Originally Posted by Indiana
Stephen Kaung’s fellowship is rare and insightful, (on other thread), but he had a background, a church environment in China to strongly put him on this track of avoiding over –spirituality, or false spirituality, to where the human being is lessened in the process. He actually encouraged to seek to be human to counter the tendency of aiming at spirituality. (This needs to be understood in the right way, but I feel that due to my experience, I understand him to a degree and need more understanding.)
Because of Lily Hsu’s book we can see what he had to deal with in China, with both Nee and Lee as they went through changes that would effect the Body of Christ in the “local churches” to this day, including the record of questionable non-human behavior and views of the blending brothers, who hold sway over the churches today. (I could explain best by giving my example, or have my former wife of 17 years tell you what it was like to be married to “an angelic husband”, lacking normal human behavior. Or hearing from the wife of Ron Kangas validate Stephen's word. In Seattle not all of the wives of the elders meet in the church. They could help confirm Stephen's fellowship also.)
I have been meeting with a Kaung associated assembly in Seattle since January and because I am in the environment and notice the behavior and attitude of leading ones and others, I, for the first time, realize what Kaung saw, and Sparks, that there is no need to call ourselves, or our ministering ones, anything that would be distinctive.
No matter what, if you are calling yourselves the church in Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles, you are being distinctive from others in each city; and, collectively, the churches as a body have a distinction, especially when using such expressions as the Body coming together for 7 conferences or feasts a year. The term, THE LORD’S RECOVERY now looks different to me. Why call yourselves anything that would lift you up over others and thereby give impressions that you are superior? This is unnecessarily disturbing to the Body of Christ and it is insensitive behavior to its members, unless “we” really do want to be distinctive and special, as a ministerial church.
Further, to lift up as if with signs and banners THE minister of the age and THE ministry of the age is to be intoxicated with the same. It is creating more separation, as the churches rise higher and higher and further and further away from the Body and its members of which there are far more in a city than the names of those who appear on “local church” phone lists. Why not consider the New Testament way of lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ alone, who is our Head and leader in flocks of God with shepherds joined to Him for the building up of His Body in every place.
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