[OBW]

I would suggest that upon further analysis, even some of Nee's earlier writings are as suspect as his later ones. The fact that so many of the groups that spawned off of his teachings either cannot outlive their direct leader (for example, Steven Kwang (probably spelled that wrong)) or they have become highly exclusivist and more sectarian than any of the groups they claimed to be improving upon.

Nee's teachings on the church were subjective, at best. He was probably under some influence to come up with a truly indigenous Chinese Christian group that did not answer to anyone outside the country's borders. And his history indicates that he went from new Christian to prolific writer between late high school and mid-college. Where is the maturity and wisdom? Yet he was being followed before he was hardly out of school.

But these are potentially ad hominem complaints. Take a closer look at so much of what he wrote and see how much is not actually from the scripture, but from the layering of external examples over scripture. Of assuming that something should be true and declaring that it therefore is. The ground of the church, if it exists, is the most deeply buried "truth" to have taken almost 2,000 years to be discovered. Note that virtually all real truth in scripture is not new. Finding it for myself and applying it is new to me. But when you ask around, it has always been there and been true. When someone suddenly finds "truth" that no one has seen before (as Nee declared to be true in his first real book, The Spiritual Man) be suspicious.

I am not saying that God cannot speak to man in this way in this time. But it is fairly likely that he generally does not. That the truth we need to know has always been there. It has not been hiding for 19 centuries to be "recovered" by anyone.

Beyond that, are the local churches wrong? That is a contentious subject. Many of us even have different thoughts on different days. It is possible that in another generation or two, the so-called local churches will just be another small sect like the Nazarenes, Mennonites, or the followers of Herbert W. Armstrong. Marginal with a side of questionable theology.