What is a sect, and what constitutes a sect? There are three obvious items in a sect. First, it has a special creed; second, it has a special fellowship; and third, it has a special name. These three “specials” can be found in almost all the groups in Christianity today. For instance, the Baptist Church strongly emphasizes baptism by immersion in water. We all know that baptism is in the Bible, but to make it a special designation, that is, to make it a special creed, is not of the Bible. The Baptist Church not only requires people to be baptized, but they also emphasize that people must be baptized in their church and in their water and that other baptisms do not count. If someone has already been baptized and wants to attend the meetings in the Baptist Church, he will have to be baptized again by them. This is according to a special creed, which is a matter of their faith which one must follow. As a result, a sect has been produced.
All those who are saved have a common faith. The common faith is this: First, in this universe there is only one God, who is self-existing and ever-existing, who created the heavens and the earth, and who is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Second, God in the Son one day became flesh to be a man. He died on the cross to accomplish redemption for us and was buried. On the third day He resurrected to bring life to us. He then ascended to the heavens, and in heaven He exercises His power for the preaching of the gospel to save sinners and to produce the church on the earth. At the end of this age He will come back again to gather those who have believed into Him. This is our common, fundamental faith. What issues from this common faith is the producing of the church.
To make a special creed out of any condition or matter other than this common faith, even if such a matter is in the Bible, eventually forms a sect. Some Christians were baptized not by immersion but by sprinkling, and some even passed through the flag-waving ceremony of the Salvation Army. No one can say that these people have not believed. Like us, they also hold the common faith of the Triune God, the redemptive death of the Lord Jesus, and His resurrection and ascension. Their distinction is only that they were not baptized by immersion. The Baptist Church treats this belief as a special creed, which has caused them to become a sect.
In accordance with their special creed, the Baptist Church, for example, has a certain fellowship among themselves. This is a special fellowship. Whenever a Baptist Church is about to take the Lord’s supper, someone may make an announcement that those who are not members of that church have to leave. This practice indicates a special fellowship. The Presbyterian Church also has their special fellowship, in which the church is administered by elders. They emphasize this even to the extent that they take the administration of the elders as their name. Theirs is a special creed, and this special creed has produced a special fellowship.
Some say that they are of the Baptist Church, while others say they are of the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, or Episcopalian Church. When you drive through Orange County in Southern California, you may see a sign that says, “The American Anglican Church,” and not long after that you may see another sign that says, “The Taiwanese Church in Orange County.” This is truly saddening. All these special names completely divide the children of God.
All these special names are considered as a sin in the Bible. My own wife should be called Mrs. Lee. To name herself Mrs. Cheung, for example, would be a serious problem. Likewise, the church belongs to Christ. How can it be named the Lutheran Church or the Methodist Church? All these names are wrong. Any name other than the name of Christ is not only divisive but indicates a spiritual sin before God. Therefore, we should not have special creeds, special fellowships, or special names.
We should endeavor to keep the oneness of the Body of Christ. This oneness of the Body is the oneness of the Spirit in Ephesians 4:3. The Spirit who dwells in us is the oneness. As long as we walk according to the Spirit, we will have oneness. But when we do not walk according to the Spirit, differences are produced. The situation in today’s Christianity is mainly due to these three matters—special creeds, special fellowships, and special names. All those who take these three items commit the same transgression of ignoring the Spirit. If all the children of God were to care for the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit, there would be no special creeds, special fellowships, or special names, and spontaneously we all would be one. Our oneness is the Spirit.
When we go to perfect a home meeting, we should not be rigid and unchanging; we need to be flexible. In perfecting people, we need to know their condition. For instance, some people may have been baptized by us, but they were taken away by the denominations. Or some may have thought that they should attend a “service” on the Lord’s Day, so they went by themselves to a certain chapel of a certain group. If this is their condition, we need to receive the Lord’s leading to help them see that the church belongs to Christ and that Christ cannot be divided. The church is the Body of Christ and is unique. Then we should lead them to read the Bible to see that division is fleshy and condemned by God and that we should reject it completely.
We also have to teach them that any group that has a special creed, special fellowship, or special name is a sect. We should discard all these things and follow the Spirit in keeping the oneness of the Body of Christ. This is the proper situation of the church. I believe that the new ones will receive help from this kind of fellowship.
(A message given on March 12, 1987 in Taipei, Taiwan)