When we go out to perfect the home meetings, we need to be aware of the needs of the new ones. This can be compared to a mother raising children. She needs to know when to change their diapers and when to nurse them. Generally speaking, all these things have a set time, but in reality children also have urgent needs that must be taken care of. Similarly, in the matter of perfecting the home meetings, we also need to take care of the urgent needs. At present we are facing an urgent need. Sooner or later the newly saved ones will all ask, “We have been baptized, but where is the church? Where do we go to meet?”
According to the principle, we have not wanted these newly baptized ones to come to our existing meetings right away. Once they come to our existing meetings, they may see our old religious condition and be affected. Since we do not want them to be infected, we have preferred to slow down, not mentioning the church too soon and not letting them know about the church too quickly. Nevertheless, this is like teaching a mother how to raise her children, telling her when to change diapers and when not to change them. If a new mother, who has never raised any children before and has had no experience, receives this teaching, her child may suffer. When his diaper is wet, she will not change it because she is strictly following the teaching to not change diapers until the prescribed time. This causes many problems. At this time many newly baptized brothers and sisters have a need—they want to know the church—but due to our keeping the old fellowship, no one will answer their questions.
In our application, we must learn how to be flexible. When a child’s diaper is wet, we should still change it, even if it does not seem to be the right time. If we continue to wait, problems will arise. Thus, if people ask where our church is, we should tell them honestly where our meeting hall is located. Usually good doctors do not have too many regulations in their treatment. Doctors who strictly follow rules and regulations are novices; experienced doctors usually adapt to the circumstances with boldness and attentiveness. Thirty years ago, a certain brother among us was a good, flexible doctor. On the one hand, he absolutely had the view of Western medicine; on the other hand, he also fully understood the effectiveness of Chinese medicine in healing sickness. Therefore, many people received his help. We should be like him, not being rigid. Rigidity kills people. Only adaptability, flexibility, and pliability can render genuine help to people.
At this time, we need to lead the new ones to know the church. The church is a great topic in the New Testament. The Old Testament does not expressly and clearly speak about the church, but it does have many types and prophecies concerning the church. It is in the New Testament, in Matthew 16:18, that the Lord Jesus used the word church for the first time. This is the first mention of the church in the Bible. Therefore, this is a revelation and very important truth in the New Testament.
In 1957 we invited a famous preacher from abroad to speak to us in Taipei. This gave rise to a problem regarding the ground of the church. After that we released thirty-six messages concerning the ground of the church and published them in a book called The Testimony and the Ground of the Church. This is a very great topic, and we should not take it lightly. However, when we go out to preach, we must speak in a way that is easy to understand, just as a mother becomes a “good doctor” who makes important nutrients and medicines into something very convenient and easy to take in. As far as we know, there are already one hundred fifty homes among us beginning to have the Lord’s table meeting. In principle, once we begin to have the Lord’s table meetings, we should speak to the saints concerning the church, letting the ones who break the bread know what the church is. The breaking of bread, the church, and the Body of Christ are different aspects of one thing. Therefore, since we break bread in the homes, we need to mention the church.
In meeting the needs, we need to be adaptable and flexible, just as a coach teaches people how to play basketball. Having learned the basic techniques of carrying, passing, and shooting the ball, the players still need to be adaptable when they play on the court. I hope that when we go to perfect the home meetings, we will definitely put this into practice. On the other hand, we must not be too rigid in following regulations because this will kill people. Following rules too closely kills people, but transgressing them too much also damages them. We must turn back to our spirit and follow our spirit. This basic fellowship is to help us to apply what we have in the home meetings.
When we speak about the church to the new ones, we first need to help them to understand what the church is. In Chinese culture and history there was never such a thing as the church. Because of this, there is no such term even in the bigger Chinese lexicons and dictionaries.
What is the church? Simply speaking, the church is first of all the called-out congregation, or assembly. The Greek word for church, ekklesia, is composed of two words, ek and klesia. Ek has the meaning of “out,” while klesia refers to a calling. Together these two words mean “a called-out congregation.” When the leaders of ancient Greek cities wanted to gather together all the people in the city, they would call them out. This assembly was the ekklesia, the called-out congregation.
In the New Testament when the Lord Jesus came out for His ministry and spoke of the church (Matt. 16:18), He used this term—ekklesia, a called-out congregation. The Lord Jesus’ use of this term was proper and very significant. Two to three centuries ago, Christianity was spread to China. When the people in Christianity wanted to translate this term, they were influenced by Catholicism and Protestantism in a religious way, thinking that ekklesia was a religious gathering. Therefore, they translated it into chiao-hui, “religious gathering.” While hui (gathering) was correctly translated, chiao (religious) was a misinterpretation. The English usage of the word church may also be inaccurate, because most people consider the church as a chapel. Beginning from 1829 when the Brethren were raised up, including J. N. Darby, they carefully studied this word and learned that ekklesia refers to a called-out congregation. After that they no longer used the word church; rather, they changed it to assembly. Though the word assembly is very good, its meaning in the English language is not as rich as that in the Greek language.
The Open Brethren arrived in China very early, but they did not correct the use of chiao (religious) in chiao-hui (religious congregation) and continued to follow the usage of Christianity. Then in 1915 the Assemblies of God were raised up in the United States. They followed the Brethren in using the word assembly in their name. After that, around 1930, they came to China. When they landed in China, they immediately translated the word assembly into chao-hui (assembly). This translation was good and accurate.
At this time while we are translating the New Testament, we hope to eliminate all religious concepts as much as possible and translate according to the Greek language. Hence, we have translated chiao-hui (religious gathering) into chao-hui (assembly). We hope that gradually in our utterance and nomenclature we will change from chiao-hui into chao-hui. While chao-hui is scriptural, chiao-hui has a religious color. The church is the called-out congregation of God. God has given Christ to be Head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:22).