overlaid on scripture.
As such, WN's 'revelation' or interpretation wasn't necessarily inferior to those of Luther, Calvin or Wesley. He saw something in the word, which became his experience, and shared with others. We can't deny that. But neither he nor WL can impose that as objective, one-size-fits-all "truth" or "reality", or what's "normal", "genuine", or "proper" (their pet terms).
In their attempts to make their subjective experience "normal", or universal, they distorted the journeys of so many. I've seen dozens of testimonies, and for every public testimony there are others, too bewildered or discouraged even to speak up. And many have even abandoned the faith, linking it so tightly in their mind with their experiene in the supposedly "proper local church life".
Jesus as the Way to the Father allows for these tribes and tongues and nations - He doesn't efface them. WL's attempts to erase local distinctions was really an imposition of his own tribal values on everyone else. In his footnotes he's programmatic: "Every local church should be exactly identical, with no distinctions whatever". It didn't work. It just shifted the locus of control from "Rome" to "Beijing, by way of Anaheim".