LSM's Myths of Church History

NeitherFirstnorLast · 06-15-2013, 09:51 AM

Good morning brothers and sisters,

From time to time I drop by, and follow some of the posts here. I haven't had anything to add, so I've remained in the background with nothing to say... But some comments from time to time have stirred me to write, and one topic in particular that has bothered me enough to do so is this one; The "Myths" told by LSM.

These are myths not told only by Lee, but before him also Nee, and perhaps even before him by the Brethren under whom he learned. We who were so indoctrinated by these teachings have in many ways simply swallowed them as true.

In this post, the myths I am talking about are the ones we've been told about the history of the "church" in China... By that, I mean the significance of Nee's movement vs. the movement and growth of other Christian groups in that country. Immense significance is attached to Nee's movement by LSM, because that is used as proof positive that what Nee built was the Recovered Church of God on earth - something that had been missing since the apostolic era. It's literally one hell of a myth, and we've bought it. Let me show you:

A poster recently remarked "WN did outsmart the British, at least initially: his movement grew and theirs (implying that this was a movement of Britain, and not of God) waned."

There are two things that bother me about that comment; the first being that this statement reflects a foundational belief that the movement of the early church mission in China was about British colonialism - and not about a genuine move of the Spirit in China, or about God's people in England being given a genuine heart to lead the Chinese to Christ. This is a myth - and one told by the Imperial Chinese government of the time in which Nee's parents and grandparents lived. It was told because this myth more than any other would stir the ire of the patriotic Chinese and inoculate them against the gospel preached by the foreign missionaries. Make no mistake, this was a tool of spiritual warfare.

Did you know? That for the first British Missionary to China (Robert Morrison, 1807) and the missionaries who followed him, life in China consisted of being confined to Macau and the Thirteen Factories area of Guangzhou. These missionaries confronted extreme opposition from the Chinese government and Roman Catholics who had been established in China for more than a century. Morrison's early work mostly consisted of learning the Chinese language and translating the Bible into Chinese. A Chinese law titled "Wizards, Witches, and all Superstitions, prohibited." was revised in 1826 by the Daoguang Emperor to provide for sentencing Europeans to death for spreading Christianity among Han Chinese and Manchus. Chinese Christians who would not repent their conversion were to be sent to Muslim cities in Xinjiang and given as slaves to Muslim leaders and beys.

The Chinese law read:

"People of the Western Ocean [Europeans], should they propagate in the country the religion of heaven's Lord, [name given to Christianity by the Catholics] or clandestinely print books, or collect congregations to be preached to, and thereby deceive many people, or should any Tartars or Chinese, in their turn, propagate the doctrines and clandestinely give names (as in baptism), inflaming and misleading many, if proved by authentic testimony, the head or leader shall be sentenced to immediate death by strangulations: he who propagates the religion, inflaming and deceiving the people, if the number be not large, and no names be given, shall be sentenced to strangulation after a period of imprisonment. Those who are merely hearers or followers of the doctrine, if they will not repent and recant, shall be transported to the Mohammedan cities (in Turkistan) and given to be slaves to the beys and other powerful Mohammedans who are able to coerce them. ... All civil and military officers who may fail to detect Europeans clandestinely residing in the country within their jurisdiction, and propagating their religion, thereby deceiving the multitude, shall be delivered over to the Supreme Board and be subjected to a court of inquiry."

**********************************************

The implication of the idea LSM propagates is that European missionaries in China had no genuine heart for Christ , they were really only colonial government agents. They were not men and women who risked their lives (and in many cases, the lives of their children) in order to bring the Gospel to China; but were instead "christless" protestants bent on political and financial gain. I ask you, in the face of such persecution as outlined in the law written above, do REALLY believe that these people would move their families to China and use Christianity only as a tool to gain political control of the minds of the Chinese? That's the EXACT same kind of lie that the Roman Caesars used to persecute the earliest Christians in the Church of Jesus Christ - and yet even in the face of that persecution the church grew... not because of the political will of men, but because the Will of our Holy God.

"a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and... said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” Acts 5:34-39

Christ's church didn't die in China in face of this prosecution of the early missions - it flourished. Nee didn't come to Christ in a vacuum on his own; the Lord used these early missions to introduce Christ to the damned in China. Praise the Lord for the brave hearts He gave His people to minister to the Chinese in these early days! The house churches of today wouldn't exist without them.

06-15-2013, 09:51 AM	#1
NeitherFirstnorLast Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 348	LSM's Myths of Church History Good morning brothers and sisters, From time to time I drop by, and follow some of the posts here. I haven't had anything to add, so I've remained in the background with nothing to say... But some comments from time to time have stirred me to write, and one topic in particular that has bothered me enough to do so is this one; The "Myths" told by LSM. These are myths not told only by Lee, but before him also Nee, and perhaps even before him by the Brethren under whom he learned. We who were so indoctrinated by these teachings have in many ways simply swallowed them as true. In this post, the myths I am talking about are the ones we've been told about the history of the "church" in China... By that, I mean the significance of Nee's movement vs. the movement and growth of other Christian groups in that country. Immense significance is attached to Nee's movement by LSM, because that is used as proof positive that what Nee built was the Recovered Church of God on earth - something that had been missing since the apostolic era. It's literally one hell of a myth, and we've bought it. Let me show you: A poster recently remarked "WN did outsmart the British, at least initially: his movement grew and theirs (implying that this was a movement of Britain, and not of God) waned." There are two things that bother me about that comment; the first being that this statement reflects a foundational belief that the movement of the early church mission in China was about British colonialism - and not about a genuine move of the Spirit in China, or about God's people in England being given a genuine heart to lead the Chinese to Christ. This is a myth - and one told by the Imperial Chinese government of the time in which Nee's parents and grandparents lived. It was told because this myth more than any other would stir the ire of the patriotic Chinese and inoculate them against the gospel preached by the foreign missionaries. Make no mistake, this was a tool of spiritual warfare. Did you know? That for the first British Missionary to China (Robert Morrison, 1807) and the missionaries who followed him, life in China consisted of being confined to Macau and the Thirteen Factories area of Guangzhou. These missionaries confronted extreme opposition from the Chinese government and Roman Catholics who had been established in China for more than a century. Morrison's early work mostly consisted of learning the Chinese language and translating the Bible into Chinese. A Chinese law titled "Wizards, Witches, and all Superstitions, prohibited." was revised in 1826 by the Daoguang Emperor to provide for sentencing Europeans to death for spreading Christianity among Han Chinese and Manchus. Chinese Christians who would not repent their conversion were to be sent to Muslim cities in Xinjiang and given as slaves to Muslim leaders and beys. The Chinese law read: "People of the Western Ocean [Europeans], should they propagate in the country the religion of heaven's Lord, [name given to Christianity by the Catholics] or clandestinely print books, or collect congregations to be preached to, and thereby deceive many people, or should any Tartars or Chinese, in their turn, propagate the doctrines and clandestinely give names (as in baptism), inflaming and misleading many, if proved by authentic testimony, the head or leader shall be sentenced to immediate death by strangulations: he who propagates the religion, inflaming and deceiving the people, if the number be not large, and no names be given, shall be sentenced to strangulation after a period of imprisonment. Those who are merely hearers or followers of the doctrine, if they will not repent and recant, shall be transported to the Mohammedan cities (in Turkistan) and given to be slaves to the beys and other powerful Mohammedans who are able to coerce them. ... All civil and military officers who may fail to detect Europeans clandestinely residing in the country within their jurisdiction, and propagating their religion, thereby deceiving the multitude, shall be delivered over to the Supreme Board and be subjected to a court of inquiry." ********************************************** The implication of the idea LSM propagates is that European missionaries in China had no genuine heart for Christ , they were really only colonial government agents. They were not men and women who risked their lives (and in many cases, the lives of their children) in order to bring the Gospel to China; but were instead "christless" protestants bent on political and financial gain. I ask you, in the face of such persecution as outlined in the law written above, do REALLY believe that these people would move their families to China and use Christianity only as a tool to gain political control of the minds of the Chinese? That's the EXACT same kind of lie that the Roman Caesars used to persecute the earliest Christians in the Church of Jesus Christ - and yet even in the face of that persecution the church grew... not because of the political will of men, but because the Will of our Holy God. "a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and... said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” Acts 5:34-39 Christ's church didn't die in China in face of this prosecution of the early missions - it flourished. Nee didn't come to Christ in a vacuum on his own; the Lord used these early missions to introduce Christ to the damned in China. Praise the Lord for the brave hearts He gave His people to minister to the Chinese in these early days! The house churches of today wouldn't exist without them.