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Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman NeeIf a brother who has been disciplined in Nanking moves to Soochow, and there proves himself to be innocent of the charge brought against him, then Soochow has full authority to receive him, despite the judgment of Nanking. Soochow is responsible for its actions to God, not to Nanking. Soochow is an independent church, and has therefore full authority to act as it thinks best. But because there is a spiritual relationship with Nanking, it is well for the brother in question not to be received before Nanking’s mistake in judgment is pointed out to Nanking. If Nanking’s relationship with the Lord is right, then it will pay attention to what Soochow has to say. But if it refuses to do so, Soochow cannot press anything against Nanking, because Nanking as a local church is directly responsible to the Lord alone, and has full authority to decide and act independently of Soochow. (Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 64-65) Since there is a spiritual relatedness between the various local churches, no one church may strike out on an individualistic line, and taking advantage of its independence, decide things after its own good pleasure. Each must rather cultivate a relationship with the other churches, seeking their sympathy and working with their spiritual good in view. On the other hand, since each is totally independent of the other, the decision of a church in any locality is absolutely final. There is no higher court of appeal; the local court is the supreme court. There is no organization to whose control it must submit, nor is there any organization over which it exercises control. It has neither superiors nor subordinates. If any one is received or refused by a local church, its judgment in the matter must be regarded as absolutely decisive. Even should the decision be wrong, all that can be done is to appeal for a reconsideration of the case. The local church is the highest church authority. If other churches object to its decisions, all they can do is resort to persuasion and exhortation. There is no alternative course, because the relationship which exists between the churches is purely spiritual, not official. (Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 64) Why does God set up elders in the church? It is for no other reason than that the church would be strong on earth and would be delivered from the element of confusion and corruption. If you do not believe me, you only need to imagine what kind of confusion and corruption would come into a place if there were a city without any policemen or any law court! Hence, we should never despise that little bit of delegated authority. Of course, we all admit that human society is corrupt. Although human society is corrupt, nevertheless you cannot deny that a normal situation is established to a certain degree. This degree of normality is established by the delegated authority. If you were to overturn the police department, the whole city would immediately be thrown into turmoil, and much corruption would break out. In the same principle, we, the redeemed and regenerated ones, are children together in the house of God, serving the Lord in the church. If we were to remove from the church the delegated authority, the church would be thrown into a similar kind of confusion. (Witness Lee, Elders’ Management, 21-22) You can find out from reading the Scriptures that Moses as a leader differs from all the other leaders of the world. Today, every leader of every nation exercises his authority, but Moses did not exercise his authority. Nevertheless, Moses never let go of anything; he was always there as the authority. (Witness Lee, Elders’ Management, 83-84) If you and I are to be the elders and are to oversee the church, we have to learn on the one hand to submit to authority, and on the other hand to be God’s delegated authority. At the same time, we should not exercise authority. You should not say that since you are an elder, what you say has to count and what you decide must be done. If you do not exercise your authority, you are in reality being the authority there. This seems to be a contradicting word. How can someone be an authority without exercising authority? And how can a person not exercise his authority while at the same time he is the authority? Nevertheless, I believe the brothers and sisters know what this means in their practical experience. There is nothing contradicting about it. If you are not clear about this matter, consider the story of Moses again. He was a delegated authority. He submitted to authority, and he was acting also as the authority. However, many times when difficulty came, he submitted to God, and he did not exercise his authority. His not exercising the authority was his most dignified way of exercising authority. It is only when one submits to the authority in the church, and only when he is being an authority as well, that he can apply his authority by refraining from exercising authority. I believe that the brothers and sisters understand what I mean. This is the proper condition of an elder. (Witness Lee, Elders’ Management, 84-85) The elders in all the localities are appointed by the apostles. Timothy and Titus were apostles; they were sent by Paul. These two, one in Ephesus and one in Crete, traveled in the surrounding areas and appointed elders in various localities. Therefore, the authority of the elders is not received from the church. You must make the churches in the various localities see that not one local overseer is elected locally. My father is my father not because I voted for him, but because I was born of him. The Lord said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” The elders are not chosen by the brothers in the church but are appointed by the apostles. A local church should not select elders; it has neither the authority nor the knowledge to do so. The local brothers are absolutely not allowed to select some to oversee them. There is no such thing! (Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 51, 142) | ||||