Search
On the one hand, we need to see the building up of the church, and on the other hand, we need to see the main frustration to the building — not having the proper ground of the church. When the saints in Jerusalem were built together, they became the church in Jerusalem. Likewise, the saints in Ephesus were built up to be the church in Ephesus. However, the ground of the church is a serious problem today. In Taipei there are Baptist churches, Presbyterian churches, Lutheran churches, and other churches. Taipei has become a city of many churches.
We need to build up the church and pay attention to the ground of the church. Brother T. Austin-Sparks thinks that the measure of the stature of Christ should be our criterion; that is, we should be able to join any group that has more Christ. The Catholic Church accepts the Bible, recognizes the Trinity, and confesses that Christ Jesus is the Son of God who was born of the virgin Mary, was crucified on the cross, shed His blood for our redemption, resurrected from the dead, and ascended to the heavens. These items are included in the orthodox belief of Catholicism. Some of the believers in Catholicism are more pious than many of us. Should we then join the Catholics since they have Christ? Or should we go to another group that has more Christ? What standard should one use to determine the amount of Christ that there is in a group?
A Western brother who was affected by Brother Austin-Sparks has asked why we say that only we are the church and that others are not. He is also questioning the local administration of the church. I shared three points with him. We believe that the church is uniquely one in the universe. We believe that the expression of the church in every city should also be one. The cities of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Corinth had only one expression, one church. We believe that any ground other than the local ground is sectarian and therefore should not exist.
Brother Austin-Sparks does not agree with the ground of the church. He also condemns organized Christianity. In our time of fellowship with Brother Austin-Sparks, a brother asked, “If there are five independent groups in a city that have left organized Christianity, are any of these groups right or are they all wrong?” Brother Austin-Sparks replied that none of the groups were absolutely right, but that they were relatively right. When asked what he meant by relatively right, he said, “Each group should be measured according to the stature of Christ. The group that has a greater measure of the stature of Christ is more right; the group that has a smaller measure of the stature of Christ is less right.”
I was the translator at the time, but at this juncture I joined the discussion. I asked whether there is any Christ in Catholicism. I then said that we have received help from Madame Guyon in the matter of life and that Madame Guyon definitely had a stature of Christ, but Madame Guyon was in Catholicism, which we condemn. We should be clear that spirituality and the ground of the church are two different matters. Madame Guyon was spiritual, but she was not right in the matter of the ground of the church. Dr. F. B. Meyer is highly recommended by Brother Austin-Sparks, but Dr. Meyer never left organized Christianity, which Brother Austin-Sparks condemned. Based on Dr. Meyer’s spirituality and measure of Christ, should we say that organized Christianity is relatively correct? Andrew Murray is another spiritual giant who remained in organized Christianity. Therefore, we cannot determine the ground of the church based on a person’s spirituality.
God desired that His people stay in the land of Israel and take Jerusalem as the center in their worshipping Him. Jerusalem was the ground for their worship of God. After being captive in Babylon for seventy years, there was a call for them to return to Jerusalem. What would have happened if at that time a prophet rose up and said that it did not matter whether they returned to Jerusalem or stayed in Babylon, because only their spiritual stature mattered? Daniel was the most spiritual among them. Using New Testament terms, Daniel was full of Christ, but such a Christ-filled, spiritual person remained in Babylon. Those who returned to Jerusalem were not as spiritual as Daniel. They had opinions and weaknesses, and some of them even married Gentile women. Their spiritual condition was far inferior to that of Daniel. However, was Daniel’s ground correct, or was the ground of those who were weak and unspiritual correct? This shows that to be spiritual is one thing and that to have the proper ground of the church is another thing. A person may be very spiritual but stand on the wrong ground. Daniel’s standing on the wrong ground was due to God’s sovereign arrangement, not according to his own will. Although he was in Babylon, his heart was in Jerusalem.
One day Brother Austin-Sparks asked what we mean by local ground. I illustrated this with an example. I drew a circle that represented the city of Jerusalem and said that all the believers in Jerusalem met in that circle; hence, it was called the church in Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem is the ground of the church in Jerusalem; the church is in Jerusalem. Then I drew another circle representing the church in Corinth. The church in Corinth was initially one, but the believers in Corinth became divided. Those who were for Paul became a Pauline sect. Suppose some in the Pauline sect moved to Samaria and declared that they belonged to Paul in Samaria. They would be taking Paul as their ground instead of Samaria as their ground. Initially, there was only one church in Corinth — the church in Corinth. The city of Corinth was the ground of the church in Corinth. After they were divided, there were some of Paul, some of Apollos, some of Cephas, and some of Christ. They lost the local ground. The Pauline sect took Paul as their ground, and the Apollonian sect took Apollos as their ground. Suppose some brothers from the church in Jerusalem went to Samaria to meet with the brothers there, only to discover that they belonged to Paul. The brothers in Jerusalem could explain that the church cannot be of Paul, but those in Samaria would insist on being of Paul; thus, the brothers from Jerusalem would have no alternative but to meet apart from them in Samaria. Although there would be two groups meeting in Samaria, one would be meeting on the local ground, and the other would be meeting on the ground of Paul.
It is possible that those who were on the proper ground were fleshly and that those who were on the ground of Paul were spiritual, each group had a measure of Christ. When other believers would go to Samaria, should they take the measure of Christ as the criterion and meet with the Pauline sect?
The next morning Brother Austin-Sparks spoke concerning Christ and said that we make Christ a small Christ and the church a small church by limiting everything to the ground. I calmly translated for him even though I felt uncomfortable within. This was a matter of the truth. Two plus two equals four. How can two plus two equal five? Brother Austin-Sparks also saw that we had come to an impasse, and he discontinued the fellowship meeting the next day. He said that he and another Western brother were satisfied with our replies and that there was no need to continue the discussion.
In order to build a house, there must be a site, the ground for the house. Similarly, the building of the church must have a ground. Brother Austin-Sparks overemphasizes spirituality and neglects the ground. May the Lord cover me with His blood to say this: the work of Brother Austin-Sparks at Honor Oak is quite spiritual, but because he neglects the ground of the church, his work has no future. Those who meet in Honor Oak learn many spiritual matters and are helped spiritually. However, they have no place to go after they leave Honor Oak.
There was a good Brethren assembly in London; D. M. Panton also had a meeting there. Since these meetings were not in organized Christianity, why did Brother Austin-Sparks separate himself from them and begin another meeting in Honor Oak? This matter touches the ground. Brother Austin-Sparks may have said that those groups were not spiritual. If those groups are not spiritual, where should the brothers who meet with him go when they leave Honor Oak? Should they go to the Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church, or should they follow the pattern of Brother Austin-Sparks and start another meeting? Spirituality is relative, but the ground is absolute.
Just as we received help from Madame Guyon and honor her spiritual portion, we also received help from Brother Austin-Sparks and respect his spiritual portion. However, we disagree with Madame Guyon and Brother Austin-Sparks in the matter of the ground of the church. We respect Brother Austin-Sparks’ spiritual portion, but we disagree with his view concerning the ground of the church. We cannot accept his correction; rather, we would refute his view. This is absolutely a matter of the truth. Those who receive help from Honor Oak have no place to go and no way to advance because they have spirituality without the ground of the church. Therefore, those who leave Honor Oak become wanderers when they go to various places in the world. We cannot allow our brothers to be wandering stars without a definite place. If the churches in Taiwan pursue only spirituality, there will be many problems. Brother Austin-Sparks’ emphasis on spirituality is too subjective. He can do this in Honor Oak, but he cannot correct us to match his way. Such a correction will cause our work to fall apart and make us the same as the denominations.
Even though we might not understand the scope of these matters, my speaking is for our future work in other places. Today there are many believers from different backgrounds. If we want to build the church of the Lord, we need to understand the ground of the church; otherwise, there is no way to have the building. We cannot take the way of exclusion and reject all those from the West. We need to receive them and acknowledge them as brothers. We need proper discernment concerning how to receive those from the West. Otherwise, much of our work will be in vain.
If we think that we should not contend for the ground of locality but should rather be as tolerant as the denominations, then we should save our energy and join them. However, we want God’s children to know that God has no way in the denominations, because they cannot produce the building. The best that they can do is lead people to salvation and give them spiritual edification. Over the past thirty years the Lord has shown us that in order to build up the church, we should be spiritual on the one hand and hold on to the ground on the other hand. If we are spiritual but do not have the ground and the building, the brothers will have no way to proceed. If we change our attitude and drop the matter of the ground, the brothers will become wandering stars with no way to proceed.
Every matter has principles and laws. If we do not take the way of the truth, others will, and when those who take the way of the truth question us, we will be speechless. We will not be able to withstand their questioning, because we have not taken the way of the truth. A person may consider that baptism by immersion is unnecessary and that baptism by sprinkling is sufficient. However, when a brother who is baptized by immersion questions him, he will be unable to reply and will fall under the condemnation of the truth. Therefore, for the sake of God’s building, we need to have a precise view concerning the ground. Only when we are firm concerning the ground of the church will we have the way to build the church.
We need to love the Lord and be spiritual, and we need to be mingled with God and have His authority so we can be joined together with others. However, we cannot be in the Baptist Church or in the Lutheran Church but only on the ground of locality. On this ground we can speak the truth, and our speaking will be clear and logical. This is the building. The way to build is on the ground. If we do not have the ground, our speaking can only go halfway. We will be the same as Brother Austin-Sparks.
May the Lord have mercy on us that we would clearly see the matter of the ground. We admit that the brothers from the West are good brothers and that their hearts are clean. However, they do not have enough light concerning the truth and therefore are not clear about the ground. They also have a sense of Western superiority that frustrates our ability to help them. If they did not have such a sense and were willing to be humble and fellowship with us concerning the Lord’s Word, they would gradually become clear. Their pride causes them to make changes to everything they touch. Hence, they are unable to see the light, and it is difficult for us to help them.
This shows that organized Christianity has problems, and even those who are spiritual and pure have problems. Their conduct and view force us to be passive and maintain a distance even though we do not break off fellowship. However, because there is no active fellowship, it is difficult to have the building. If we were to maintain active fellowship with them, our work would disintegrate. We have a way to advance, but we do not have a way to advance in our relationship with them. Therefore, we would rather maintain our position.
The matter of the church is not simple. We need to see the truth and the ground of the church. We receive all the spiritual riches from those who preceded us over the centuries, regardless of their ground. But we are sure of the way the Lord wants us to take. Nobody can change us in this matter. We admire their spirituality, but this is not our testimony. We know with certainty that the Lord has raised us up for the ground of the church.
When Brother Nee spoke on the principle of the line of Antioch in 1937, his stress was on the local churches. The notes of the messages were compiled and published as Rethinking the Work, now published with the title The Normal Christian Church Life. Brother Nee saw this light. Over the past twenty years we have become clearer concerning his speaking. But there is still more to see on this matter. My desire is for us to understand this matter because the administration of the church among us depends on our understanding.
Today transportation in the world is convenient and available to everyone; people come from different places to fellowship with us. The brothers from the West may be spiritual and good, but we must be aware of the problems. I cannot tell you everything, but I beg you to believe me. I am speaking to you earnestly because this is not something I have decided in haste. I have been considering this for several months. I will be held accountable for my words, but you must also understand me correctly. We are not breaking away from the West. We are not an Eastern sect. We need to be clear concerning the Lord’s desire when He raised us up. We need to know who we are, what others have, and the help we should receive. Knowing our condition and that of the enemy guarantees victory in every battle. In this way we will not fall short of what the Lord has entrusted to us.
