Witness Lee's movement part 1

[countmeworthy]

On the Positive Side

As much as some would find the Recovery's doctrine to be significantly heretical, I find much of their deviations to be not atypical of many evangelical churches today. The best thing about the local church is its ecclesiastical structure, which allows someone like myself to minister more freely despite me being an outsider, while in other evangelical churches, which go by a lecture format and limit the congregation's interaction, I would be more suppressed in carrying out ministry.

I have been quite frank about by disagreement with the position of the Recovery on issues as I have mentioned, and even in the open assembly have at times stood up and made my disagreements known, but have so far experienced only a limited degree of hostility against me. I compare this with my experience at more orthodox churches. For even when I was an official Sunday school teacher at such churches and made my disagreements concerning the pastor's teaching or the church's practice known, I was greeted with much more hostility than I was as a stranger at the local church. That says something.

But as I'm on the subject, I must exhort the more bold among us to also be polite if they go to such meetings. For we should behave in a Christlike manner looking towards the edification of others, sharing not only what we disagree on when the time is appropriate, but also what we agree on, as the Spirit leads.

If the local church humbly allows its leaven to be removed, then I think it could indeed become a great movement of God. For most other churches ministry is limited to their leadership while the congregation are treated like stupid sheep, but the local church tends hold a deeper vision for the usefulness of the individuals, which I commend.

Furthermore, if its own anti-dogmatic stand ("that we may forsake all of those teachings, regardless of whether they are right or wrong" Witness Lee) could be applied to Lee and Nee's teachings themselves as it is applied to non-local church teachings, viewing them simply as their opinions rather than Biblical truth, then local church people might be more open to consider more Biblical interpretations without simply viewing them through the local church theological filter. And thus they may be more open to change than the more dogmatic orthodox churches, which are nonetheless deviant themselves on certain points.