One Church - One City ... Truth or Practice?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>For The Believers In The Body Of Christ</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="For The Believers In The Body Of Christ"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id679.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Practice Among The Brethren"><U>The Practice Among The Brethren</U></A><B>   |   </B><B>One Church - One City ... 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Truth or Practice?</I></div> <bR> <div> This article is based on the previous explanation of "<FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#BF00BF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id677.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="One Church One City"><U>One Church - One City</U></A></FONT>."</div> <bR> <div> Believers must separate truth from practices.  Truths are eternal and represent Christ Himself in His work and Person.  The Lord Jesus said that He was the way, <U>the truth</U> and the life (John 6:14).  The “ground of locality” - one church in one city - as seen in the scriptures was a practice based on the truth of oneness, but it is not a truth itself.  The proof of this is church history.  Truths do not divide the Body of Christ, but practices do.  Paul rightly said in 1 Corinthians 1:13, “Is Christ divided?”  Some believers in Corinth were taking sides on issues, others were forming allegiances in addition to Christ (“I am of Paul, I am of Peter, I am of Apollos, I am of Christ” - 1 Corinthians 1:12).  Paul's words were simple and clear:  “Through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ speak the same thing so that there will be no divisions among you.”  [1 Corinthians 1:10.  Paul was saying that Christ cannot be divided so drop all issues and drop all allegiances and take Christ alone.  Many of the issues and many of the allegiances were based on practices that were cropping up and being established among the saints.  Practices are not truths and will eventually divide God's children, even though they may have been God-ordained at their inception.  Paul even told the Philippian believers to “imitate him.”  This was a practice, not a truth.  His practice was to seek and pursue Christ and Paul was advocating that saints copy this practice to seek and pursue Christ.  To say that we must imitate Paul is a truth would be heretical and leads to division as shown previously - not to mention Paul has passed away.</div> <bR> <div> Since the Triune God is one everything He does and creates is based on oneness and results in oneness.  Oneness, therefore, is a truth reflecting God's Person and Work.  Oneness is a major truth in the Bible because it unveils who God is, how God operates, and the goal of God's economy.  The oneness of the Body of Christ, all genuine believers in Christ, is a major truth because the church comes out of Christ and comprises Christ's bride, Christ's counterpart as part of the one new man.  The truth of the oneness of the Body of Christ would include the realization that all believers are part of the one Body of Christ universally and locally.  This is a wonderful revelation for all believers to grasp and incorporate into their thinking and living because it guards against forming parties, sects, or factions which invariably lead to enmity, strife and divisions.  What a joy to receive God's children as He receives them (Romans 14).  This yields oneness and manifests God in our humanity.</div> <bR> <div> This article considers the matter of one church in one city.  How should believers handle the fact that today's Christianity is dichotomized and divided into group upon group … even forming a kind of “supermarket” Christianity à believers can chose from a myriad of churches to attend based on a multiplicity of choices in regard to doctrines, practices, traditions and trends.   Where is the understanding of oneness in today's churches?  Shouldn't all believers appreciate and understand that oneness was unveiled in the New Testament as a major truth with practices?</div> <bR> <div> Members of the Brethren Assemblies as well as Watchman Nee and Witness Lee have made claims that they “recovered” the practice of “One Church in One City.”  This is a fundamental teaching in what they coined, “The Lord's Recovery.”  They have stated that although the church is one universally, there must be a practical expression of the organic oneness of the Body of Christ locally.  In order to maintain oneness, according to Nee, Lee and their followers, believers must be restricted by geography.  Therefore, the saints in a particular city or town must meet together to be considered the church in that city or town.  They have made such a practice an aspect of the truth of the scriptures.  In other words, for full fellowship, one must take such a stand as they have.  </div> <bR> <div> Some have said that Watchman Nee was the first to make such a conclusion as suggested above from his study of the Scriptures.   He pointed out that this teaching did not come from the Brethren" and that he did not get it from the “Exclusive Brethren.”  However, there is a possibility that he at least was influenced by what he may have learned from his brief contact with the brethren - or by reading their ministry.  See <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.globalserve.net/~mybrethren/history/framchin.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.globalserve.net/~mybrethren/h"><U><U>History: The China Episode 1932-35</U></U></A></FONT>.   This may be so even though he moved on independent lines himself.</div> <bR> <div> The practice of "one-city-one-church" by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and their followers may have established an outward formality.  This is common once practice overshadows truth.  It is certain that the Brethren had many features in recognizing the importance of one assembly in a city.  Surely Nee and Lee studied this matter and incorporated elements into their theology. </div> <bR> <div> A crucial point in the matter of keeping the oneness of the Body of Christ is that although the Bible surely shows us the pattern of one church in one city, the Bible reveals <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B><U>No Special Status In A Local Church</U></B></FONT> in terms of superiority or exclusivity among believers.  Lest there be any misunderstanding, I should clarify that use of the word 'assembly' does not imply any special status for the brethren - or pretension to alone be THE assembly - and does not exclude any of the saints who might gather otherwise or who are in the various 'churches'.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>