[Indiana]

Paper in the Wind - 1988

1. I once asked a brother about a former member named Alex and suggested we contact him. His sincere reply was that he didn’t think Alex was for the ministry. Therefore, the brother wasn’t inclined to want to visit him. This was in 1994. I ran into Alex four years ago and found out what Alex is FOR. He is FOR the Lord, just as he was formerly. He spoke very fondly of all the saints and of the elders and of brother Lee and his ministry. He had been asked or advised to leave by two elders, as a 23 year-old with questions about the new way.

2. A current elder in Redding, CA, (last I heard), formerly an elder in Tempe, told me by phone in 1999 that once he was helping a 24-year old brother in Tempe who was troubled by matters in the late eighties turmoil and that he, the elder, was doing everything he could to help this young brother, even to the extent that the elder called Brother Lee for fellowship. Brother Lee felt to suggest to him to let this troubled one go and become as “a paper in the wind” and to “let the wind take care of him”. I asked the elder if that sounded like Christ to him. He paused at this legitimate question as if he knew the obvious answer; but he did not answer the question. He changed the subject instead to John Ingalls and made negative remarks about him. I was shocked at the indignant and defensive posture he suddenly took.

Brother Lee’s main concern and encouragement was for the elder to spend his time caring for the positive ones and new ones who were not contaminated or dissenting. Therefore, taking the advice of Brother Lee, the elder let the young person go. He had changed his stance from caring for a young brother who had been stumbled, to lining up with the proper mentality of a soldier in the army for “the Lord’s new move”.

3. WITNESS LEE’s word toward the end of the turmoil: "To avoid further damage by the present turmoil, we need to practice a strict quarantine over this contagious disease. Whenever any of the dissenting ones attempts to contact you, no matter in what way and in what polite or "spiritual "manner", you should keep the apostles' teaching in Romans 16:17 and Titus 3:10 to turn away from him and reject him. Do not try to exhort or argue with such people or to find out what and how they really are. If you say anything to them, you will "swallow their bait" and they will "hook" you. You are a gentleman, a sincere, honest Christian, and a humble follower of the Lord, but they are under the deceiving of the devil and unavoidably bear some of his poison. It is impossible to talk or argue with them without being contaminated by their poison. Instead of spending the time to meet with this kind of dissenting ones, we had better save our time to pray and get into the Word so that we may have some riches of Christ to minister to the saints.” (The Ministry of the New Testament and the Teaching and Fellowship of the Apostle, pp 32-33)


Br. Lee's word on The Proper Receiving of the Saints 1968

“It is only by being so liberal and general that we can receive all the saints in
a proper way. If we are otherwise, we cannot avoid being sectarian in the
matter of receiving. If we are special in anything and insist upon that, we will
probably not receive those who differ from us in certain matters. But the
Apostle said, “”Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful
disputations.” What he meant when he referred to “him that is weak in the
faith” is illustrated in the following verses: i. e., the matter of eating and
keeping of days. By this we are affirmatively told that we must receive the
saints who differ from us in these things. Any saint who holds a different
opinion or concept regarding the things we are in favor, we must receive, “for
God hath received him.” As long as he is a saint, as long as He has received
him, we have no right to reject him. Our receiving must be the same as God’s
receiving, no less and no more. God’s receiving is the basis of our receiving.
Our receiving must not be according to our taste, our opinion, or our
assertion. It must be in accordance with God’s receiving. It must be based
upon God’s receiving – nothing else.

God receives people according to His Son. As long as a person receives His
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as His personal Savior, regardless of the concepts
he holds regarding all other things, God receives him immediately. Since God
receives people in this way, we too must receive people in the same way. Our
receiving must be in accordance with God’s receiving. If our receiving differs
from His, it means that we are wrong: either we are more narrow or more
broad than God. This will cause much trouble and damage to the church life.
God’s receiving is based upon Christ’s receiving, and Christ’s receiving is in
accordance with our faith in Him. Whoever believes in Him, He will receive.
Whoever receives Him, He will never reject. He said, “Him that cometh to Me
I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Since coming to Him, believing in Him,
receiving Him, is the only condition for Christ’s receiving, so we must receive
people upon the same basis with nothing added. As long as anyone believes
in Christ our Lord, as long as he receives Him as his personal Savior, we must
receive Him with nothing else required. Regardless of how he may dissent in
so many other things, as long as he is a real believer in the Lord, we have no
choice but to receive him, for the Lord has received him. This is why the
Apostle said, ‘Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to
the glory of God.’ We must receive whoever Christ has received. We must
have such a proper receiving of all the saints that we may keep the proper
unity; otherwise, we can never keep ourselves from being sectarian
and causing much confusion and damage to the church life. To
practice the church life by keeping the proper unity, such a general receiving
is necessary. May the Lord have mercy upon us!” (W. Lee, Practical Expression
of the Church, pp 66-77, 1968)


Thirty years later
Witness Lee: This is a lesson for us all. The co-workers in different
places need to learn; all responsible brothers in all localities need to
learn. The eyes of the brothers and sisters all need to be opened. Too
many things we need to learn. We have acted wrongly in the past,
including me, I have to admit. I have had very painful repentance before
the Lord. I am very sorry! I am sorry for the Body of Christ - not only
for the brothers and sisters among us, but also for the ones in the
denominations. You have to bring this message back and read it over
and over again in mutual fellowship. Then you will see we were wrong
before… To understand and analyze this needs a fair bit of effort. Again I
say, a few of you must come together through pray-reading, studying,
reciting, and prophesying. We must learn from our past mistakes to
receive people according to God's Son...undeviating… not deviating a bit
from the path…” (Chinese New Year Conference, Anaheim, Feb 1997, WL’s final message)