1. “To the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea”; “The seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Rev. 1:11, 20).
We also should understand the relationship between local churches. The New Testament clearly shows that local churches are independently administrated and directly responsible to the Head, Christ. This can be seen with the seven churches in Asia Minor in the first century; each was an individual lampstand living directly before its Head, Christ, and was directly responsible to Him. They did not have a regional board, a central board, a unified council, or other kind of organization. There is no such thing as a head church, branch church, superior church, inferior church, or other form of differentiation. All the churches are equal. No church can control the affairs of another church, nor should any church control the affairs of several other churches. The administration of a church is local and directly under the authority of Christ the Head. In the province of Galatia there were only churches (Gal. 1:2); there was no regional board or general council. In Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, there were churches throughout the region (Acts 9:31); there were no regional boards or general councils. [See footnote 1 on verse 31 of the Recovery Version.] The church in Jerusalem was not the head church of the churches in Judea, nor was the church in Antioch the head church of the Gentile churches. The churches in Ephesus and Corinth were not head churches in their respective regions. Every local church, regardless of its size, is administrated locally and is managed directly by the Head; it is responsible to Him.
God wants every local church to be administered locally so that Christ the Head can have the absolute position in every local church and so that the Holy Spirit can exercise complete authority in every local church. Whenever the church has a general council, a regional council, a unified council, or any kind of organization, it cannot be controlled directly by Christ the Head and cannot be directly under the authority of the Holy Spirit. This kind of organization damages and frustrates the position of Christ the Head and the authority of the Holy Spirit in the church. All general boards, regional councils, unified councils, and other such organizations in Christianity are against the teaching of the Bible. They also damage the position of Christ as Head in the church and frustrate the Holy Spirit in the exercise of His authority in the church. This offends the Lord very much!
Although the local churches are administered locally, they have the same life and fellowship because they are the one Body of Christ. Although there are many outward expressions of administration, they have only one inward life. Despite the fact that their administration is distinct, their fellowship is not separate.
If a local church is normal and spiritual, her fellowship with other local churches will be sufficient and thorough even though her administration is absolutely independent. She may supply other local churches with the supply of life, spiritual help, and the light of the truth, or she may receive the same from other churches. Furthermore, a strong and large local church should bear responsibility to help a weaker and smaller local church in spiritual matters. A weaker and smaller local church should also be willing to receive help from other churches. In conclusion, there should neither be administrative unification or administrative interference in matters between local churches, but there should be the fellowship, mutual help in spiritual matters, and the leading and following of one another in the truth.
A local church should maintain her administrative independence as well as keep the oneness of the fellowship. The administration of a church is local and thus independent; the fellowship of the church is the fellowship of the Body and thus is one. On the one hand, a local church should not lose her local independence in administration, and on the other hand, she should not lose the oneness of the Body in her fellowship. If a local church loses its administrative independence, it will lose its local character. If a local church loses the oneness of its fellowship, it will become a local sect. A local church must not lose its local character nor become a local sect. Therefore, it must preserve the independence of its administration and the oneness of its fellowship. Preserving the local independence of administration as well as the oneness of the fellowship in the Body is the normal condition of a local church. A local church should preserve the independence of its local administration and preserve the oneness of the fellowship of the Body with other local churches.