By: Bahram Khozairy

- Introduction

Among the un-orthodox, heretical and aberrational groups, none is more theologically intricate and experientially blunt than the Witness Lee and the Local Church (henceforth WLLC). Though there have come across the horizon of Christianity, groups that have deviated, some slightly and some greatly from the Orthodox Christian Theology, there are groups that border lines between aberrational and heretical doctrines and at times tip toe into the Kingdom of cults. WLLC is a great example of one with a heretical & heterodox theology and practices, yet at times slide right pass into the cultic domain. In this article, we are going to examine the teaching and practices of WLLC and as how they differentiate from the Orthodox Christian Theology (OCT) and what pitfalls Christians should watch out for when considering this movement.

Introduction

The Root

Unorthodox Theology

Aberrational Practices

Personal Experience

Conclusion

Footnotes

- The Root

Witness Lee is the founder of the movement or church known as The Local Church.

Lee Changshou better known as Witness Lee was born in a Christian family in 1905 in China and passed away in 1997 at the age of 97 in Anaheim California. He was a disciple of Watchman Nee or Ni Tuosheng. Watchman Nee’s theology was quite orthodox and Lord blessed his ministry in China. In a true sense, the founding of the Local Churches in China can be attributed to Watchman Nee, particularly in Fuzhou capital city of Fujian providence in China. However, Nee’s definition of a local church was quite different than that of Witness Lee. We should also mention that Nee’s theology was heavily borrowed from Plymouth Brethren, such as John N Darby and C. H. Makinsosh, which had a major impact on Witness Lee’s view and practices of Christianity. However, Witness Lee drifted from those orthodox and normative Christian theology and practices and developed his own unorthodox brand of Theology and methods. In a true sense, he himself became the “cult figure” center of his Local Church.

His brand of The Local Church (TLC) expanded to Taiwan starting in 1945, Europe in 1958 and in Southern California starting 1962. The head-quarter of his Living Stream Ministry and TLC is still in Anaheim California, with multiplying heavily various TLC around its neighboring city and expanding throughout California and other parts of the world.

Although since its inception (as much as we can discern), Lee never made a straight forward claim that the Local Church is just another denomination, nevertheless, it has become a worldwide sect.

Denomination in the context of Christianity is a recognized branch of the Christian Church; one that adheres to ALL the Essential Doctrines of Christian Faith, though they may differ in some of the non-essential or peripheral practices and doctrines. However, WLLC is a movement that cannot be considered a branch or denomination of the Christian Church, due to their many right down heretical and aberrational theology and practices, as we shall see later. It is a movement that has their unique theology, unique practices, unique mission and even their own unique Bible, called The Recovery Version! They are also known by other titles, such as The Recovery Church (TRC) or Living Stream Ministry (LSM).

- Unorthodox Theology

Here, we will only examine some of the theology of Witness Lee and compare them to the orthodox Christian Theology.

Trinity – Nature of our God

When it comes to the doctrine of the holy Trinity, at face value, it may seem that Witness Lee accepts the orthodox definition. However, further study shows completely otherwise.

Here is the Christian definition of Trinity:

“Within the nature of one Eternal God, there simultaneously exist, Three Persons, The Father, The Son & The Holy Spirit”

Here is how Witness Lee defines and explains The Trinity:

“Thus, the three Persons of the Trinity become the three successive steps in the process of God’s economy.”¹

“Likewise, the Father, Son, and Spirit are not three Gods, but three stages of one God for us to possess and enjoy.”²

“The Father was pleased to combine His own divinity with humanity in the Son.”³

“After death and resurrection He (the Son) became the Spirit breathed into the disciples.”⁴

“… the Son became the Spirit for us to drink in as the water of life…”⁵

“The Father, as the exhaustible source of everything, is embodied in the Son.”⁶

“In the place where no man can approach Him (1 Tim 6:16), God is the Father. When He comes forth to manifest Himself, He is the Son. …we know the Lord is the Son and that he is also called the Father … Now we read that He is the Spirit. So we must be clear that Christ the Lord is the Spirit, too. As the source, God is the Father. As the expression, He is the Son. As the transmission, He is the Spirit. The Father is the source, the Son is the expression, and the Spirit is the transmission, the communion. This is the triune God.”⁷

WLLC confuse the Being and Persons of the Godhead, as well as Nature and Positions of the Persons of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Secondly, from the quotes above, WLLC introduce the heresy of co-joining Christ’s Humanity and Deity; another word the Mingling heresy is now introduced, as we shall see further in the quotes below.

According to Witness Lee, the 4^th stage of succession of Trinity has now expanded into the church… meaning, the Church is now part of the Trinity:

“The Church – The Manifestation of God in the Flesh… This Church is the continuation and multiplication of God manifest in the flesh… We are then the increase, the enlargement, of the manifestation of God in the flesh. God manifests Himself again in the flesh, but in a wider way… In other words, God is mingled with human beings, not in an outward way, but in an inward way. The Church is the manifestation of God not the manifestation of doctrines or gifts.”⁸

“This Christ has expanded from one Person to thousands and thousands of persons. He was once the individual Christ, but in Acts He has become a corporate Christ”⁹

Regarding the Church and Christ Lee writes:

“In number we are different, but in nature we are exactly the same”¹⁰

“The Father is in the Son, the Son is in the Sprit, and the Spirit is now in the Body. They are now four in one: the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the Body”¹¹

“with the Incarnation a dispensation began in which God and man, man and God were blended into one”.¹²

“The first creation, though brought into being by God Himself, is by God Himself suffered to pass into death that it may emerge in resurrection as a creation of dual nature. i.e. combing the natures of God and man.”¹³

“The resurrection followed the crucifixion. The resurrection recovered and uplifted the standard of humanity created by God and brought the human nature into God. By incarnating the divine nature was brought into man; by resurrection the human nature was brought into God. Now it is possible for man to have more than a created human nature … God mingled with man and man mingled with God… God in His three Persons mingles Himself with us.”¹⁴

“Then the day will come when the Triune God and the resurrected man will be one expression…”¹⁵

Response

· 1^st Heresy

The Witness Lee’s Mingling heresy, historically known as Moniphysitism (The Single nature of Christ, Deity and Humanity mingled as one), was a position that was bluntly addressed and condemned by the counsel of Chalcedon in 451AD and correctly opposed and wiped out with a position known as Miaphysitism (The Dual nature of Christ, Deity and Humanity of Christ as two nature, un-mingled). Defined in a simple sense, as Christians, we uphold the position that Christ had two natures, 100% Deity and 100% Humanity, un-fused, un-mingled, working in perfect harmony. Christ Humanity and Deity was never mingled or co-joined. In many passages throughout the New Testament, we see the harmony of the two Natures, but never the fusion or co-joining:

John 1:1-4

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”

Philippians 2:5-8

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

· 2^nd Heresy

He asserts that each Person of the Trinity are actually each other. Not that they only share the same nature, but he maintains that The Father becomes the Son and The Son becomes the Holy Spirit. Beyond changing modes, is the belief of changing the actual Persons of the Godhead. In a nutshell, Lee does not believe in the eternal distinction of the Persons of the Godhead. Instead, he causes separation by creating modes within the Persons of the Godhead.

· Who went to the cross? Not the Holy Spirit and not the Father, but the Son (Philippians 2:8, Luke 22:42).

· Who was sent by the Father and The Son? Not the Father, Not the Son, but The Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17, John 15:26).

· Who spoke to Christ during the Transfiguration? Not the Holy Spirit, nor the Son, but the Father (Matthew 17:5).

It is obvious that each Persons of the Trinity are NOT each other’s Person, though they are one Being (God) and share the Same Nature (Essence).

This blunt mistake is based on the historical modalistic doctrine, more so the monarchiastic modalistim, a heresy promoted by Sebelius in the 3^rd century AD and condemned by the early church fathers such as Tertullian and others, as well as in the Athanasian Creed.

Monarchiastic Modalism doctrine maintains that God changes through succession, or modes. First He is the Father, then He becomes the Son, and finally He became the Holy Spirit, implying that God changes through modes. Changing Modes within the Godhead, as opposed to the classical definition and description of Trinity, as I discussed in detail in the article Trinity is the Modalistic heresy. However, Witness Lee’s heresy expands beyond the Modalism.

Malachi 3:6

“For I, the Lord, do not change;”

As I so often point out that error and faulty doctrine regarding the nature of God, namely the Trinity, will ALWAYS lead to other errors and heresy.

· 3^rd Heresy

According to Witness Lee, the 4^th stage of succession (or mode) of Trinity, has now expanded into the church… meaning, the Church is now part of the Trinity. Once again, we read:

This Christ has expanded from one Person to thousands and thousands of persons. He was once the individual Christ, but in Acts He has become a corporate Christ”⁹

This clearly asserts that church has now become God. Lee’s blasphemous teaching of a “corporate Christ” undermines who Messiah really is and what His purpose for coming to earth was. Corrupting the identity of Christ and the Persons of the Godhead, their positions and role is at the heart of Witness Lee and the Local Church’s teaching. No wonder why they accept the Divinity of the Church. When Church, according to Lee is now God, it can only mean that the members of the Local Church are all miniature Christ, or Little Gods. This is more or less the same heretical doctrine of the Positive Confession or Health and Wealth cults. Lee goes further than the Health and Wealth cult movement, by declaring that God is increasing, as the number of the Local Church members increase. Another word, God has not only changed and fused His Divinity into human being but is now increasing in numbers; God is getting bigger!

Infinite, Transcendent God fusing His eternal infinite Nature to the corrupt and finite man, would only mean the annihilation and disintegration of the human flesh at an instant. God is infinite; man is finite, the fusion or mingling of the two natures is eternally impossible, and demonstrably insane.

Even Moses, as close to the Lord in terms of relationship as he was, could not behold the face of the Lord in Mount Sinai.

Exodus 33:20

But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”

And the Apostle John declared,

John 1:18

“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Of course, Christ was and is fully Deity and people at that time saw Him, touched Him and lived with Him. However, John 1:18 is referring to the totality of God, the total Being of God and not just the Person of the Son within Trinity.

One may ask: is it possible for a group of people that call themselves Christians, actually believe in such doctrines? The answer is unfortunately, yes. And by accepting such doctrines, Witness Lee and the Local Church are in affect rejecting the True God, which is The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. (1 John 2:23)

Note: The doctrine of Trinity has been covered in depth in our article: Trinity

The Church - Localism

As we noted earlier, in context, a denomination is an acceptable branch of the Christian Church, which adheres to the true essence and doctrines of Christian Faith. We consider any denomination, evangelical non-denomination church in that category. Basically, any part of the body of Christ as it is represented by the true born-again believers is considered a branch; with Christ being the Head.

However, WLLC has a very anti main stream denomination attitude and point of view. Their entire emphasis on localism is geared toward isolation and segregation. WLLC maintains that their church, meaning The Local Church is the only true church ordained by God that represents the true Gospel in teaching and in practice. According to WLLC, all other churches outside their church are false teachers and anyone attend those churches are lost and not considered Christian.

WLLC

“If you get into anything other than the local church of the city, you get into a division; if you get into the church of that city, you get into unity.”¹⁸

“Satan has taken another step by creating all the sects, denominations and division in the Body of Christ… God is moving in these days to recover. What is the way of His recovery? … the recovery of the proper unity. Not until these three things are recovered among us will we have a proper adequate church life.”¹⁹

According to Lee, the entire Protestant churches are the tools and organization of Satan:

“Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as Judaism, all fall into this category, becoming an organization of Satan as his tool to damage God’s economy.”²⁰

It is very clear that Lee does not believe in the Protestant churches, nor does WLLC see itself as one. Their condemnation of the entire body of Christ and their anti-protestant and reformation rhetoric is quite clear in the WLLC teachings and even in their name: The Local Church; The Local church of Anaheim, The Local Church of Sunnyvale, The Local Church of … The title Local Church in the context of Witness Lee represents exclusivity, claiming that The Local Church of that particular city is The Only True Church that exists today.

Response

Not only the divisiveness is condemned by the Word of God, but so are exclusivity and localism and their claim by any one group or body within the Christ’s body.

Since the beginning of the birth of Christ’s church, there were numerous churches spread across the world, as we see even in the writings of Paul and Peter. Diversity of the churches was and is the strength of the body of Christ in-order to fulfill the great commission (Matthew 28:19).

Romans 16:1-5

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well. Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; also greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.”

Galatians 1:2

“and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:”

Galatians 1:22

“I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ;”

1 Corinthians 16:1

“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.”

Romans 16:4

“who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;”

1 Corinthians 16:19

“The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their

house.”

2 Corinthians 8:1

“Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of

Macedonia,”

1 Thessalonians 2:14

“For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the

same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews,”

Revelation 1:4

“John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to

come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne”

There is no double that God loves unity, particularly among His people. As people of God, we are all diverse and as such, our subjective ways may differ from one to another; based on our culture, language, upbringing, personality, etc. However, all our subjectivity (peripheral doctrines that are non-essential) must be within the domain of objectivity (essential doctrines, those that are the parameter and identification of the body of Christ and Christian theology). We are not at liberty to call anyone that is not part of our so-called immediate church, non-Christian or lost, if they are part of another body of Christ and if they are true born-again Christians. This is exactly what is being promulgated by the kingdom of the cults, such as Jehovah Witnesses, Unification Church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), etc. And this is exactly what Witness Lee and his Local Church preach and teach. It is a damnable belief system derived from extreme egotism and isolation.

1 Corinthians 1:10

Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions

among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Salvation – The Local Church’s Style

How does one come to salvation according to the Local Church’s doctrine?

This is Lee teaching in this regard:

“We have seen that to reach the unbelievers, no preaching is necessary. If we help them say “O Lord” three times, they will be saved. Even if they have no intention of believing, still they will be caught! Regardless of whether they have the intention or not, as long as they open the window, the air will get in. It is not a matter of teaching; it is a matter of touching the seven Spirits of God”.²¹

Response

So, according to Lee, no preaching is necessary for people to hear the word of God… only repeating the phrase “O Lord, O Lord, O Lord” will help people get saved! Another word, defying and denying the clear teaching of the scripture, where we are told by the Apostle Paul, who refutes Witness Lee and the Local Church’s flatly:

Romans 10:14

“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not

heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”

And The Way of salvation according to the scriptures are:

Romans 10:9

“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you

will be saved;”

Lord Jesus told us to avoid repetitious phrases, statements and words during prayers:

Matthew 6:7

“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be

heard for their many words.”

Why, because we are praying to a Living Personal God. We never talk to our love ones and those that we have a relationship that way, much less to our Personal Creator that hears and sees everything we say and do. Repeating phrases and mantra during prayer is nothing but an affront to God. God takes an extremely dim view of this type of communication and behavior.

Nature of Sin and Satan

When it comes to Sin and Satan, Witness Lee has an extremely dangerous doctrine and teaching.

According to Lee, Satan entered Adam when he sinned:

“The significance of Adam taking the fruit of the tree of knowledge was that he received Satan into himself… Satan grew in Adam and became a part of him”²²

Lee asserts that before the fall, our body was not flesh, but was something else:

“Man’s body as originally created by God was something very good, but it has now become the flesh. The body was pure, since it was created good, but when the body was corrupted by Satan, it became flesh.”²³

Lee then goes on to teach that man’s body is now the temple or residence of Satan:

“The body simply became the residence of Sin, which is the embodiment of Satan. This corrupted, transmuted body is called the “body of sin”, and the “body of death”, because this body became the very residence of Satan.”²⁴

Sin according to Lee is very much identified or unified with Satan and therefore, when he teaches that man is sinning, he is really teaching that Satan is in the flesh of men doing the sinning through man.

Lee’s view of flesh therefore takes the shape of Satan’s temple, and that comes from his doctrine of mingling, mentioned during the section of Trinity:

“It was God’s intention for this neutral, innocent man to take God into himself, that God and man, man and God, would be mingled together as one.”²⁵

And since Adam fell, Lee asserts that Satan now is mingled with man:

“Since Satan and man became one through the second tree, Satan is no longer outside of man, but in man. Christ is the embodiment of God, but sin is the embodiment of Satan. Through the fall, Satan came into man as Sin, and is ruling, damaging, corrupting and mastering him. In what part? Satan is in the members of man’s body.”²⁶

Response

Holy Scriptures flatly refutes this dangerous teaching by identifying and describing Satan, Sin, human Flesh, as well as the exact sequence of events of the fall of humanity through Adam.

There is enough residual evil in the nature of human that can easily cause man to sin. In reality, we don’t need Satan to tempt us to sin. When humans sin, they sin because of their own fallen nature:

James 1:14

“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

Of course, Satan the great adversary, the enemy of the soul and one that has opposed God since his fall from heaven as Lucifer, is always seeking to tempt, destroy and disarm the Christians and the world. However, for the most part, he does all his bidding and demonic activities from outside and not within the human flesh:

1 Peter 5:8

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking

someone to devour.”

Satan or the devil, the adversary is a personal being, which is a fallen angel (Acts 5:3, Romans 16:20, Revelations 20:10, Job 1:6).

Isaiah 14:12

“How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!

As Christians, we are advised:

James 4:7

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Nowhere in the Scriptures declares that Satan mingled with Adam or any other human being for that matter! And the reality is that only a minute fraction of the human being (non-believers only) go under demonic possessions. Even then, Satan is powerless against a spirit filled Christian, which can be cast out or exorcised through the Power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ Name and in His Authority (Matthew 10:1).

Sin, according to the Scriptures, is an integral part of the human nature, which befell upon us as a result of the fall. All humanity is under the curse since the fall of Adam (Genesis 3:17-19)

1 John 1:8-10

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

Romans 3:23

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 3:9

“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin”

As Christians, we can overcome sin, day to day and moment by moment, through the power of God the Holy Spirit, because the Lord Jesus Christ has defeated and crushed Satan and Sin on the cross.

1 Corinthians 15:56-57

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 John 1:9

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. “

1John 3:8-9

“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

Note: there is a difference between practicing sin, which is a continuous habitual action, vs. committing sin, which is an individual action. As Christians, we all sin. But, here the Scripture differentiates between practicing sin as a habitual way of life (living continuously in sin or sinful life style) vs. individual action of sin (which every Christian commit daily) (1 John 1:8-10 & 1 John 3:9).

Human Flesh is not evil. And certainly, Satan can never possess the Christians body, because body of a true born-again Christian is the dwelling temple of the God the Holy Spirit:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.”

1 Corinthian 6:14-16

“…what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

- Aberrational Practices

The Local Church of Witness Lee has many unorthodox and strange practices; totally foreign to the New Testament theology. Majority if not all of their practices by and large are experience oriented; subjective experience by the individual members.

The Bible

The Bible is Not the central teaching and study tool for the Local Church and its members. Even though Witness Lee has his own Recovery version of the Bible, Witness Lee’s writings and notes are the main theme for all their gathering. During their gatherings they recite Lee’s notes exclusively instead of the Bible. In a sense, Witness Lee is anti-theological study and anti-doctrinal teaching.

Ironically Lee teaches volumes and volumes of his own unorthodox doctrines across all the local churches, and yet he contradicts such practice by mentioning:

“Doctrine only works division among the Lord’s children”²⁷

And

“As long as (Jesus) is with us, we need no regulations, no rituals, no doctrines or forms. Do you come to the meetings for teaching or for leaning? We must come to the meetings for feasting.”²⁸

Prayer Reading

Lee writes:

“there is no need for us to close our eyes to pray. It is better for us to close our mind! We must realize that this is a book of life, not a book of knowledge.”²⁹

“Simply pick up the Word and pray-read a few verses in the morning and in the evening. There is no need for you to exercise your mind in order to squeeze out some utterance, and it is unnecessary to think over what you read. It is better for us to close our mind!

“For example, in pray-reading Galatians 2:20 simply look at the printed page, which says, “I am crucified with Christ.” Then with your eyes upon the Word and praying from deeply within say:

“Praise the Lord, ‘I am crucified with Christ.’ Hallelujah! ‘Crucified with Christ.’ Amen. ‘I am. ‘Oh, Lord, ‘I am crucified.’ Praise the Lord! ‘Crucified with Christ.’ Amen! I am crucified with Christ.’ Hallelujah! Amen! ‘Nevertheless.’ Amen. ‘Nevertheless.’ Amen. ‘I live.’ Oh, Lord, ‘I live!’ Hallelujah! Amen! ‘yet not I but Christ,’ etc.”³⁰

“There is no need for you to compose any sentences or create a prayer. Just pray-read the Word. Pray the words of the Bible exactly as they read.”³¹

“There is no need to explain or expound the Word, simply pray with the Word. Forget about reading, researching, understanding, and learning the Word. You must pray-read the Word.”³²

Response

What position and role does the Bible, the Word of God play in the Church and among Christians? What does the scripture say about studying God’s Word and His doctrines?

2 Timothy 3:16

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

2 Timothy 4:2-4

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

1 Timothy 4:13

“Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.”

The Macedonian people, specifically those in Berea were intelligent people in terms of examining and testing the scriptures in what they heard daily, which is what we as Christians are commanded to do if. This requires study and analyzing the Word of God correctly by learning from gifted Godly Christian teachers and pastors that Holy Spirit has ordained:

Acts 17:11

“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”

Lee says we should not examine or test anything. In contrast, the Scriptures say:

Thessalonians 5:21

^“But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;”

What about our mind? Should our mind be closed as Lee teaches, or should they be open and active? Among myriads of passages that deals with instruction and admonition to use our thinking and our mind, we can look at the following:

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

The term “dwell” (Greek, “logizomai” λογίζομαι) translates to consider, reckon, reason, think, which implies directly to our MIND. Its root verb is (Greek, “logos” “λόγος”), meaning, word or speech, which is also ascribed to pre-incarnate Christ’s title in John 1:1. Using our mind is not only taught in Scriptures, but is heavily emphasized throughout the Old and New Testament and is ascribed to wise and noble men, when they used their mind to test and analyze and ponder on various things, including prayer and meditation.

Psalm 63:6

“When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches”

This error of the Witness Lee is the exactly the same error committed by the kingdom of the cults and particularly the world of the Occult. Shutting the mind; emptying the mind; neutralizing the mind is exactly what the New Age movement teaches. And that is one of the biggest asset and weapon of Satan; by encouraging people to avoid using the mind; avoid thinking logical and rational and just shut down the thoughts and rely on the emotions and feelings. Another word, if it feels good, do it!

What about Prayer? What should the attitude of our heart be toward prayer? How should our prayer be toward God?

Matthew 6:5-8

“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. ^And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

Our prayer is and should be a two-way communication with our God, and certainly not just repeating or chanting phrases or words over-and-over again. Chanting and uttering mantras are the common practices among the cults and the occultic groups. Our God will not pay any attention to repeated chants, rather to a sincere contrite heart of prayer that is filled with adoration, praise and thanksgiving.

- Personal Experience

At the beginning of our marriage, my wife and I were looking for a Chinese church to attend in Southern California, particularly in the city of Cerritos, in LA county, where we first lived. We came across Witness Lee’s local church. Of course, we knew nothing about Lee or his Local Church. We thought it was just another mainstream non-denomination protestant church.

Our first day attending the church was met with quite unusual experiences. The setting was in a several circles, and not sitting in normal pews where there is usually a pastor preaching and teaching the Word of God from the podium. The circle setting consists of about 10 or 15 persons. We first started singing several songs from a handout and then the session began.

The session began with a note and a handout from brother Lee’s (as they call him) writing. First, we were all supposed to read the handout all together out loud. Then, each person would stand up and start describing their experiences based on what we just read; which again, was basically ‘brother’s Lee today’s note”. One by one would stand up and share their experience focused on Lee’s note. Of course, the people seem to be nice and always smiling. However, each encounter with another person, whether by eye contact or while walking and passing by was filled with: “Amen”. When you see someone in the church, you would normally say hello or hi. The normal response from others (you would expect) to be, ‘hi, how are you’, or any normal conversation; but not there. Instead, people pass by or look at each and response by only saying “Amen, Amen”! You might ask someone, ‘where is the rest room’? The response would be ‘Amen, over behind the wall, Amen.’!

That in and of itself, caught our attention and made us wonder why people don’t want to carry a normal conversation or say hi back, when you say hi to them. People, although always smiling and appearing to be nice, had a robotic behavior; almost a programmed behavior, where you sometime see on movies.

After the first week, we were told that they there is a group coming to pick us up on one of the week nights for a study session. My wife and I not knowing exactly what that session was, accepted to go. It was as if we not only had to accept, but it was more so a duty to accept. The evening of the appointed time came a van with several of the local church members to pick us up from our home. We drove to Anaheim where Witness Lee was supposed to be speaking. Of course, we couldn’t go anywhere or leave, as we were brought there and had to be brought back when the session was done.

After one month of attending, we decided to look for another church. We were not getting any feeding by the Word of God in that church, and we did not see any Bible visible anywhere in each session. When asked for it, they gave us a version of the Witness Lee’s Bible, Title, “Recovery Version”.

And even then, as far as we recall, we never used that Bible during any of the sessions nor did they even encourage us to use it outside the session. Instead, all we saw and read and heard was notes upon notes and handouts from ‘brother Lee’.

After a couple of weeks when we had stopped attending, we were contacted by one of the elders of the church to come and talk to us directly. By then, we were reading material and doing some research on Witness Lee and the Local Church and had some understanding and knowledge of their doctrines. When the elder visited our home, we had quite a lengthy discussion. He and I debated for nearly 4 hours and at times, the debate became heated. He basically would not accept any theology, doctrine, reasoning, logic or rational from the Bible, or any scholar or theologian. He seems to have a very bitter and anger toward all denominations and theologians. He was quite paranoid toward the body of Christ in general. His defense for Witness Lee’s version of Christianity stemmed from the point of view that all Christians are in error and no church or Christian seem to have the correct salvation or theology; since they were all outside the Local Church. After that discussion, we never heard from that particular Local Church again.

- Conclusion

Based on what we studied and analyzed, many of the WLLC main and essential doctrines are considered heretical and dangerous.

No doubt there are some sincere Christians within this group that are truly seeking the Lord and wanting to learn about God and grow in the Holy Spirit. However, it is very easy to be misled, confused, disarmed and disconnected by their many false and heretical practices and teachings. Staying there long enough will also cause paranoia and doubt toward other Christians and the body Christ in general, not to mention the Bible itself.

As sincere and dedicated their leaders are, it doesn’t change the fact that they are teaching many doctrines contrary to the clear teaching of the Word of God. Sincerity is not a guarantee of truthfulness. There are many cults and heretical groups that are sincere and zealous in what they teach and practice as well. One can be sincere, but sincerely wrong!

Bible is replete with warning against false doctrines, false teachers and false prophets (2 Peter 2:1):

Colossians 2:8 – “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

We urge the Christians to avoid attending the Local Church of the witness Lee. However, we encourage Christians to pray for the members and leaders of the Witness Lee’s Local Church and to engage in a loving and caring dialogue with their members by utilizing the correct reasoning and logical method from the Scriptures, showing them the errors of WLLC, so that Lord may grant them grace and that their leaders will come to repentance. For nothing is impossible with God. Lord has done it in the past with various cultic groups and their members and He still can do it today. He can bring the Local Church members and their leaders out of the wrong and heretical path and doctrines and lead them back to the fellowship and union of the body Christ so that they too can enjoy the fellowship of the Christians and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by growing in the correct doctrines and theology of our God, which is only found in His Word, the Bible.

Likewise, we advise those that are caught up and involved in Witness Lee’s Local Churches, to research, question, test and examine the teachings and theologies of Witness Lee, based on the material presented in this article. Look carefully and research diligently the theology of the protestant church and compare them with the teachings and theology of Witness Lee. Study the scriptures by going to the original source texts (Greek and Hebrew) to see what God has told us about these various subjects. Lord warned us Not to put any of our cultural and personal preferences above the truth of His Scriptures. We pray that Lord grant you the wisdom to understand and discern the serious errors that are at the core of Witness Lee and the Local Church and to bring you back to the main body of Christ, which is freedom, unity and love. Be noble minded like the Bereans of the New Testament time by diligently examining what you hear or read based on the Holy Scriptures (Acts 17:10-15) and heed to the Biblical admonition:

Thessalonians 5:21 – “But examine everything carefully…”

Footnotes

Note: All of the materials quoted from the original sources can be found from Living Stream ministry: https://www.livingstream.com and https://www.lsm.org/.

1. Witness Lee, The Economy of God (Los Angeles: Stream), 1968, p.10

2. Witness Lee, “Concerning the Triune God” (Los Angeles: Stream), p. 31.

3. Lee, The Economy of God, p. 11.

4. Lee, “Concerning the Triune God,” p. 8, parenthesis added.

5. Ibid., p. 8.

6. Lee, The Economy of God, p. 11.

7. Lee, The All-Inclusive Spirit of Christ (Los Angeles: Stream), 1969, pp.4, 6, 8.

8. Lee, The Economy of God, p. 199

9. Lee, “Finding Christ by the Living Star” (Los Angeles: Stream), 1970, pp. 27-28.

10. Lee, The All-Inclusive Christ (Los Angeles: Stream), 1969, p. 103

11. Lee, The Practical Expression of the Church, p. 43

12. Lee, The God of Resurrection (Los Angeles: Stream), no date, p. 4.

13. Lee, The God of Resurrection, p. 12.

14. Lee, The Economy of God, pp. 206-207

15. Ibid., p. 113.

16. Witness lee, The Economy of God, p. 199.

17. Lee, “Finding Christ by the Living Star” (Los Angeles: Stream), 1970, pp. 27-28

18. Lee, “The Vision of the Church”, Los Angeles: Stream, Page 9.

19. Lee, “Satan’s strategy against the Church”, Los Angeles: Stream, pages 6, 8.

20. “The Recovery Version of Revelation, Anaheim, Stream, 1975, Page 17.

21. Lee, Stream magazine, VIII: 1, Feb. 1, 1970, p. 6.

22. Lee, the Economy of God, p. 107.

23. Ibid., p. 108.

24. Ibid., p. 109.

25. Ibid., p. 106-107

26. Ibid., p. 108.

27. Lee, Christ vs. Religion (Los Angeles: Stream), 1971, pp. 14-15.

28. Ibid., pp.14-15.

29. Lee, “A Time with the Lord” (Los Angeles: Stream), no date, pp. 10, 11.

30. Lee, “Pray-Reading the Word” (Los Angeles: Stream), no date, pp. 8-10.

31. Ibid., pp. 8-10.

32. Ibid., pp. 8-10.