Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
And the same pattern continued with WL. After every tumult, when the smoke cleared, WL's hands were even tighter on the reins.
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Very true.
Back in the mid-80's there was nearly no theological differences among the LC leadership around the globe. Lee had just finished the Acts Training to conclude his Life Study of the New Testament. His conferences were compiled into that thick maroon book titled
God's New Testament Economy. He relocated to Taipei supposedly to restore that aging church he once "founded." His first move was to side-swipe any and all of those well-respected leaders with stature, and promote younger, yet more zealous, brothers. Lee did that both at LSM (trainers) and in the LC's (elders.) Lee claimed he had the right to this, as he also had the right to choose his own "cook."
Thus, where no doctrinal issues existed, Lee created generational conflicts. In classic Lee fashion, he could then blame ensuing problems on oldness and "senioritis," the supposed love for position and power inherent in all leaders, except, of course, for Lee himself. The battlefield and the rules for engagement were thus established, all centered around Lee himself, so he deftly switched the news story to the "burden to evangelize the whole earth by Y2K."
Now we had skirmishes around the globe between those who merely loved Christ and the church and those who were
absolute for the ministry. Subtle, but effective, changes now tightened Lee's reigns over the movement. He was now in absolute control, supported by an army of radicals (aka Gideon and his army, the 300 "Spartans") returning from the FTTT ready and willing to wreak havoc on any opposition, with his own unprincipled son Philip as the "Enforcer in Chief."