Moreover, the main reason that we do not want to have any part in the work and activity of Christianity and its organized groups is that we fear to have improper involvement. Almost all the work and activity of Christianity and its organized groups are directly or indirectly connected to other matters. Incredibly, these matters have attracted many people, causing them to ignore the potential spiritual outcomes. This is what we cannot accept.
What we pay attention to is the intention in God’s heart, that is, the church—not only in its universal aspect but also in its local aspect. Hence, we emphasize the ground and consider that it is a necessary starting point for all our work. The local ground of the church presents people with a great and high demand. We deeply sense that we should maintain God’s high standard and not let anything lower this standard. There are many works, activities, and organizations in Christianity that we cannot participate in because we need to maintain a high standard.
After I spoke with the brother from Hong Kong, he said that it is good that we have such a principle, because it prevents our work from falling into error, becoming extreme, or producing a way that seeks only a result and does not care for the original purpose and desire of the work. However, he also told us that if we were willing to adjust our principle just a little in order to take part in his students’ work, we would surely obtain a good result. At this point, I was clear within that we did not need to talk further.
This conversation caused me to have a deep realization that many who zealously love the Lord pay too much attention to work and not enough attention to spiritual reality. Even those who have much spiritual knowledge and who help people to be spiritual share this fault. It is pitiful that there is hardly anyone who wholeheartedly takes care of the Lord’s testimony. Nevertheless, the Lord has had mercy on us to raise us up for the sake of His testimony, not for the sake of a work.
I spoke for two hours with this brother on the morning of April 22. What I shared earlier is only a summary of that conversation. After my fellowship with him, I discovered that he had already spent four hours the previous day talking about his students’ work with a brother who is a professor at National Taiwan University. His hope was that this brother would cooperate with him in this matter. After speaking with me, he also had a long talk with a brother co-working among us who has recently returned from the United States. The words he spoke with these two brothers in his contact with them required that I have open fellowship with him in order to clarify the entire situation. Therefore, I immediately requested that someone contact him and ask him to meet with me so that I could clarify this matter with him in a thorough way.
When he met with me the second time, I restated my former fellowship with him, telling him that the previous day I had shared with him that we do not encourage the brothers and sisters to participate in the work or activity of Christianity or any organized Christian group. I stated even more clearly that we do not believe that those things are right. Even though we do not think that they are right, we acknowledge the Lord’s sovereignty, and we do not want to interfere with or oppose these works. He did not disagree regarding this matter.
Then I continued to speak concerning our ground, saying that people in Protestantism, especially the missionaries, seem to have an unfair view. In their view, Catholicism should be forsaken and isolated, but Protestantism should not be forsaken or isolated. However, we do not recognize the Catholic Church, and neither do we recognize the Protestant churches. In principle, according to our view, the Protestant churches are no different than the Catholic Church. Although they differ in degree, they are the same in principle. Therefore, in terms of principle, just as we do not want to have any part in Catholicism, we also do not want to have any part in Protestantism.
Today people in Protestantism do not want and will not have a part in Catholicism, but they blame us for not having a part in Protestantism. If people in Protestantism blame us for not participating in or uniting with Protestantism, we must ask them why they refuse to participate in or unite with Catholicism. It is the same in principle. The reason they do not participate in or unite with Catholicism is the very reason that we do not participate in or unite with Protestantism. We cannot do anything in regard to Catholicism, and we also cannot do anything in regard to Protestantism.
In conclusion, we should not interfere or debate over such matters. We can only humble ourselves willingly and walk before the Lord according to the calling and the commission that we have received in regard to the testimony that we feel the Lord wants us to bear. We do not want to interfere with others or intervene in their work; likewise, we hope that others will not interfere with us or intervene in our work.
My words caused this brother to speak many inaccurate things, using the same condemning words spoken concerning us by Western missionaries. His attitude and spirit were good, but the words he used were inaccurate. He said, “Are you the only church, and is no one else the church? Are you the best, and does no one else compare to you? If we fellowship with you, must we sever our ties with others?” I replied, “Your words make me feel that either my earlier speaking was not clear or that your understanding was not clear.” Hence, I needed to clarify a little more.