[UntoHim]

Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!

fallen man thinks of himself too high. But perhaps regenerated ones think of themselves too low . . . (e.g., 1 Peter 2:9, Eph 2:10) Regardless, He gets the glory! (which He shares with us)

Actually you got it backwards my brother. Fallen man thinks of himself too low, and we believers perhaps think of ourselves too high.

I think part of the issue may be that you are not taking into account that we are still living in a fallen world. We are not in heaven...not yet. Yes, God will indeed "transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself" (Phil 3:21) He has not subjected all things to himself...not yet. So we are still living within a fallen, unsubjected world, full of fallen and unsubjected people. If she is nothing else, the church is a place where people can come together and have a small taste of what it is like when people are subjecting themselves to God and his Kingdom. And the church should be a safe haven and refuge for the lost, the fatherless, the innocent children, the rejected and abused. And above all else, the church should be a place where the leaders are shepherds as well as teachers. Where the leaders are pastors as well as elders, and where the regional leaders are servants as well as super apostles.

I know the church I have described here sounds like something so impossible. But it is not only possible, it is the church as described in the New Testament. It is the scriptural church. If God has an "economy", then this economy can only function within this household - within this scriptural church. And it can only function properly if the head of the household is a shepherd as well as teacher, and a pastor as well as and elder, and a servant as well as a master. To whom much is given, much is required.

I know this thread is about Witness Lee's teachings regarding "The Economy of God". These teachings are at the very center and core of what Lee taught for about 50 years. It is fitting and it is appropriate that we discuss these teachings. But due to recent events among Christian leaders in general, and even leaders within the Local Church of Witness Lee specifically, I feel the need to speak of things in a more practical way.