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Nee quickly manifested the main personal and spiritual characteristics that would determine the tone of his ministry regardless of subsequent shifts in doctrinal emphasis. These characteristics can be summarized as follows:
Nee was unusually zealous from the first day of his Christian life until the last. His zeal was so intense that it might well have been considered fanaticism in our culture. On the positive side, his zeal no doubt was an important element in his ability to lead and persuade others. On the negative side, he tended to lack patience, driving himself to the point of physical collapse on several occasions.36 He lived in self-imposed poverty.
Nee was not only idealistic, he was hyper- idealistic. The word "compromise" was not in his vocabulary. Cliff points out that he bitterly denounced the western missionary churches because,
". . . (he) found the Christians of the missionary societies' churches half-hearted and compromising, and charged that the denominations were weighted down with what was to him man-made traditions regarding baptism, worship and ordination, teaching what was quite foreign to what he read in the New Testament."
and again,
"Convinced of the rightness of his unstructured assembly, free from denominational traditions, he asserted, `Those who really want to live entirely in accordance with the Lord's truth will know real freedom in our midst.'"37
Nee considered the western form of church life (especially the existence of denominations) "an affront to God".38 He berated western missionaries for shamelessly asking for money for themselves.39 He deplored the clergy/laity distinction that was so strong in western Christianity.40 "While the responsibility of expanding the work of the Church lay chiefly, if not solely on the shoulder of the pastor in the other denominational churches, Nee concentrated on training all the believers to do the work of God."41
Thus Nee manifests himself as a purist in terms of primitive biblical Christianity. Interestingly, Cliff points out that a number of western missionaries agreed with Nee's criticisms, and forsook the agencies that had sent them in order to work with Nee.42 This did not earn Nee any popularity with western churches.
Another aspect of the same purism was his refusal to become a part of the popular nationalism that was dominating China at the time. During the war with Japan, he refused to pray that China or Japan would win. "It must be possible," he said in 1940, "for British and German, Chinese and Japanese Christians to kneel and pray together. . . in China, Christians and Missionaries have too much intimacy with the state. . . we ask for neither a Chinese nor a Japanese victory, but for whatever is of advantage. . . to Thee. . . "43 This remarkable excerpt from a war-time sermon was not what the average Chinese wanted to hear!
In another area, Nee argued that Christian workers should not only refrain from asking others for money for their own ministry, but that they should also not give any indication of need whether verbally or otherwise.44
Unfortunately, like so many purists, Nee's meticulous insistence on even the smallest detail sometimes resulted in a violation of a major ethical imperative. Nee's idealism was one of his greatest strengths, but without prioritization, it also became a weakness.45
Nee is repeatedly characterized by those who knew him as a profound student of the Scriptures. He demonstrates knowledge of the Greek text in his writings, although it is not clear to me whether he was versed in Greek or depended on other authorities.46
Kinnear comments on Nee's preaching, that no one ever saw him use any notes, for he remembered and could reproduce anything he read."47 After visiting Shanghai Charles Barlow commented:
Some of these dear brethren are very sincere and thirsting for truth. Watchman Nee is undoubtedly the outstanding man among them. He is far beyond all the rest. He is only 28, but has had a good education and is possessed of marked ability. He is a hard worker and reads much. . . 48
Witness Lee said of Nee, "I have never met a man so well-versed in the Scriptures as he."49 Noted Chinese evangelist John Sung said, "For exposition of the Scriptures, I am not equal to Watchman Nee."50 Therefore, like so many great figures in the history of the church, Nee had powerful intellectual gifts that were well developed, as well as a love of God's Word.
When this evidence is considered, it may seem surprising that Nee is sometimes considered anti-intellectual by western readers. This conclusion stems from his mystical-fideistic bent which was suspicious of autonomous reason. His very early magazine carried the statement of purpose, "The fostering and cultivation of the spiritual life, with no attempt to debate rationally." This position seems to have softened in later life, with better education.51
Although Nee's works have been rightly criticized for "superspirituality", (falsely dichotomizing Christian good works and spirituality) his own life does not seem to have been plagued by introspective paralysis. Some later readers of books attributed to Nee have complained that he calls for so much concern over whether an action is "soulish" or "spiritual" apart from whether it is ethical, that he becomes very de-motivating, and deflating. A careful reader of Nee has no difficulty identifying faulty statements in this area. However, it is interesting to note that Nee's life and that of his immediate hearers was characterized by almost constant action.52
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