Layman's Fellowship

[aron]

Recently came across a blog called "Layman's Fellowship", by someone who grew up in the Local Church of Witness Lee. It seems to be a work in progress, but what progress made thus far has some interest. Here is a quote I liked.

One of the most interesting things about the church (Greek: Ekklessia) is how little is said about how to organize it. Very little is said. A great deal is left open to arriving at very different organizational structures. This might seem to be a very large flaw, but it is not.

The church intentionally has very little prescriptive definition in the Word of God. It was part of the design that God intended.

At it’s minimum, it is just 2 or 3 gathered together in the name of Jesus Christ. At it’s maximum, it is all believers in Jesus Christ throughout time and all around the earth. In between this minimum and maximum, it gets difficult to express much about it that can be controlled by men successfully over time.

Again, I think this is INTENTIONAL.

It leaves the reader with an important question… Why Would God Leave His Church So Under-Defined from an Organizational Perspective?

The basic answer is simple and complex at the same time. The Ekklessia (aka Church) is a spiritual reality which can have intermittent expression in the physical realm at various points in time that are not easily controllable by men.

He also seems to stress the importance of the direct speaking of the Holy Spirit of God. (versus, "Brother Lee said...")

Another quote:

I thought and prayed about the name of the newsletter and ended up with “Layman’s Fellowship”. This matched my personal identity. I am not a recognized preacher, pastor, missionary or any other type of credentialed believer in God through Jesus Christ. When asked what denomination or type of christian I am, I have derived the following answer: “There are many flavors of ice cream. I am plain vanilla.” I claim no specific religious affiliation. In fact, I have never been an official member of any local congregation my entire life. I am a regular attendee at a local church. They do not require membership as a pre-condition for full involvement. I am a member in THE body of Christ with full standing because of what Jesus Christ did for me and my repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Note the use of "local church", not as precursor (I presume) to extra-local affiliation but rather as a generic (non-specific) description of a local body of believers.

http://laymansfellowship.com/