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Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Neeg. No Autonomy and No Federation Though the local churches are independent in their administration, they are not absolutely independent—they are not autonomous—for, collectively, the local churches are the one Body of Christ. All the local churches are related organically but not organizationally. Witness Lee expounds: There is another important item from the Word that we have to realize. The churches are surely local in their administration, but they are not absolutely independent. In our history in the Lord’s recovery, we were warned by the Brethren practice of autonomy. All the states of the United States have their own administrations and governments, but they are not strictly independent. The states are separate to an extent, but this does not mean they are absolutely independent. If the states were absolutely independent, the United States would not be one country. It would become fifty countries. The local churches are not absolutely independent. When the apostles kept their hands off of the affairs of the churches, this did not mean that each local church became one independent entity. Nor did it mean that since the churches were under the teaching of the apostles, they became a federation. In 1 Corinthians 4:17, Paul says, “Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church.” In all the churches, the Apostle Paul taught the same thing. His teaching was the same universally, not varying in any place. Concerning this matter, we need to look at the seven epistles to the seven local churches in Revelation 2 and 3. The word of the Lord to one church is the word spoken by the Spirit to all the churches (Rev. 2:1, 7). At the beginning of each epistle, it is the Lord speaking to a specific church (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14), but at the end of all the epistles, the Word says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). What was said by the Lord to the church in Ephesus was the word that all the churches should hear. Every epistle was a particular word to a certain church, yet this particular word should be heard and taken by all the churches. On the one hand, the elders of the churches have the right and the position to carry out the local administration of the churches independently. On the other hand, all the churches should listen to the word that the apostles have received of God, which is the teaching of the New Testament. On the one hand, the churches are local separately. On the other hand, all the local churches are still the one Body of Christ which is an organism, not a federation which is an organization. We need to meet as local churches separately according to what the New Testament says, but all the local churches are still the one Body of Christ. (Witness Lee, Eldership (1), 51-52) In all the local churches, there are some local affairs. But many times the churches need to fellowship with one another to help each other in their affairs. The church in one locality may be wealthy, whereas the church in another locality may be poor. The poor local church may not be able to afford to pay for certain things. The wealthy local church may have the attitude that all the local churches are autonomous in their business affairs and that the poorer local church should endeavor to do something without depending on them. This understanding and attitude are not right. A certain financial matter may be a local administration affair, but even in such a matter, the churches should depend on one another. Sometimes a certain church should communicate, fellowship, with another church even in the matter of material needs. (Witness Lee, Body of Christ, 23) The presence of the Holy Spirit is according to the degree of life in a person. It is also according to the spiritual condition of a person before God at that time. This presence of the Holy Spirit is the authority for judgment in the Church. …Therefore, when a local church is raised up, naturally those who have a higher degree of life will become the leading ones there. These brothers cannot call a corporate conference whenever they encounter some business problems. If so, man’s opinions will definitely come in, and the authority of the Holy Spirit will be sacrificed. Suppose there are thirty brothers and sisters here, and only five or six are somewhat higher in life, whose condition before the Lord is somewhat more normal. The rest of the twenty or more are all newly saved, and their spiritual condition is very young; they do not even know what is spiritual and what is fleshly. If we were to ask everyone to express his opinion and to cast his vote, surely four-fifths of them would cast a fleshly vote and one fifth, a spiritual vote. The system of voting brings in man’s flesh and cuts off the authority of the Holy Spirit. Hence, we can never adopt the system of voting. On the other hand, the Bible does not allow one leading brother to make decisions by himself either. In the Bible there is no autocracy; there is only the meeting together of the experienced, spiritual, and elderly ones. (Witness Lee, Elders’ Management, 233-234) | ||||