Our Shared History

[Friedel]

What follows here is by way of introduction. There are other brothers far more qualified than I am, brothers who had been there, who could provide much needed detail. However, I assume only the role of reporter and I look to the Lord to make these posts of benefit to all and fair to all concerned.

SOME ASPECTS OF THE HISTORY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH MOVEMENT

Introduction

Before we can come to understand the history of Witness Lee, Living Stream Ministry and the Local Church Movement, I believe it is important to very briefly go back to the history of Watchman Nee. More specifically, we need to in a few words examine Nee’s relationship with three different people because they had a profound influence on his life and subsequently would have an effect on Lee and eventually on members of the Local Churches.

The three people I believe are critical to the history of Watchman Nee are Margaret Barber, Jessie Penn-Lewis and Theodore Austin-Sparks. (There are others but for the sake of this history, these three stand out.)

It is not necessary to examine Margaret Barber’s individual history but suffice to say that she was the most profound influence on Watchman Nee’s earlier life. She nurtured within him a love for the Lord, she encouraged him to learn the lessons of the cross and she instilled within him a desire to be absolute for the Lord. He really appreciated her and often confessed that he was greatly indebted to her for his spiritual growth.

Margaret Barber also introduced him to the writings of Jessie Penn-Lewis, albeit indirectly. She felt he was not yet ready for Penn-Lewis’ but he nevertheless ordered books directly from her. Penn-Lewis’ works must have had a major influence on Nee and along with the writings of Madame Guyon probably account for his “mystic” tendencies. War on the Saints, co-written by Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts came out seven years after the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905.

The Welsh Revival lasted about nine months and a hundred thousand people were converted but it is reported that within six months there was very little evidence left of the revival. The remaining fruit was extremely limited.

Penn-Lewis and Roberts collaborated on the writing of War on the Saints and this book probably had the most enduring influence on Watchman Nee in preparation for his writing of The Spiritual Man. Nee also read all he could by Otto Stockmayer on the questions of soul and spirit and the triumph over satanic power. He simply did not have the life experience to write the book and much of it was theory. The first volume of The Spiritual Man appeared in 1926 and he completed it in 1928, when he was 26.

However, it was his friendship with Theodore Austin-Sparks which had the most profound effect on his life. For the first time he had met a brother with whom he could fellowship on an equal basis. As a matter of fact, he wrote Sparks upon his return from England: “You know, with the brethren here, because of their juniority, everything I say goes, despite their seeking the mind of the Lord. As a younger man, regarding you as a senior brother in the same testimony, I think I need this fellowship in a very real way.”

The fellowship between Austin-Sparks during 1938–1939 was mutually rewarding. It was also during this time that they extensively discussed the matter of locality and Watchman Nee translated Rethinking the Work (later published as The Normal Christian Church Life) and it appeared in London just before he left in 1939 under the title Concerning Our Missions. (Witness Lee in later years claimed that Austin-Sparks did not print it because he realized “it had something against his [Sparks’] work”. In fact, Austin-Sparks was intimately familiar with the content and his publishing company, The Witness and Testimony published the book. He just had the spiritual maturity to accommodate his younger brother, although he disagreed with his views on the ground of locality.)

Nee spoke in Shanghai on 11 June 1940:

“Our position is that, in any place, all who are the Lord’s are therefore ours because we ourselves are His, and only those who are not His are not of us. If Hardoon Road [the meeting place in Shanghai] ever comes to be a method of working in which concern for the local churches gives way to a mere concept of ‘localism’ then may God have mercy on us and smash it, for it will cease to have spiritual value. We must never forget that all in whom the Lord has liberty are ours in Him, and that in any place it is not even a spiritual local church but the Body of Christ we are called upon to build up.”

This is only by way of introduction. As we trace the years from 1940 onwards, when Witness Lee started to come to the fore more and more, it will become abundantly clear that Theodore Austin-Sparks was probably the greatest thorn in his flesh. It was also his inability in later years to work and fellowship with Austin-Sparks that caused a lot of damage within many localities.

Nee and TAS never saw each other again and had limited correspondence by mail after 1939. (For further reading on these sections, I heartily recommend the anthology of poems by Margaret E. Barber, entitled, Anchored to Infinity, but ignore the exclamation on the back cover: No Margaret Barber, No Watchman Nee!; also Against the Tide, the Story of Watchman Nee by Dr. Angus Kinnear, the son-in-law of Theodore Austin-Sparks, who had also met Nee and had known him in London.

[awareness]

Originally Posted by Friedel

Penn-Lewis’ works must have had a major influence on Nee

If so that was not a good thing. If anyone is to blame for killing the Welsh revival it would be Penn-Lewis. She thought it was demonic. And believed that demons could possess born again believers. She's actually called the Jezebel of the Welsh Revival.

From this kind of thought we get The Spiritual Man.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by awareness

If so that was not a good thing. If anyone is to blame for killing the Welsh revival it would be Penn-Lewis. She thought it was demonic. And believed that demons could possess born again believers. She's actually called the Jezebel of the Welsh Revival. From this kind of thought we get The Spiritual Man.

The Welsh Example
by Jon Hamilton

The great Welsh revival of 1904 is a shining example of a true move of God. It has been called the "pentecost greater than Pentecost." Sadly, the revival’s demise is also an excellent example of how Jezebel works against the church. In just two years, over 100,000 people were saved. Welsh society was revolutionized. Entire towns recorded no arrests for over a year. Places that formerly were hotbeds of vice suddenly became transformed. Police departments were forced to lay off idle officers. Professional sports teams disbanded because no one was willing to miss church for a game. Services continued virtually around the clock and there were demonstrations of God’s presence and power.

When God begins a work, he usually begins with a man. During the Welsh revival that man was Evans Roberts. Evans was only 26 years old at the time. Most of his leaders were only in their late teens and twenties. Evans was deeply devoted to the Lord, and his devotion to wait upon the Lord released a shower of blessings that was a marvel to the Church. Pastors and leaders from around the world streamed to Wales to behold it.

Many people became associated with the revival as it grew. Among these was a well-to-do woman named Jessie Penn-Lewis. For years Penn-Lewis had considered herself a Bible teacher, but she had never found a broad acceptance for her teachings. She had largely been rejected or ignored by most church leaders in Wales. At first, Jessie Penn-Lewis appeared as a friend and financial supporter to Evans Roberts. She gained his confidence, and began speaking into his life.

Long time friends of Evans Roberts expressed concerns that she appeared to isolate Roberts too much, but Roberts trusted Penn-Lewis completely. She began to minister certain messages to Roberts, which appeared to him to be profound corrections from the Lord. These filled him with condemnation. He was convinced her deep "truths" were things he needed to hear. Mrs. Penn-Lewis began to express her "concern" to Evans that with the revival’s great success, perhaps too much glory was going to Evans Roberts instead of to God. The thought of stealing God’s glory horrified the sincere young man. He began to think that perhaps others should lead for a while. Penn-Lewis convinced Evans Roberts to withdraw from public ministry, and to move into the Penn-Lewis home. Evans Roberts never returned to the ministry. The Welsh revival ended quickly and quietly.

After a short time in the Penn-Lewis home, Evans Roberts began experiencing severe bouts of depression. Often he was unable to leave the bed for days at a time. He appeared nervous and anxious. By today’s standards he was in severe clinical depression. It took a toll on his health. Meanwhile, Penn-Lewis began writing articles and letters in Evans Roberts’ name, and on his behalf. These were published in both Roberts and Penn-Lewis’ name, and eventually, in her name alone. According to many former close associates of Evans Roberts, some of the works attributed to him could not possibly have had his approval. Certain publications were highly critical of other movements, especially the newly emerging Pentecostals. Unfortunately, few people were able to see or speak with Evans Roberts. He was kept guarded in the Penn-Lewis home. He was completely dominated.

Evans Roberts spent many dark years of depression in the house of Jezebel. Mercifully, he eventually broke all ties with Penn-Lewis, but not until his health was broken and his ministry just a shadow of its former glory. Evans Roberts made contributions in two years of ministry, that most never see in a lifetime. His memory should be honored. Nevertheless, he is a sad reminder of the old proverb "Age and treachery will always defeat youth and enthusiasm." A revival that in 24 months saw 100,000 salvations and a glory some called greater than Pentecost, was destroyed by a single unwitting servant of Jezebel, seeking control in order to gain recognition and acceptance.

Is this how history views Jessie-Penn-Lewis? Obviously 99.94% of the folks in the Recovery have no clue who she was or what she has done.

[awareness]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Is this how history views Jessie-Penn-Lewis? Obviously 99.94% of the folks in the Recovery have no clue who she was or what she has done.

And to think, back in the LC I was a big fan of Penn-Lewis ... based on Lee's promotion of her.

The fool I was back then would never get along with who I am today. They don't even understand each other.

[OBW]

Some have suggested that Jesse Penn-Lewis was almost the sole cause of the end of the Welsh revival.

[Elden1971]

Originally Posted by OBW

Some have suggested that Jesse Penn-Lewis was almost the sole cause of the end of the Welsh revival.

Penn-Lewis attended Surrey Chapel along with Margaret Barber and Barber introduced Nee to her writings which became one of the major sources for The Spiritual Man. Nee later stated that he regretted writing the Spiritual Man because it was "too perfect a treatment". Ironically Lee warned us in Elden regarding the teachings of Penn-Lewis. Penn-Lewis was also friends with T. Austin-Sparks who held the same eschatological views of Govett and Panton and undoubtedly influenced Nee toward the same viewpoint.

[aron]

Originally Posted by Friedel

What follows here is by way of introduction. There are other brothers far more qualified than I am, brothers who had been there, who could provide much needed detail. However, I assume only the role of reporter and I look to the Lord to make these posts of benefit to all and fair to all concerned...

Before we can come to understand the history of Witness Lee, Living Stream Ministry and the Local Church Movement, I believe it is important to very briefly go back to the history of Watchman Nee. More specifically, we need to in a few words examine Nee’s relationship with three different people because they had a profound influence on his life and subsequently would have an effect on Lee and eventually on members of the Local Churches.

The three people I believe are critical to the history of Watchman Nee are Margaret Barber, Jessie Penn-Lewis and Theodore Austin-Sparks..

Thanks for posting. No matter the response here (and it often seems like either indifference or criticism), if you post because you feel led by the Lord to share something, then trust that your word will not return void, but will please the Father and further His will.

Regarding Nee, you quoted his remarks from 1940. I would suggest not letting go of Nee until you see some of his later comments. What I saw quoted in Hsu from the later '40s and into the '50s was really shocking. What happened to Nee? Specifically, he told the 'co-workers' that they should know who was over them, and obey without question. "Line up with the person in front of you", he said. What about following the Spirit?

Secondly were his remarks concerning the church and the ascending Communist movement. Although we have the benefit of distance in both time and space, his remarks from today's vantage point seem utterly without Spirit. It seems as if he has constructed a maze, and he is completely lost. He is trying to guide the saints, but he himself has utterly lost the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He is trying to move through an admittedly bad situation (the Communist Party is taking over), but his remarks reveal no inspiration or enlightenment, but simply a man trying to figure out how to go forward. A fallen, unenlightened, soulish man.

When I read those words from "Later Nee", they seemed to presage the "Later Lee", with his various moves and flows. Merely the concepts and purposes of fallen, soulish men.

[aron]

Originally Posted by Friedel

Margaret Barber also introduced him to the writings of Jessie Penn-Lewis, albeit indirectly. She felt he was not yet ready for Penn-Lewis’ but he nevertheless ordered books directly from her. Penn-Lewis’ works must have had a major influence on Nee and along with the writings of Madame Guyon probably account for his “mystic” tendencies. War on the Saints, co-written by Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts came out seven years after the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905.

The Welsh Revival lasted about nine months and a hundred thousand people were converted but it is reported that within six months there was very little evidence left of the revival. The remaining fruit was extremely limited.

Penn-Lewis and Roberts collaborated on the writing of War on the Saints and this book probably had the most enduring influence on Watchman Nee in preparation for his writing of The Spiritual Man. Nee also read all he could by Otto Stockmayer on the questions of soul and spirit and the triumph over satanic power. He simply did not have the life experience to write the book and much of it was theory. The first volume of The Spiritual Man appeared in 1926 and he completed it in 1928, when he was 26.

However, it was his friendship with Theodore Austin-Sparks which had the most profound effect on his life. For the first time he had met a brother with whom he could fellowship on an equal basis. As a matter of fact, he wrote Sparks upon his return from England: “You know, with the brethren here, because of their juniority, everything I say goes, despite their seeking the mind of the Lord. As a younger man, regarding you as a senior brother in the same testimony, I think I need this fellowship in a very real way.”

1. WN was exposed to unbalanced and extremely subjective writings by Penn-Lewis when he was a young and impressionable believer. This consciously shaped his early Christian life, and unconsciously affected it thereafter.

2. WN began to minister when he was inexperienced, and lacking any oversight. G.H. Lang of the British Brethren had once said that a person shouldn't write books before the age of 50, because they simply lacked life experience to prove whether things were so. But WN was publishing books in his twenties, a few years after his conversion. WL also remarked his surprise on such "advanced" books (mostly transliterations of European [Penn-Lewis, Guyon] tomes on spirituality) produced by such a young person.

3. The reason WN advanced so far, so fast, was because at that time there was no indigenous alternative to the Western-dominated church, so the localist "brethren" impulse left him, and others, in a spiritual void. WN immediately found himself in an environment where, as he put it "everything I say goes", and this disease was to plague him for the rest of his Christian journey. Eventually WL was able to convince us all that this "everything I say goes" was the Normal Christian Church Life.

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by aron

3. The reason WN advanced so far, so fast, was because at that time there was no indigenous alternative to the Western-dominated church, so the localist "brethren" impulse left him, and others, in a spiritual void. WN immediately found himself in an environment where, as he put it "everything I say goes", and this disease was to plague him for the rest of his Christian journey. Eventually WL was able to convince us all that this "everything I say goes" was the Normal Christian Church Life.

So WN was well aware that his audience was willing to accept anything he said without any push back. This was the perfect environment for things to go awry, especially if there was no effort to put checks and balances in place. He confided in TAS regarding this, but did WN ever take any steps to correct this problem himself? Perhaps the deputy authority teaching came out of a need that he developed to maintain the same kind of audience.

It's also interesting how his book, The Spiritual Man, was produced when he was only 26. That should be enough for most people to realize that it wouldn't be a good idea to put too much trust in such writings, especially his earlier ones. Unfortunately, it seems his audience at that time saw him as some sort of spiritual guru, and his LC followers now also accept everything he taught uncritically.

[aron]

Originally Posted by Freedom

So WN was well aware that his audience was willing to accept anything he said without any push back. This was the perfect environment for things to go awry, especially if there was no effort to put checks and balances in place. He confided in TAS regarding this, but did WN ever take any steps to correct this problem himself? Perhaps the deputy authority teaching came out of a need that he developed to maintain the same kind of audience.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I bet WN was genuine when he admitted the relief he got from fellowship with TAS. Suddenly the burden to be "God's Deputy" was off, and he could be free. But ultimately the lure of temporal power was too much, and ensnared him. In China he was "reputed to be something" (Gal 2:6), and couldn't escape the grip of social expectations. (By contrast see Jesus: "Man, who appointed Me as judge over you?")

And in LC lexicon, anyone unwilling to be abjectly servile to "God's Deputy" got accused of being ambitious, and drawing others after themselves. My, how the worm turned.

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by aron

I'm going out on a limb here, but I bet WN was genuine when he admitted the relief he got from fellowship with TAS. Suddenly the burden to be "God's Deputy" was off, and he could be free. But ultimately the lure of temporal power was too much, and ensnared him. In China he was "reputed to be something" (Gal 2:6), and couldn't escape the grip of social expectations. (By contrast see Jesus: "Man, who appointed Me as judge over you?")

And in LC lexicon, anyone unwilling to be abjectly servile to "God's Deputy" got accused of being ambitious, and drawing others after themselves. My, how the worm turned.

It's probably correct to say that WN wasn't seeking to be viewed as a "MOTA", as eventually became the case. For whatever reason (probably mostly cultural), it seems he was awarded an audience with little or no thought to do anything but follow a leader. Maybe initially this was a point of frustration for him because it's not what he had in mind, especially at such a young age. But like you said, eventually the lust for power just became too strong. When the opportunity presents itself and comes so easily, it's hard to refuse.

I think that in general, the same could be said about WL. Maybe he wasn't necessarily seeking power at first, but in the U.S., he found a group of people who wanted a leader, and likewise, the temptation was too great. Where I would find fault with WN/WL is that when the cheerleaders began to appear on the scene with the intention to uplift their leader to an unprecedented level, there was no attempt to stop such behavior. You can't blame WN or WL if they were promoted by others, but if they made no effort to stop the promotion, then they bear guilt as well.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Freedom

It's probably correct to say that WN wasn't seeking to be viewed as a "MOTA", as eventually became the case. For whatever reason (probably mostly cultural), it seems he was awarded an audience with little or no thought to do anything but follow a leader. Maybe initially this was a point of frustration for him because it's not what he had in mind, especially at such a young age. But like you said, eventually the lust for power just became too strong. When the opportunity presents itself and comes so easily, it's hard to refuse.

I think that in general, the same could be said about WL. Maybe he wasn't necessarily seeking power at first, but in the U.S., he found a group of people who wanted a leader, and likewise, the temptation was too great. Where I would find fault with WN/WL is that when the cheerleaders began to appear on the scene with the intention to uplift their leader to an unprecedented level, there was no attempt to stop such behavior. You can't blame WN or WL if they were promoted by others, but if they made no effort to stop the promotion, then they bear guilt as well.

No minister would rewrite church history and develop this teaching about how God, "in every age raises up an oracle to further recover the truths," unless he himself desires to be set up as such.

Publicly, especially when starting out, Nee and Lee would speak of themselves in self-abasing terms, e.g. "humble servants," but after enduring a few "storms" that tended to shake their thrones, they then decide to follow the safer route, and allow loyal toadies to sing their praises, lest one day they crash.