In the previous chapters we saw that the church is the central thought, the center, of God’s eternal purpose. Before the New Testament time, it was never revealed to anyone but was hidden as a mystery in God, who created the universe. The source of the church is Christ, so the church is the increase of Christ. The function of the church is to be the Body of Christ and the house of God. Moreover, the practice of the church is local, not universal, it is expressed in localities, its content is Christ, and it has a proper order.
The proper order of the church is seen in Philippians 1:1, which speaks of the saints, the overseers, who are the elders, and the deacons. In the church we have the saints as the basic members, and among the saints we have elders and deacons. On the one hand, we realize that in the church there is no human organization, but on the other hand, the Scriptures tell us clearly that there is an order in the church. Not only from the teachings of the Scriptures, but also from our experience we can see that without this order under the Holy Spirit there is no possibility to have the real church life, the real practice of the church. The real church practice depends very much on this order under the Holy Spirit.
In this chapter we come to the ninth point concerning the church, the authority in the church. The order of the church comes out of the authority in the church. We should consider in detail what the authority in the church is. We are told clearly that the church is the Body of Christ and the house of God. To be sure, there is authority in our body, and there is also authority in a house, that is, in a family. Without authority, our house would be a mess. Likewise, as long as a body is living and standing, there is authority in it, but when it becomes a carcass and no longer a body, there is no more authority in it. As long as there is a body there must be authority, and as long as we have a family, a home, there also must be authority. This illustrates that in the church there truly is an authority.
The authority of a body is the head. When a person is standing, does his body bear his head, or does his head hold up his body? If we were to cut off a man’s head, his body would fall down. Without the head, the body cannot stand. It seems that the body bears the head, but in actuality, it is the head that holds up the body. Therefore, the head is the authority. The Head of the church is Christ the Lord, and the authority in the church is the headship of Christ. It is clear that in the church there should be an order, but this order comes from the headship of Christ. We must realize, honor, and respect the headship of the Lord. If we are not under the headship of the Lord, we can never be right in the order of the church. Many times in the past years, brothers or sisters have come to me and said, “Brother Lee, I simply cannot go along with some of the elders.” Every time someone has brought a problem like this to me, I ask them, “At this moment and concerning this very issue, are you under the headship of the Lord?” Invariably, the one asking admits that he or she is not under His headship. I reply, “First you must be right with the Lord. Submit yourself to the headship of the Lord, and then you will be clear.”
When I came to the West, to America and Europe, many friends said to me, “People in the Far East are more submissive, while we in the West are more independent. It is probably easy for the brothers and sisters in the Far East to practice the order in the church.” However, you should not appreciate the Orientals too much. It is very difficult to deal with the Japanese and the Chinese. I am neither for or against the Orientals or those from the West. All the Orientals and all the Westerners are the descendants of Adam. There is no difference between us for we are all Adam’s race. It is not a matter of East or West. It is a matter of whether or not we are under the headship of Christ and whether or not we have learned the lesson to submit ourselves to the headship of the Lord. In order to keep a right order in the church and among the saints, we must be under the lordship and headship of the Lord. The authority in the church is the headship of the Lord.
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