Blending

[Nell]

The origin of the use of the term might be interesting. Of course, the word "blended" was not used until after Witness Lee's death in 1997 when the big question was "who's in charge"? The answer seemed to be something like "a group of responsible brothers will 'coordinate' leadership." I thought (right or wrong) that being "Scriptural" was secondary. They needed somebody to be in charge, an heir to the throne. The MOTA was dead. There was no "oracle/speaking". What to do?

No problem. Everything he said had been recorded and mostly reduced to print. Of course, this isn't the same as fresh, up-to-date speaking. Fresh, up-to-date is over. We've heard it all.

Think about the problem they faced. For decades they had touted the "up to date speaking from the throne". WLee had "the annointing". Now what? What happens to the "up to date speaking"? Where was "the annointing"? These are two claims that couldn't be passed down to anyone. You either had the "up to date..." or you didn't. You either had "the annointing" (from the throne) or you didn't. When the "Minister of the Age" died, would it not be logical to assume that the "age" was over?

They had to come up with a successor and there was no MOTA.v2

Enter "the blended brothers".

Nell

[leastofthese]

Originally Posted by Nell

Enter "the blended brothers".

Nell

What are the chances that the blendeds fall on their sword and pursue the Lord and His Spirit rather than Witness Lee?

The LSM movement is fruitless and dying - the answer on how to move forward should be obvious. Can we pray that the hearts of these guys can be moved in such a way that the the gospel of Christ can be praised and lived out rather than the words and wishes of a dead man?

[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by leastofthese

What are the chances that the blendeds fall on their sword and pursue the Lord and His Spirit rather than Witness Lee?

The LSM movement is fruitless and dying - the answer on how to move forward should be obvious. Can we pray that the hearts of these guys can be moved in such a way that the the gospel of Christ can be praised and lived out rather than the words and wishes of a dead man?

A resounding YESS!!! Even though I am far removed from the LC/LSM.. I have a soft spot for the brethren I was once connected to. They helped me grow in the Lord and in His Word. Helped me to lean on the Holy Spirit in my spirit.
That was back in the day.. in the mid 70s.

[awareness]

Originally Posted by countmeworthy

A resounding YESS!!! Even though I am far removed from the LC/LSM.. I have a soft spot for the brethren I was once connected to. They helped me grow in the Lord and in His Word. Helped me to lean on the Holy Spirit in my spirit.
That was back in the day.. in the mid 70s.

And I learned about the Tripartite Man :

Check this out at Wiki. Nee and Lee are in a long list of supporters of the tripartite man :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_(theology)

[leastofthese]

Originally Posted by awareness

And I learned about the Tripartite Man :

Check this out at Wiki. Nee and Lee are in a long list of supporters of the tripartite man :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_(theology)

That was my first interaction with “fellowship” at the LSM churches. A fulll time brother repeating his schpeal on tripartite man - doing what a good full timer would do, diagrams and all. I could tell he was frustrated that I wasn’t in awe by the teaching. I’m sure he thought this was a “gem” that only Witness Lee and his group had thought about.

I don’t know if this frustration led him to talk about calling on the Lord or that was just the next chapter in the full time playbook - but he talked about how calling on the Lord while driving put him in a trance like state that produced the sensation that he was flying.

I had already experienced the Lord in my life and knew Him... much different from learning something in an Anaheim meeting room.

[Trapped]

Okay, for example, in "Raising Up the Next Generation for the Church Life", Lee says:

"God has blended the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24).The word blended also means adjusted, harmonized, tempered, and mingled. God has blended the Body, adjusted the Body, harmonized the Body, tempered the Body, and mingled the Body. The Greek word for blended implies the losing of distinctions. One brother's distinction may be quickness, and another's may be slowness. But in the Body life the slowness disappears and the quickness is taken away. All such distinctions are gone."

So here he claims the Greek word implies the losing of distinctions. How is it possible for someone who doesn't know Greek to know if that is true or if Lee is just saying whatever he wants to say?

[Evangelical]

Originally Posted by Trapped

Okay, for example, in "Raising Up the Next Generation for the Church Life", Lee says:

"God has blended the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24).The word blended also means adjusted, harmonized, tempered, and mingled. God has blended the Body, adjusted the Body, harmonized the Body, tempered the Body, and mingled the Body. The Greek word for blended implies the losing of distinctions. One brother's distinction may be quickness, and another's may be slowness. But in the Body life the slowness disappears and the quickness is taken away. All such distinctions are gone."

So here he claims the Greek word implies the losing of distinctions. How is it possible for someone who doesn't know Greek to know if that is true or if Lee is just saying whatever he wants to say?

The word blended and Lee's description seems accurate to me:

Gill's commentary says:

but God hath tempered the body together; he hath composed it in such a forth, constituted it in such an order, mixed and united all its parts in such a manner, as that they are all beneficial to each other

The NET bible says:

"but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member,"

https://biblehub.com/lexicon/1_corinthians/12-24.htm

That blending leads to loss of distinctions is just common sense. If you blend anything together the components lose their individual distinctiveness. Rich or poor, English speaking or Chinese, when everyone comes together in Christ and speaks Christ, the differences in wealth or language of individuals becomes less distinctive.

As a related side note - Lee's use of the terms blended or mingled were not introduced by him - many references to these terms can be found in Christianity, so it is not that Lee invented anything new, but that Christianity in general is in ignorance of what is written in their own theological literature.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Trapped

Okay, for example, in "Raising Up the Next Generation for the Church Life", Lee says:

"God has blended the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24).The word blended also means adjusted, harmonized, tempered, and mingled. God has blended the Body, adjusted the Body, harmonized the Body, tempered the Body, and mingled the Body. The Greek word for blended implies the losing of distinctions. One brother's distinction may be quickness, and another's may be slowness. But in the Body life the slowness disappears and the quickness is taken away. All such distinctions are gone."

So here he claims the Greek word implies the losing of distinctions. How is it possible for someone who doesn't know Greek to know if that is true or if Lee is just saying whatever he wants to say?

Obviously W. Lee was not doing a word study here, but when ministering in the church, much leeway should be afforded to him.

That being said, if God made both brothers, and placed both in the body, then both should be a blessing. There should not be some "ideal speed" that all the brothers strive for. But why should all such "speed distinctions" need to be all gone? Shall the hands say to the feet, "why do you walk so fast?"

It takes a longer period of time to ascertain Lee's real intentions for "blending." Why must all my distinctions be eliminated? Why are all distinctions bad except for those in charge at LSM? Why are all LC distinctions bad?

[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by awareness

And I learned about the Tripartite Man :

Check this out at Wiki. Nee and Lee are in a long list of supporters of the tripartite man :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_(theology)

I am not bothered by the doctrine of the tripartite man. It is biblical. Many believers understand this doctrine..not fully.. and I have never heard it explained in depth as I did when I was in the LC in the 70s.

I pray all the time for the LORD to renew my MIND! Romans 12:2 My mind tends to go into la la land, land of the world.. not the land filled with milk and honey.

Sometimes I feel far away from the Lord and thus I pray Psalm 51:10

I once heard a bible teacher not affiliated with Nee or Lee or the LC/LSM describe the tripartite man this way: I am a spirit. I have a soul and I live in a body.

You may not agree with it..or like it. That's ok. As I have stated many a time, not everything taught in the LC especially in the 70s was baaaad. I had a great teacher/mentor in John Smith who is now absent from the body and present with the LORD.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Nell

The origin of the use of the term might be interesting. Of course, the word "blended" was not used until after Witness Lee's death in 1997 when the big question was "who's in charge"?

Really?

I heard about blending and blended brothers much earlier while Lee was still alive.

[Nell]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Really?

I heard about blending and blended brothers much earlier while Lee was still alive.

I don’t recall an “official” leadership group until after he was gone, and they wouldn’t be specific about who was a member of the group. That could be just me.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Nell

I don’t recall an “official” leadership group until after he was gone, and they wouldn’t be specific about who was a member of the group. That could be just me.

The official leadership group needed public declarations from Lee himself while he was yet alive, else they were all vain.

[Nell]

Originally Posted by Ohio

The official leadership group needed public declarations from Lee himself while he was yet alive, else they were all vain.

I guess he sprinkled his holy water before he died.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Nell

I don’t recall an “official” leadership group until after he was gone, and they wouldn’t be specific about who was a member of the group. That could be just me.

You are correct about the identities of the official "Blended" membership club. We in the Midwest tried to find out who was in the club, and more specifically, if Titus Chu was a chartered member or not. Apparently he was not.