Some people may ask, “Are there workers in the local church?” If we read the entire New Testament carefully, we will see that there were no apostles in the local church. The sphere of the work of an apostle is extra-local. Acts 13:1 says, “Now there were in Antioch, in the local church, prophets and teachers.” Surprisingly, there is no mention of apostles in the church in Antioch. Neither does one find apostles in other churches. However, 1 Corinthians 12:28 says, “God has placed some in the church: first apostles...” How can we explain this? On one hand, there are no apostles in the local church; on the other hand, the Bible says that God has placed apostles in the church. If we read these portions carefully, we will come to the conclusion that although there are no apostles in the local church, there are apostles in the universal church.
There are many local churches in the universal church, but there are no apostles in the local churches. The apostles are only in the universal church. In the apostles’ time there were two regions: the Jewish region and the Gentile region. Peter and John were apostles among the Jews in the Jewish region, and Paul and Barnabas were apostles among the Gentiles in the Gentile region. If we read the New Testament carefully, we can tell whether a church was composed mostly of Jewish believers or Gentile believers. The universal church consists of these two regions. In each of these regions there were particular apostles. The churches in these regions there were established by the apostles laboring among them. Hence, within the Jewish and Gentile regions there were many local churches.
By reading Acts we can see that Peter and John, as apostles in the Jewish region, established churches in that region. They established the church in Jerusalem, and through the laying on of hands, they established the church in Samaria. Paul and his co-workers established churches in the Gentile region. Hence, in the universal church there are two regions and many localities. Workers labor in a region and establish churches locality by locality.
Churches are local, whereas workers are extra-local. Thus, we need to consider the relationship between the church and the workers. When an apostle is raised up, it means that this apostle has been sent to establish churches locality by locality. As a result, the local churches, the elders, and the deacons are all established by the apostle. Hence, an apostle can be said to be the highest authority in the work.
Apostles do not belong to any local church; they are workers laboring extra-locally in order to care for and minister to the local churches in every place. All the churches everywhere are equal; there is no headquarters. This is truly wonderful. In the Bible we cannot find any headquarters. This is different from the Roman Catholic Church, which takes the Vatican as its headquarters. This is also different from Protestantism, in which various sects and denominations each have their own headquarters. In the Bible the church did not have a headquarters. All the local churches, regardless of their size, were equal, autonomous in administration, living directly under Christ the Head, and directly responsible to the Head. The church in Jerusalem did not control the church in Samaria, nor did the church in Samaria control the church in Jerusalem. Today, in like manner, the church in Manila should not control the church in Hong Kong, nor should the church in Hong Kong control the church in Manila. The church in Manila should not control the church in Iloilo, nor should the church in Iloilo control the church in Manila. Although the church in Manila is much bigger than the church in Iloilo, the two churches are both equally subject to Christ the Head. This is the relationship among the churches in all the localities.
The relationship between the local churches and the workers is related to a local church’s being established and edified by a group of workers. If a local church is established and edified by a certain group of workers, it should recognize the spiritual authority of these workers. These apostles, or workers, have spiritual authority in relation to the churches that they establish and edify. A proper local church will receive the authority of these workers and be led and edified by them. This is the relationship between the local churches and the workers.