12.04.07

Article on the Local Church, Pt. 1

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:00 pm by Perry

I am preparing a multi-part article to raise awarness of the unorthodox teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and by extension the Local Church. The first post will be an intoduction and preface to the article followed by two three-part investigations into curious doctrines of the Local Church.

Deviations from Biblical Orthodoxy:

Concern Over the Teachings of the Local Church

Preface:

I was first introduced to the Local Church as a student in college. I had recently gotten involved with Campus Crusade for Christ when I learned about began to hear about another student organization on campus that many people warned me about. I eventually learned that the organization was a branch of the Local Church. As I became more familiar with their teachings and activities I began to become concerned about both what they teach.

After extensive reading, I have come to the conclusion that the Local Church qualifies as a cult of Christianity. This means that the organization claims to be under the banner of biblical orthodoxy but intentionally distorts essential truths revealed in the Bible. I have had the opportunity to speak with both leaders and members of the Local Church and have been convicted of the need to provide a concise outline of the deviations from biblical orthodoxy found in the teachings of the Local Church.

This brief article assumes a basic background understanding of Biblical doctrine. As such, it will present areas where the Local Church deviates from Biblical truths without providing the counter-argument for Biblical truth. Where appropriate, resources will be suggested for a Biblical argument for the truth behind the deviations from orthodoxy that will be presented or a few verses will be cited to suggest the error in their teaching.

Note: The intention of this article is not about maliciously attacking the teachings or members of the Local Church or its founders Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. Instead, the intention is to shed light on their errors where appropriate in a loving manner to lead people to the truth of the Bible that they may rejoice in the truth of God’s perfect revelation.

Introduction and Background:

The Local Church is a group that goes by many names. Most commonly called the Local Church, they are also referred to as the Little Flock, the Lord’s Recovery and on college campuses they go by Life and Truth and/or Christians on Campus. The Local Church has an affliated publishing company called Living Streams Ministry that publishes their own translation of the Bible called the Recovery Version and the writing of Witness Lee. Ironically, members of the Local Church deny affiliation with any of these names. Members suggest that they are simply members of God’s universal church and that to apply a name to them is unbiblical. Instead, each congregation calls itself by the name of the city in which it is stationed claiming that they are following the Old Testament model [1]. For simplicity sake though they will be spoken of as the Local Church.

The Local Church was founded by Watchman Nee whose Chinese birth name is Ni Shutsu. Nee started the organization in China which eventually spread East and into the United States and Canada through the influence of his successor, Witness Lee, in the 1950s and 1960s, respectively. Nee was heavily influenced by the Plymouth Brethren Church that was founded by John Nelson Darby. This influence gave rise to Nee’s strong criticism of denominations as an unnecessary division of the Church. The Local Church was founded and continues to expand claiming itself to be the “Lord’s Recovery” that will re-unify the Church in the Old Testament model of single congregations in a locality [1].

The teaching of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee are foundational to the Local Church. While members of the Local Church cite the Bible as their ultimate authority, they often pray and read exclusively the commentary of Witness Lee. Many apologetic organizations have raised red flags over the years regarding the teachings of primarily Witness Lee. Unfortunately, many Christians remain uninformed about this organization and are deceived because the Local Church has a tradition of multiple litigations and suing anyone who speaks against their teachings. This has resulted in a fear to raise awareness of their deviations of Biblical orthodoxy.

The goal of this article is to raise awareness about issues that go unspoken out of fear and to bring to light the darkness in this ministry. As such, this article will discuss six issues of doctrinal confusion including (1) the nature as God as triune, (2) baptismal regeneration, (3) divine mingling (4) easy believism, (5) their attitude toward other Churches and (6) purgatory. The ultimate goal is to liberate honest, sincere adherents to such teachings to the truth of Scripture. May the Lord bless this endeavor so that He is honored and the truth of His revelation in upheld, AMEN!

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