For the church life, there are two main and basic aspects. We must be thoroughly clear about these, for without them we have no reality of the church life. The first is that Christ Himself is the life, the content, and everything in the church. It is absolutely not a matter of forms, doctrines, or certain kinds of expressions. Those who are really in the church life are those who are experiencing Christ as their very life day by day. Christ is everything to them; therefore, Christ is their life and content whenever they come together. The practice of the church life is a life of Christ and a life with Christ as everything.
The second main aspect of the church life is that of the standing or the ground of the church. This term, the church ground, was first used by Brother Watchman Nee in 1937. Before 1937, we never heard or saw this term, and the matter of the ground of the church, as far as we have been able to determine, was not known.
The ground of the church is not the foundation of the church. The foundation of the church is Christ. “Another foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). The ground is completely different from the foundation. The foundation is a basic and integral part of the construction of a building, whereas the ground is not. The ground is a piece of land, called the site, upon which the foundation is laid. It is not part of the construction but simply a lot upon which the construction is placed. We must not mistake the ground for the foundation or the foundation for the ground. They are two vital, yet distinct entities for the construction of a building. Although the foundation may be deeply embedded in the ground, it is still distinct and separate from it. The ground is the standing on which the foundation is laid.
There are many so-called churches established in Los Angeles. One, the Roman Catholic Church, claims to be built upon Christ as its foundation. Another, the Presbyterian Church, also claims that its foundation is none other than Christ. The Baptists, Quakers, Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Nazarenes, and many others claim the same thing. In fact, there is not one so-called Christian church which does not. They all claim Christ as their foundation, but they have absolutely neglected the ground.
What are the actual grounds upon which so many of these so-called churches have laid Christ as their foundation? What is the ground of the Roman Catholic Church? Without a doubt, it is Rome. The Roman Catholic Church claiming Christ as its foundation is built upon the ground of Roman Catholicism. Upon what ground is the Presbyterian Church built? It is clear that their ground is a certain system of government called the presbytery. They have laid the foundation of Christ upon the ground of the presbytery. What about the Baptists? They with Christ as their foundation are built upon the ground of baptism, baptism by immersion. Then there are the Lutherans. They have laid their foundation upon the ground of Luther and his teachings. You see, all the “churches” claim the same foundation, which is Christ; but they all stand upon different grounds. It is the different grounds that create the problem for the unity of the church, not Christ as the foundation.
Let us suppose that every group of Christians in Los Angeles would be willing to relinquish its own particular ground: the Roman Catholics would give up the ground of Roman Catholicism, the Presbyterians would give up the ground of the presbytery, the Baptists would give up the ground of baptism, etc.—all the groups would be willing to abandon their own ground. What would be the result? All sectarian grounds would disappear and spontaneously only one unique and common ground would exist, the ground of locality, the ground of Los Angeles. All the saints in Los Angeles would then be in the one church in Los Angeles without any division. All the different denominations would be gone, and only the saints with Christ would be left. Then all the saints here, with the one Christ, would form the one unique church in Los Angeles. Composed together and built upon Christ as their foundation, they would be standing simply upon the ground of Los Angeles, which is the local ground, the unique ground of genuine unity. That is the only proper ground for the local church in Los Angeles and the only ground which can keep all the saints in this locality in oneness.
When Paul went to Corinth to preach the gospel and do the work of the Lord, did he establish a Pauline church with Christ as its foundation? Did Apollos, who also ministered in Corinth, establish a church upon the ground of Apollos with Christ as its foundation? Or did Peter, who may also have gone to Corinth, form a Petrine church with Christ as the foundation? Of course, they did not. In Corinth there was no Pauline church, no Apollonian church, and no Petrine church. Then what did they do? When Paul went to Corinth and brought people to the Lord, he established the church in Corinth. Upon what ground? Upon the ground of Corinth. He set up a local church in Corinth with Christ as its foundation upon the unique ground of locality. When Apollos went to Corinth, he did not set up another church. He built up the saints upon the same unique foundation and upon the same unique ground, the ground of Corinth. Paul planted them on that ground, and Apollos watered them on that ground. First Corinthians 1:2 says, “The church [singular] of God which is in Corinth.” Paul, Apollos, and Peter brought their varied ministries to Corinth, but they all built one church with one foundation upon the one ground of unity. So eventually only one church existed in Corinth with one kind of saints, one foundation which is Christ, and one ground which was the common standing in the entire locality. One church, one foundation, one ground— it is so clear.
The problem today is not with the foundation but with the ground. This is why we say that if we would have the church life, we must consider the ground as the second essential point we must take into account. Without Christ as our life and content and without the ground of unity with the saints in the locality in which we live as our definite standing, we cannot practice the church life.
There are multitudinous so-called churches and free groups in Los Angeles. Why is there so much division? The problem, as we have seen, is not due to the foundation but to the ground. You may say that the free groups have no ground. But it is hard for us to believe that any free group exists without any ground. The ground may be unwritten and undeclared, but nevertheless understood. How could there be a group without any ground? If so, they must be floating in the air! Even a single man requires some ground upon which to stand, though it be only a square foot of earth. With every free group, there must be some kind of ground. Do not be cheated, do not be deceived. They do not have any designated or denominated ground, but they do have a ground which is understood.
Brothers and sisters, upon what ground are you standing? Are you standing upon any denominational or sectarian ground, declared or undeclared, written or unwritten? Any ground that supports a division among God’s people is not right. Any sectarian ground is not justified by the Word of God and is against the basic principle of the Body of Christ. We must give up every other ground and meet together only on the ground of locality, which is the ground of unity, the unique ground of the church. No matter where we are, we have to gather together on the one unique ground of the church in order to keep the unity of the Body of Christ. It is only by taking the ground of unity that the oneness of the Spirit will be kept (Eph. 4:3), and it is only in this way that we will have a proper, genuine, local expression of the Body of Christ.
The Scriptures clearly show us that in every locality the expression of the Body of Christ, that is, the local church, should be just one. There is no place in the Scriptures where there was more than one local church in any given city. If you are living in Los Angeles, you must be built up together with other believers in Los Angeles as the church in that locality. If you are in Tokyo, you must be built up with those who are saved in Tokyo as the church in that locality. As a Christian living in any locality, you must be built up with the other Christians in that locality as the unique local church there, which should be called the church in that place. The one that was built up in Jerusalem was called the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), and the one in Antioch was called the church in Antioch (Acts 13:1). In the same principle, the one in Los Angeles should be called the church in Los Angeles.
How simple, how uncomplicated is this divine way which the Scriptures show us! Wherever we live, we are the church in that place and we build the church in that place. If all God’s people could see this principle and abide by it, there would be no divisions. We can testify that we have seen this ground of unity taken and the church life practiced upon it in many places, and we are seeing it today. From our observation and our own experience we can boldly declare that it really works and it is the most blessed way. Regardless of the grounds upon which others are standing, we must pay the price to stand upon this unique ground of locality, the ground of unity, to be built up with the believers as the proper local church in the locality where we live.
We must come out of the divisions, not to form another division, but to come back to the proper ground, the ground of unity. There is no reason for us to be divided. We are all members of the one unique church. Why not simply come together with the believers in the locality where we live to be an expression of that church? Let us not be complicated and confused by Christianity. It is a shameful thing to ask people to what church they belong. If they are believers, they are our brothers—that is all. I belong to the unique church, and they belong to the same unique church.
More than thirty-five years ago in Shanghai, a brother with a Bible in his hand was taking the street car to go to a meeting. Another believer on the street was distributing tracts to the passengers, and when he saw the brother with his Bible he said, “Oh, you must be a brother!” The brother answered that he was indeed a brother. Then he asked him, “To what church do you belong?” The brother answered: “I belong to the same church to which you belong, the same church to which the apostle Paul, the apostle Peter, the apostle John, and Martin Luther belonged, and the same church to which all believers belong.” When he heard that, he said, “That would be wonderful!”
Surely, it is wonderful. Oh, let us all come together on the unique ground of unity to have a proper expression of this one church in the place where we live. May the Lord be merciful to us.