I was first introduced to Watchman Nee last summer. I am especially interested in him for a few reasons. First, he loved the Lord so much that he died a martyr after 20 years of imprisonment under the Chinese Communist Party. Second, he planted many, many Churches in China, so it is very possible that my family can thank the Lord for Watchman Nee's work for our conversion. Third, he is said to have been influenced greatly by early Plymouth Brethren writers, for whom I have a lot of respect, and I currently attend a Brethren assembly. To read more about the story of Watchman Nee, visit here.
Naturally, I picked up Nee's most famous book The Normal Christian Life. I was not disappointed.
Overview
The Normal Christian Life to me is a sort of a road map for the Christian to utilize from the beginning point of their regeneration (even before their conversion!) to their daily spiritual walk. However, this book isn't an instruction book per se, but rather, it is a book reminding Christians of the realities of their lives that pertain to the works of Jesus Christ.
Nee has a great focus on the sufficiency of the death and resurrection of Christ. This book emphasizes the implications of being a Christian more than what a Christian ought and ought not to do. Nee does this really, really well. One can even say this is a sort of a "back to the basics" kind of book for Christians who need a fresh perspective on what living a Christian life really entails.
This book is also somewhat a commentary on the first half of the book of Romans. So it is a fitting companion for when you read through those sections of Scripture yourself.
Why Read This?
As mentioned before, this book contains many fresh reminders for the Christian. Nee walked me through so many implications of being put to death and resurrected with Christ. I won't write them down here, because that would be spoilers, I want you to read them yourself. Regardless, I think every Christian can use these fresh reminders.
The sufficiency of the Gospel is a huge emphasis in this book. Reading through this book, I was alerted at how much I depended on myself and have totally ignored many promises made by the Lord and also things that I already have obtained through Him.
Of course, Nee is a very intelligent and discerning man, so there were many aspects of the book of Romans that he drew out for me that would have remained unknown otherwise. Nee is also very good at using analogies and real-life examples to make his points more understandable.
Overall, I think every Christian should read this book. And I don't say that about many books.
Potential Pitfalls
I strain to think of anything that would alert me about this book. The only thing is this: Christ has done a lot of work for us (paid for our sins, freed us from bondage, gave us the Holy Spirit, etc.). Just don't let that turn you into a Christian who does absolutely nothing because you're "relying on christ". Nee addresses this in his book though.
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