Local Church Discussions - View Single Post - Misrepresenting God: Delegated Authority (Nee)

Nell · 06-19-2021, 07:53 PM

The following quote is from our ol' friend, Matt Anderson, and his Laymans Fellowship website. It's a perspective I had not considered until recently and am more and more convinced of its merits. In particular, three "issues". 1) The verses in Eph. 4, 2) new (to me) perspective on the implications of these verses, and 3) authority church leaders do not have over believers.

1) Ephesians 4:11-16 – And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fulness of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed about by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of people, by craftiness with reference to the scheming of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow into him with reference to all things, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, according to the working by measure of each single part, the growth of the body makes for the building up of itself in love.

2) This has an amazing implication. The real work of the most notable gifted ones is to make themselves less necessary.
(What???? Less necessary?)

3) "The authority from God wielded by believers is not fully transferred to believers. They do not get to take ownership of the authority in the same manner as a Government Authority with a Citizen or with a Parent with a Child. This does not mean we cannot wield any authority from God. As believers we can transmit God’s authority through our speaking and our actions, but this does not give us control of God’s authority. It also does not give us control over other believers. We simply wield God’s authority for the limited window in which we are acting according to His will.

Let’s clarify what kind of authority that this author believes leading ones do not have:

* Leaders do not have “delegated” authority where authority is passed from God to the leader in such a way that the leader can act according to their own will (while claiming to represent God) apart from being fully in line with God’s point of view and approach to the non-leading believers.

* Leaders do not gain personal authority over another believer as a result of any type of spiritual gifting.

* Paul does speak of some authority vested in Him from the Lord. The real question is whether it is “delegated” authority from God or authority from God that can only be wielded in full agreement with God’s will." (Emphasis added)

I think this explains a lot about what's wrong with the Lee/Nee teaching on "delegated" authority, and its continuing heavy-handed misuse by the LC leadership today.

What do you think? This gives perspective to Matthew 28:18
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Nell

Note that this thread is a golden oldie...it's been around since 2/2016.

06-19-2021, 07:53 PM	#5
Nell Admin/Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 2,107	"Other Relationships" with Authority The following quote is from our ol' friend, Matt Anderson, and his Laymans Fellowship website. It's a perspective I had not considered until recently and am more and more convinced of its merits. In particular, three "issues". 1) The verses in Eph. 4, 2) new (to me) perspective on the implications of these verses, and 3) authority church leaders do not have over believers. 1) Ephesians 4:11-16 – And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fulness of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed about by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of people, by craftiness with reference to the scheming of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow into him with reference to all things, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, according to the working by measure of each single part, the growth of the body makes for the building up of itself in love. 2) This has an amazing implication. The real work of the most notable gifted ones is to make themselves less necessary. (What???? Less necessary?) 3) "The authority from God wielded by believers is not fully transferred to believers. They do not get to take ownership of the authority in the same manner as a Government Authority with a Citizen or with a Parent with a Child. This does not mean we cannot wield any authority from God. As believers we can transmit God’s authority through our speaking and our actions, but this does not give us control of God’s authority. It also does not give us control over other believers. We simply wield God’s authority for the limited window in which we are acting according to His will. Let’s clarify what kind of authority that this author believes leading ones do not have: * Leaders do not have “delegated” authority where authority is passed from God to the leader in such a way that the leader can act according to their own will (while claiming to represent God) apart from being fully in line with God’s point of view and approach to the non-leading believers. * Leaders do not gain personal authority over another believer as a result of any type of spiritual gifting. * Paul does speak of some authority vested in Him from the Lord. The real question is whether it is “delegated” authority from God or authority from God that can only be wielded in full agreement with God’s will." (Emphasis added) I think this explains a lot about what's wrong with the Lee/Nee teaching on "delegated" authority, and its continuing heavy-handed misuse by the LC leadership today. What do you think? This gives perspective to Matthew 28:18 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Nell Note that this thread is a golden oldie...it's been around since 2/2016.