Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
What figures do you have to support that Lee is becoming less popular and relevant?
It is quite the opposite from my view.
Popularity - Drake and I covered the popularity of Lee's ministry in the "Ron Kangas Message" thread. A steady increase has been observed, worldwide. In making this assessment, consider that this is all without TV-evangelist type promotion, marketing, and all the other things that most ministries use to attract people. I am sure that if we used television and rock music/concerts it would be on-par with any of the so called "mega churches". It is all without the prosperity gospel "give to us and get a double return" tricks as well. It is a wonder we get as many people as we do, considering how the meetings, conferences and such is, as someone here said, "boring". How can we attract thousands of people to a conference and not have an electric guitar or smoke machine?
Relevant - as more and more people are leaving traditional denominations, they are seeking nondenominational alternatives. The house church movement is gaining popularity. You would have to see the number of church-less people we interact with on a weekly basis to know this, and more importantly their reason why. Whenever we interact, they are exposed to the ministry, and therefore it is relevant.
Now from my observation, few denominational churches are going out of their way to seek people who do not attend church. I don't see them on the streets, door knocking, distributing bibles, inviting to homes for dinner, as we are. They merely advertise their Sunday services or events and expect to attract people to them. In comparison, our meeting places are less noticeable and obvious, yet we are interacting with church-less people more than any denomination I would say. With our focus on the small group meetings, we are in fact quite relevant to the increasing number of people who are leaving denominations and seeking alternatives. I believe this is partly responsible for our increase in popularity.
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Evangelical, most Christians have never even heard of Witness Lee. And most Christians have no interest in the Local Church denomination because they would find the adulation of Witness Lee to be completely bizarre. The people leaving denominations and mega-churches (commonly known as "Dones") are generally looking for something
less structured. There are few things as structured and organized as the LC.
Also, because of declining book sales, LSM has been sending a group of coworkers around the USA and Canada exhorting members to buy multiple sets. The idea is that LC members maintain lending libraries and have multiple copies to give away. Yet, most LC members do not even read the books they own themselves. Their standing order arrivals just pile up and go on shelves that look identical to every other member's.
And as we get further and further away from Witness Lee's death, LSM has less material to publish. After they finish publishing
The Collected Works of Witness Lee (next year), they will be left to reprints and HWMR and Ministry Magazine rehashes of the same old, same old.
Do you have any evidence that Witness Lee is becoming more "popular"? Of course not. Because the idea is absurd.