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Scripture Reading: Gal. 1:13-16; Phil. 3:5-8; Col. 1:18-19; 2:2-3, 6-10; 3:10-11
I hope that we can take some time to pray-read the verses in the Scripture Reading at the beginning of each chapter (especially chapters 1 and 2) so that we can be deeply impressed with them. I believe that these verses are very revealing and enlightening. If we are deeply impressed with them, we will see what the real church life is. These verses can convey to us a complete and clear vision of the church.
In Matthew 20 and 23 the Lord Jesus told us clearly that among His disciples there should not be any kind of human rule or human position. Although the Epistles reveal that the elders are the leading ones in the churches (Heb. 13:7, 17, 24), they are not taking the lead according to the human, worldly way. The elders are not leaders in a positional or hierarchical sense. They have to be the examples, taking the lead to follow the Lord’s way, and they should not exercise any lordship over the church. This is clearly taught in 1 Peter 5:1-3 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7. We should not be under the influence of the worldly understanding when we talk about leadership in the church. In the world the leaders have authority over others and rule over others. In the churches the elders are the leading ones, but they are not rulers. They should be examples, taking the lead to serve and care for the church so that the believers may follow in the same way.
The elders also function to take oversight. We pointed out in chapter 1 that the Greek word for overseer is episkopos. Epi means “over,” and skopos means “seer,” implying view or sight. The elders should function to look into the situation of the church with an overview. Perhaps some in the church would go astray or would bring in sinful, worldly things that would insult the Lord. Then the elders have to do something to keep the church in the Lord’s way. We should not consider the elders as worldly rulers. They are only the examples, taking the lead to follow the Lord’s way, and the saints should follow their example. The elders are also overseers who take the oversight in the church. They are watching to keep anything sinful or idolatrous from being brought into the church.
I want to stress that there should not be any rank or position in the church. Any hierarchy in the church is abominable to the Lord. It is a shame that those in the Catholic Church call their priests “father.’’ In Matthew 23:9-10 the Lord said, “Do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in the heavens. Neither be called instructors, because One is your Instructor, the Christ.” If we want to be great, we should be a servant, a bondslave (v. 11). The greatest one among us is our slave. Are we willing to be slaves to the brothers and sisters? We need to be slaves, serving the brothers and sisters and ministering Christ to them. Matthew 20:25-28 and 23:8-12 are very important portions of the Word. Based upon these two portions of the Word, there is no ground for any kind of hierarchy or clergy in the church. The Lord said that we are all brothers (23:8).
We also need to be aware of religion invading the church. In Galatians 6:15 Paul says, “Neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters.’’ According to the context of this verse, circumcision refers to religious ordinances, and uncircumcision refers to being without religious ordinances. Neither of these mean anything. What matters is the new creation. The new creation is Christ with the church. Circumcision is an ordinance of law; the new creation is the masterpiece of life with the divine nature. We should be those who live in the reality of the new creation apart from any religious ordinances. In the past some cared for religious ordinances. We should not repeat the mistakes of the past. The failures of the past should be warnings and lessons to us. We should only care for the new creation, which is Christ with the church and the church with Christ.
Ephesians 2:15 tells us that on the cross Christ abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances to create the one new man. The new man is the new creation. Christ has abolished all the ordinances, including circumcision, the keeping of Sabbaths, and the dietary regulations of the Old Testament. All the ordinances have been abolished by Christ on the cross for the creation of this new man.
We also have to remember Ephesians 4:14, which tells us that we should no longer be little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, or doctrine. Any teaching, even scriptural, that distracts us from Christ and the church is a wind that carries us away from God’s central purpose. We should not care for distracting doctrines but care for the oneness of the Spirit (v. 3). We should also be those who are always putting on the new man (v. 24).
Galatians 1:13 reveals that when Paul was in religion he persecuted the church of God excessively and ravaged it. This shows us that as long as we hold on to something religious, we will be a persecutor of the church. Our religion is a persecution to the church. To some, religion is a positive word, but to those of us practicing the church life, it is a negative word. Religion is a damage to the genuine church life. If you are in the church, you are outside religion. If you are in religion, you cannot be in the genuine church life. As we have pointed out, the church is an organism. The Body of Christ, the new man, is not a religion, even the most scriptural religion. The church is an organism as the Body, the new man, the kingdom of God, the family of God, the dwelling place of God, the wife of Christ, and the warrior fighting the battle. Religion persecutes the church, and religion is versus Christ. Paul was so zealous in religion, but it pleased God to reveal Christ in this one who was so advanced in religion. God rescued him out of the religious world by revealing His Son in him (vv. 4, 15-16a).
In Philippians 3:5-6 the basic elements of being religious are mentioned. Paul tells us that all these religious factors which had been gains to him were counted as loss by him on account of Christ (v. 7). He also counted all things to be loss and even refuse that he might gain Christ (v. 8). Refuse in verse 8 refers to dregs, rubbish, filth, that which is thrown to the dogs; hence, dog food, dung. Everything, including worldly things, fleshly things, and religious things, was counted as dung by the apostle Paul. To him everything other than Christ was dung. He counted everything as loss that he might gain Christ. Anything that is not Christ Himself or that is a substitute for Christ, we have to count as dung. It does not matter whether that item is good or bad. As long as it is not Christ and as long as it is a substitute for Christ, it is trash. We should not bring anything other than Christ into the church. The church is not a trash can. Instead, the church is the new man and the habitation of God. In the church nothing counts but Christ. Everything other than Christ is trash. This revelation is according to the holy and pure Word of God.
In Philippians 3:2 Paul said that we need to beware of the dogs. Dogs refers to the Judaizers, the religious ones. Paul said that he counted all things as refuse that he might gain Christ. Refuse is dog food. At one time Paul was a dog feeding on dog food, but then he became a member of Christ feeding on Christ. Only Christ is the real food. Anything other than Christ is dog food. All the worldly and the religious people are feeding on dog food. Only the proper church people are feeding on Christ. We need to be those who are feeding on Christ as the heavenly bread of life.
We also need to see the revelation presented in Colossians 1—3. Chapter 1 tells us that Christ is the Head of the Body (v. 18). As the Head of the Body, He must have the preeminence, the first place, in the church and in all things. He should have the preeminence. Chapter 2 tells us that Christ is God’s mystery (v. 2). Whatever God is, whatever God has planned and purposed, whatever God has accomplished, and whatever God intends to do are altogether embodied in Christ as the mystery of God. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (v. 9), and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him (v. 3). Christ is such a wonderful One. We cannot analyze Him or systematize Him. Christ is so marvelous, mysterious, and profound. We should not try to analyze Him, because we cannot understand Him in full, but we can receive Him.
Colossians 2:6 says that as we have received Him, we should walk in Him. Verse 8 says, “Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.’’ Philosophy here refers to the teaching of Gnosticism, a mixture of Jewish, Oriental, and Greek philosophies, which is an empty deceit. The source of the Gnostic teaching at Colossae was the tradition of men, depending not on the revealed writings of God but on the traditional practices of men. The elements of the world refers to the rudimentary teachings of both Jews and Gentiles, consisting of ritualistic observances in eating of meats, drinking, washings, asceticism, and other matters. We have to beware of this today. We should not receive or walk according to any worldly philosophy, worldly teaching, or any kind of worldly natural thought. We should walk only according to Christ. We have to walk in Him and according to Him because all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, and we have been made full in Him (v. 10). Outside of Him, we will be empty, but within Him, we will be full.
According to Colossians 3:10-11, we have to realize that the new man, the church life, is upon us. It has been put on us, and now we have to practically put on the church life, the new man. In this new man “there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all’’ (v. 11). Circumcision refers to religious people, whereas uncircumcision refers to unreligious people. A barbarian is an uncultured person, and Scythians were considered the most barbarous. In the new man there is no possibility, no room, for any natural person. There is only room for Christ. Christ is all and in all. He is all the members of the new man and in all the members. He is everything in the new man.
I want to point out again that the church is completely apart from religion, philosophy, and hierarchy. We need to understand what religion is. Religion is worshipping God, serving God, and doing something for God without Christ as the Spirit. What we do may be quite good, fundamental, and scriptural, but if what we do is without Christ as the life-giving Spirit, that is religion.
There also should be no philosophy in the church. Philosophy refers to the human thought, the human concept, and the human understanding that is embodied in the human opinion. This philosophy is always expressed in different doctrines. Doctrine can be a cloak to human opinion. Something may appear to be a scriptural doctrine when actually it is the expression of a person’s thought, opinion, or Christian philosophy. It can actually be one’s self-made philosophy under the cloak of scriptural teachings.
We have to be careful not to use our mind apart from the Spirit. We need to be afraid of our natural concept, thought, and understanding. The natural understanding is really poisonous. In the churches the most blessed persons are the simple ones. The ones who are not blessed are the ones who are so much in the exercise of their natural mentality. We need to realize that our mentality is the ground where the tree of knowledge grows to produce all kinds of fruit of knowledge.
Ephesians 4:14 warns us not to be carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error. The dividing teachings are organized and systematized by Satan to cause serious error and thus damage the practical oneness of the Body life. Satan utilizes Bible teachings to systematize people and to bring them into systematized error. We have to be aware of the natural concepts and thoughts behind the winds of teaching. This means we have to reject the philosophies of men and the teachings that distract us from Christ and the church.
Furthermore, we should reject any thought or practice of rank and position in the church. Rank and hierarchy come from the struggle for power. If a brother is an elder, he should not have a pleasant feeling when people call him an elder. It is not so good to call a brother an elder. We want to avoid any concept of rank within the church. The term elder is not and should not be a title. We do not have the title elder among us, but we have some persons who are elders. We do not have any positions or titles in the church. We have to hate hierarchy (Rev. 2:6). That is an insult to Christ. It is a shame that clergymen are referred to as “reverend.’’ Only Christ is reverend. Only He should receive our reverence. In the church there should be no religion, no philosophy, no vain doctrines or teachings, and no hierarchy, clergy, rank, positions, or titles. All the problems, confusion, and divisions come from these sources.
All the negative things we have mentioned crept into the church throughout its history. Some of the saints fought against these things and defended the truth. Ignatius, a great defender of the truth, was martyred at the beginning of the second century. We have seen that although Ignatius was such a defender of the truth, he made a mistake because he was short of a clear vision, a complete view, of the church. Nearly all the defenders of the truth made mistakes for this reason. Ignatius made a great mistake that turned into the establishment of the episcopal system. He did it unintentionally. His heart was good, but he made a mistake because he did not have a clear vision of the Body.
By the end of the sixth century, the papacy was fully formed and established. During the five and a half centuries before the establishment of the pope, many so-called puritans were raised up by the Lord to fight for the truth. They loved the Lord, loved the Bible, and stood for the Lord according to what they had seen, but nearly all of them made some mistakes. In the second century the term Catholic Church was used. The so-called Catholic Church became very worldly. Some of the faithful saints did not agree with this, and they fought against the worldliness in the Catholic Church. This was very positive, but they did not have a clear vision of the Body. They were just for not being worldly. They were fighting against worldliness and stood so much for not being worldly. In a sense, that was good, but in another sense, they made a mistake in that they became a mere free group of unworldly Christians. They did not care for the Body, the church, the new man, or for the oneness. They did not care for God’s goal but only for not being worldly. There are many Christians today who are acting in the same principle of caring for other things besides God’s goal.
According to church history, human power, human rule, hierarchy, and human organization crept into and prevailed in the so-called church, but there was not much place or ground left to the Holy Spirit. A group of puritans were raised up who were very much against this. They declared that the church should be under the authority of the Holy Spirit, and they fought against human rule in the church. Regretfully, however, they did not care for the Body. They only cared for being spiritual.
The first group I mentioned cared for not being worldly, and the second group cared for being spiritual. However, neither group cared for the oneness. They did not care for the Body. Eventually, these kinds of free groups gave up the Catholic Church, the general church, and began to meet by themselves. History tells us that these groups even began to exclude one another. They left the Catholic Church for different reasons, and they stressed different points, and sadly they began to exclude one another. They became different free groups who did not receive one another.
Today’s situation is not much different from what happened in the past history of the church. Some free groups are just for the study of the Bible. Others are for spirituality. Although these things are good, they are not God’s goal and should not be an excuse to form divisions. Church history shows us that the so-called church in a general sense became degraded and that those who loved the Lord, who loved the truth, and who loved the Bible did not receive a proper, adequate, clear, and complete vision of the church. Although they defended the truth, they made mistakes that resulted in more division in the Body of Christ. Thus, it was difficult for the Lord to find vessels to carry out His purpose. This is the reason that the history of the church is generally a sad story.
If we do not have the vision of God’s goal, we will be happily content with many revivals. One of the most prevailing revivals in the history of the church took place in Wales in 1904 and 1905. One story speaks of all the theaters in Wales being closed and of no one going to any worldly entertainment on Sunday. All the people went to church meetings. But it did not last too long. It was only a revival; not much was accomplished for the fulfilling of God’s eternal purpose, that is, the building up of the Body of Christ. That revival was wonderful, but we also need to consider what was carried out through it. Revivals are very positive for bringing people to salvation, but there is not much result for the fulfilling of God’s eternal purpose.
We have to be clear what we are here for. We are not here merely to be separated from the world. We are not here merely to be spiritual. We are not here for revivals, mission work, or the study of the Bible. We are here for the Lord’s recovery of the church. By His mercy, we have to defend the revealed truths in the Bible, but in our defending, we should not make mistakes that will damage the Lord’s Body. The way to be kept from making any mistakes by our defending is to take care of the church. Surely we should not be worldly, and surely we have to be in the Spirit. The church should have no religion, no vain teachings, no philosophy, no human organization, no clergy, no hierarchy, no worldliness, no human power, and no flesh. But we should not defend anything of God’s kingdom by making serious mistakes. In order for us to be safeguarded from making any mistakes in defending something of God’s interest, we need to see the church.
Some young people among us have really been saved, and they are members of the church. They are members of the Body in actuality, but according to their outward appearance, they do not express much of Christ. They need some time for transformation. Perhaps some would like to “protect’’ the church by not receiving young people who are “hippies.’’ By doing this, we make a big mistake. If we have this thought or would do this, we have never seen what the church is. This does not mean that the church should be loose or worldly, but the church should not regulate people’s outward appearance. Both ways are wrong.
In order to practice the proper church life, we have to be in the Spirit, be strong in the Spirit, and be rich in the Spirit. Eventually, we will be neither loose nor outwardly regulated. Christ as the reality will be within us in a living, inspiring, revealing, subduing, and conquering way. Then the church will be neither loose nor demanding. Although the doors of the church are open to receive everyone, negative persons will be subdued. Some negative persons may come in among us, but eventually they will be subdued or they will go away.
The church is not a worldly organization or a human society. The church is something of life with power and impact. The elders should not regulate the church outwardly, but they need to get themselves sevenfold intensified with the Spirit. Then there will be neither outward regulation, nor outward demanding, nor any looseness. The church life will be full of liberty, yet there will be the demanding from the inner life and the inner control of the Holy Spirit. When some come in among us, they will either be convinced, subdued, captured, and wrecked, or they will stay away.
In these chapters I do not have the intention of giving a detailed history of the church. My burden is that we would pick up some lessons so that we would learn not to repeat the mistakes of this sad history. We do not care for religion, philosophy, vain teachings, natural opinions, human authority, human organization, rank, position, hierarchy, or clergy. We do not agree with anything worldly, anything of the natural life, or anything fleshly. Although we do not agree with any of these negative things, we would not use any rules to regulate or to demand in an outward way. Then what should we do? We need to go to the Spirit to be burned and intensified with the sevenfold Spirit (Rev. 4:5; 5:6). Then we will have something living and burning with the impact, with the power, and with the way to minister the riches of Christ to people. There is no need for us to be anxious about guarding the church or watching over so many negative things. We believe that the power, the reality, the weight, and the impact of Christ as the life-giving Spirit is with the church.
