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Originally Posted by aron
Nee and Lee and their followers didn't see anything "wrong" with their church model, and often point out the admittedly horrible clergy - laity system it replaced. I liked Baruch's citation because it highlights how incompatible these replacement notions are: "strong autonomy" versus "strong centralized control" and "everyone equal" juxtaposed on one of the "equals" being a "supreme master". As soon as you look at it critically it's totally contradictory. Which is probably why they told us, "Don't think, you will only be confused". Only the supreme master, the guru, the deputy god, could think without becoming confused. The rest were to be "one" with the "Lord's speaking thru our brother".
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Interestingly, what Nee and Lee promoted as a 'normal' church model is something that people were easily sold on, perhaps because they didn't notice the two contradictory extremes of what the LCM movement had to offer. Here was a group that thought to defy all the traditions. Anyone who wanted to had the opportunity to speak. Participation by all was the norm. People were made to feel like they were a part of something unique and special.
But what part of the equation went unnoticed? No one questioned the existence of a lone figure at the very top, the supreme master who provided the up-to-date speaking and direction of the movement. It was right before everyone's eyes, but it rarely triggered any alarm bells within the movement. The contradictory aspect to all the things that the LCM presumed to be is exactly what went largely unnoticed, except from time to time when it tended to rear its ugly head.
By example, throughout all the years growing up in the LCM, I would have never thought that there was any kind of headquarters or authoritarian control. I saw people writing songs, producing and distributing tapes - all kinds of things that would suggest that LC members were all free to contribute in their own unique ways. Everything felt autonomous. However, later on, I began to see certain 'situations' arise, such as the one publication edict. So then I started to realize that the notion of everyone in the LCM being equal was all just a guise. There was indeed a headquarters that has the power to issue edicts. Everyone in the LCM was on a leash. That leash might be shortened or lengthened, but it's a leash nonetheless.