A proper church must not only take the way of life; it must also be inclusive. We must be inclusive of and open to all the Lord’s children, and we must be inclusive of all spiritual matters. In particular, there are at least five items of which we must be inclusive—life, the truth, the church, the gospel, and power. In every local church we must have the line of the inner life, the line of the truth, the line of the church life, the line of the preaching of the gospel, which includes the preaching of the gospel in foreign countries, and the line of power, which includes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A local church must be inclusive of these five lines. We should not say, “We are evangelical,” or “We are solely taking the line of the church.” Every local church must have a balanced diet. If we are not inclusive of these five lines, we will automatically become sectarian. I cannot agree with the fundamentalists who are against the Pentecostal movement. This is wrong. We must be inclusive of even the Pentecostal movement. Some other groups are opposed to the teachings of the Brethren, considering their teachings to be merely dead teachings. This is also sectarian and extreme. Although the Brethren may be lacking in life, many of their teachings are very sound. Thus, we must learn the truths that they teach. This does not mean that we should receive everything; we need to discern what is right and what is wrong. Nevertheless, we must be inclusive. If we are inclusive, the Lord will be with us. If we are exclusive, we will lose certain aspects of the Lord’s blessing. We must receive, take, and be inclusive of everything that is scriptural and spiritual.
If someone comes among us and begins to speak in tongues, we must welcome him. If someone presents a certain truth from a passage of the Scriptures, we should receive him as well. This is the Lord’s way. The Lord is deep and great, and what He gives to His Body is inclusive. Over the past two thousand years the Lord has given many things to His Body, and we must receive them all. However, we must not follow any one item to the exclusion of the others. We should receive every item, but we should not follow any one item in a particular way.
In the Far East, friends would often come to visit us. While they were with us, they would see many new things. After being with us for one day, they would say, “You people are very much like those in the Pentecostal movement.” After being with us for a few more weeks, they would change their mind and say, “You people are very much like the Brethren.” Then after attending another meeting, they would tell us, “Today you are just like the Methodists.” After another month they might see a baptism among us, and then they would say, “Actually, you are just like the Baptists.” In fact, all these observations are correct. This is why this part of the Lord’s work in China has been so blessed by the Lord. It has been blessed because it is not closed to any of the Lord’s children or to anything good that is from the Lord. We receive everything that is of the Lord. We have even received some things from the Catholics and have translated a number of books that were written by Brother Lawrence and Father Fenelon. Because we have been inclusive in this way, the Lord has blessed us.
According to the Scriptures, we should stress only two matters—Christ and the church. If we are going to stress anything, we must stress Christ as life and everything to us and the church as the expression of Christ. These two items are all-inclusive; all the other items are contained within them. Many of us may have experienced some of the Pentecostal things, but we should never say that we are only Pentecostal. If we say this, we kill ourselves. The Pentecostal grace is only one of the many graces that the Lord has given and is still giving to His Body. Surely we must give heed to the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but we should not stress this too much. The experience of Pentecost is a minor point; it is not the central matter. The central matter is Christ and the church, that is, Christ with His Body. We agree with and appreciate all the good and scriptural things in Christianity, but if someone neglects Christ as life or opposes the church, we cannot stand with him. To neglect Christ as life or to oppose the church is to spoil the Lord’s eternal purpose. Everything is for Christ and the church, including justification, sanctification, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Thus, we must be inclusive, but if anyone opposes Christ or is against the church, we cannot agree with him.
If we are genuinely inclusive of all the Lord’s children and of all the good things that are of the Lord, we will be blessed by the Lord. On the one hand, we will be a reservoir to contain the Lord’s blessing, and on the other hand, we will be a stream to flow out the Lord’s blessing. Thus, let us all endeavor to be inclusive.