Moreover, the local churches should not all be organized into one unit. If the local churches are organized into one unit, this organization will lead to hierarchy, and hierarchy is an insult to the headship of Christ. No local church is higher than any other local church, and no two local churches should be united. As soon as any two churches are united, there is an organization, which will have a head. I am quite concerned regarding this crucial matter. A clever brother among us may exercise his influence and say, “It is foolish for all the churches to be scattered, loose, and unorganized. Let us all come together to organize and form the churches into a strong unit.” If we do not know the truth concerning this matter, we will probably say, “This is not bad. It is a good idea. The United States of America is strong because the fifty states are organized into a federal government with a president.” Some saints may accept this concept. However, if such a thing happens, the headship of Christ will be fully insulted because an organization always leads to a hierarchy, which insults the headship of Christ. God desires that the churches be loosely related to one another in order to keep the headship of Christ. We do not have a federal government among the churches.
The principle of there being no rank or organization among the churches applies also to the work. In the New Testament Peter’s work was among the Jewish believers, and Paul’s work was in the Gentile world (Gal. 2:7-9). However, the Bible never tells us which of these two regions was higher, nor does the Bible show that the two regions merged into one. If two regions of the work merge into one, the result will be an organization of the work.
Thus, in the New Testament we can see that the eldership is plural, all the churches are independent, and the regions of the work are on the same level and never merged together. All this shows that there should be no organization among God’s people in order that there would be no head other than Christ. The unique headship belongs to Christ. In all things we need to honor His headship. Honoring Christ as the unique Head is crucial.
In the last few years there has been a trend among us to organize the local churches in a way that will lead to hierarchy. Some have even said, “So-and-so is going to be the leader in the Lord’s recovery.” This has happened because we are not clear about the truth and because we do not practice the truth. If we are clear about the truth and practice the truth, when we hear such things, we will immediately say, “No, we cannot accept this kind of speaking because in the Lord’s recovery there is no leader. The only Head is Christ.” All the elders are on the same level, all the apostles are on the same level, all the churches are on the same level, and the regions of the work are on the same level. The issue of who is to take the lead at any time is always determined by the spiritual situation at any given time. The elder or church that has the highest spirituality is the one that should take the lead, but this must not be official, permanent, or organizational. It should always depend on the spiritual condition. Practicing in this way keeps God’s people away from the kind of leadership that insults the headship of Christ. This is the truth concerning the constitution of the church. The church is formed according to the truth that Christ is the unique Head. In the Lord’s recovery there is no organization because Christ is the unique Head. The church is built according to this truth.
Suppose a certain local church writes a letter to another church telling them what to do. The brothers in the church that receives the letter need to be strong for the truth and immediately return the letter, saying, “We cannot accept this letter because this is not according to the truth.” We need to make the truth bright. Our practice of the truth needs to be strong. We should not be overly concerned about being polite. The word polite is very similar to the word politics. To be polite is actually to play politics; it is not to speak the truth. If the church in a certain locality tells the brothers in another locality to send them five brothers, the brothers in the second locality should say, “We will not do it; this is not according to the truth.” However, in order to be polite, they may instead say, “Brothers, sorry. We have considered much, but we simply could not find one brother who is willing to go.” If they answer in this way, they are not practicing the truth but are instead playing politics. Playing politics befits a politician, but it disqualifies an elder. An elder must always be frank and strict, speaking the truth. All the politics among us should be dropped. We must all learn the truth and practice the truth.
There may be three elders in the church in a certain locality. Perhaps one day a brother in this locality will say, “Among the three elders, Brother So-and-so is number one.” Right away we should correct such a brother, saying, “Brother, do not say this. There is not such a thing. This is not according to the truth. Having a plurality of elders is according to the truth, but deciding which one is first is not according to the truth.” It is crucial that we know and practice the truth. The United States of America has become a strong nation because it has a strong Constitution and because all the people respect the Constitution. When President Nixon was forced to resign because of the Watergate scandal, I did not feel good about the president being brought down. However, I admired the spirit of the Constitution, which can put aside even the president if he is wrong. The practice of always applying the Constitution makes the United States a strong country. The church should practice the truth in like manner. Furthermore, just as the citizens of the United States know the basic items of the Constitution, so we who are in the churches should know the truth. If we know and practice the truth, the church will be strong.
Concerning any matter of the truth, we should not say, “This is what Brother Lee says.” To say this is wrong. We should not rely on what any brother says; rather, we should rely on the truth. The truth is not what a certain brother says; it is what the Bible says. We need to learn the specific verses that are related to certain truths. Then we can open the Bible to those verses and show others, saying, “Here the Bible says this.” In this way we will not be following any brother; rather, we will be following the truth of the Bible.
Regardless of who comes to us, if he says something different from the truth in the Bible, we need to say, “Brother, we cannot take this.” Some brothers may be like Peter in Matthew 16. In verses 16 through 19 Peter received a heavenly vision, but in verse 22 he was one with Satan. We should rebuke such ones, just as the Lord Jesus did (v. 23). The Bible, the “Constitution” of the church, is fully complete. Paul says in Galatians 1:8, “If even we or an angel out of heaven should announce to you a gospel beyond that which we have announced to you, let him be accursed.” If even the angels or the apostles preach to us another gospel, we should not receive it, because the truth in the Bible has been completed. The truth in the Bible is the “Constitution” of the church. If we know and practice the truth in the Bible, the church will be strong. We need to learn not to say, “Brother So-and-so says...” We need to drop this concept and learn to say, “The Bible says...” We must learn the truth. Then the church will be strong because the church life will not be practiced according to man’s opinion or concept but according to the truth.