Deputy Authority and the Ground of Oneness

[Indiana]

Originally Posted by aron

WL, TC, and DYL would all seem to be "the least of all saints" when this picture was useful for selling the product. But all 3 of them could be, and were, imperious and inflexible when dealing with underlings, especially in private. Then the appearance of humility wasn't necessary, and the real person came out. Indiana's post showing the experience of the Raleigh elders' visit to WL is a good example. We saw this repeatedly: publicly it was, "I'm nobody; just a little gospel preacher and Bible expositor", and "Who have I controlled - who?", while privately it was, "My way, or the highway", and "Take it or leave it". No discussion, no willingness to listen, learn, consider and adjust. Certainly no repentance!! Absolutely unthinkable.

No Hint of Control?

On page 33 of Fermentation, Brother Lee asks, Where is the hint, even a little hint, that Witness Lee or Philip Lee or anyone of my office in the past did something to exercise their power over any church?”

At the time Brother Lee asked this question in The Fermentation of the Present Rebellion numerous reports had come to him from all over the world that were more than mere hints of control. He knew the stories of LSM control beginning with complaints from Hong Kong in 1985. Then, Stuttgart in 1986; Rosemead 1986; the Southeast 1987; England 1987; Anaheim 1988, to name notable examples. He also knew that a sister who worked at LSM wanted to give him a comprehensive report on “hints of control”, but he wouldn’t listen to her 11-page report (Appendices 1, 3).

He also didn’t listen to John So, Bill Mallon, John Ingalls, or Joseph Fung about LSM domination, usurpation, and control in their localities and region. His support, overtly or covertly, was with his son and LSM’s aggressions and manipulations for accomplishing his goals. The four brothers mentioned, coincidently, were the same four brothers who were later quarantined, essentially for reacting to the control of LSM in their localities and beyond.

The dismissal of complaints of interferences and control by LSM are common in The Fermentation of the Present Rebellion, Brother Lee consistently choosing to look past reports and act as if they didn’t exist. It seems Brother Lee could never call the interferences for what they were, acts of control to set up LSM “in business” around the recovery, saying on page 31 in FPR, “We only knew to help and to do everything to expedite the Lord’s recovery in so many countries and to help the churches. That is all we knew.”

What prominent elders and the LSM sister referred to as interferences and violations of the oneness in the Body and the bypassing of fellowship with elders, Brother Lee described as expediting the Lord’s recovery. The control was to such an extent that Brother Lee was forced to speak to the problem in an international elders’ training (ET, Book 9, pp 61-63), saying, “Our going on should be according to what we have seen from the Word. There should not be any control, and the leadership is not in one controlling person.” He added, “I do not control; and the Living Stream office would not control”. Using the words “would not control” means that they certainly did control, but he did not expound on that, saying only, “mistakes may have been made in the past”, which he also didn’t explain, or atone for.

But testimonies do explain and answer the inane question, “Where is the hint, even a little hint, that Witness Lee or Philip Lee or anyone of my office in the past did something to exercise their power over any church?”

Of course, Bill Mallon enumerated the incidences of manipulation and control by Living Stream in his letter to Witness Lee. John So did the same in his Manila report. David Wang gave his full report of LSM control in Rosemead. And, John Ingalls relates the events and concerns in Southern California during the tandem leadership era of Witness Lee and Philip Lee. There were many other people and places who could give reports on “hints of control”.

One matter that the LSM sister must have tried to relate to Brother Lee was that the LSM office, i. e., Philip Lee, cut off the supply of literature to churches that offended him in some way, and their elders were forced to come to him and apologize. Representative examples of this follow.

Eugene, OR “There was a time when the church in Eugene Oregon was cut off from receiving life studies at all because we returned some that went unpurchased by saints. LSM would send up enough life studies for all in attendance and expected all to purchase, which not all did… It was resolved by the elder recruiting skilled brothers to write letters of praise and even a new hymn to Witness Lee, and it worked.” - Kirk

Flagstaff, AZ Elders were stunned when literature stopped being sent to the church in Flagstaff due to the Chinese-speaking side having a surplus of unsold life-studies that the bookroom returned. The whole church was punished as a result, and many saints were demoralized by the act. (former elder, asked not to be identified)

If a brother was thought to be in rivalry with LSM, even in some small way, he was dealt with and must apologize. In the following example, a prominent elder in the recovery was forced to kow tow to Philip Lee.

Bill Mallon

"In 1985, after the training, I felt to type out the notes I took. I sent them to several brothers to share with them the fellowship of the Spirit, one of which was located in London. (Barbara and I during the winter of early '85 were graciously hosted by one couple in the London area, so I sent them my notes as a gesture of my appreciation.) Philip Lee claimed he consulted with WL and that I should never have done it. He reprimanded me, implying it was in rivalry with their printing department, and said these notes should never be sent before the book was published. He demanded that I retrieve all notes sent, and that I come to Anaheim and apologize to him. I went to Anaheim and apologized, stating that it was totally unintentional. He fell asleep in front of me, and I had to wait for him to wake up." (email, Dec 2006)

These matters of control and many other stories like them were reported to Brother Lee, but he had no ear to hear and no heart to know. Brother Lee said, “We only knew to help and to do everything to expedite the Lord’s recovery in so many countries and to help the churches. That is all we knew.” - Yet, that was not all he knew. Such dupery as this prevails in The Fermentation of the Present Rebellion from seemingly godly men in their case to quarantine fellow co-workers in the Lord’s recovery. (From Deviating from the Path, S. I.)

“Some transmute the basis of the oneness of the believers by the assertion of their own authority - to the point where the actual ground of oneness becomes acceptance of and obedience to their authority”. (DCP)