I would like to point out two important matters. First, God’s intention is for the church to be one. God cannot permit two churches to exist in the universe. God’s intention is to have only one church. Moreover, God wants only one expression of this church in each locality. He does not want two or more expressions.
Why does God want only one church in the universe and only one expression of the church within each locality, rather than many churches in the universe and many expressions within each locality? The reason is that oneness is the nature of the church. If the nature of oneness is damaged, the oneness of the church is damaged. For the sake of its nature of oneness, the church must be one at every level of its manifestation. The church must be one universally, and the church must also be one within a given locality, however small it may be.
Second, God desires that every saint in the Body of Christ be a member who has a function and fulfills his function. A saint under normal conditions, unless he fails to grow in life or is hindered in his growth, should be a functioning member, not a non-functioning member.
It is truly difficult to carry out these two matters simultaneously. If we divide the brothers and sisters into many small churches, each with eight to ten people or each covering a small street or alley, then everyone will be able to function. The smaller a church is, the more the brothers and sisters are able to function. Conversely, the larger the church, the more difficult it is for every saint to function. Hence, it seems that God has intentionally given us a dilemma. On the one hand, He wants every member to function, and on the other hand, He wants the church to maintain its oneness and not be divided. If God’s Word were to say that it was right to divide the church into many, it would not be difficult for everyone to function. However, God wants everyone to function, yet He does not allow us to be divided. This creates a problem for us.
The principle of the church not being divided is carried out with relative ease in a small locality, but it becomes quite difficult to carry out in a large locality. If a brother moves to a small city, a smaller place where people gather and reside, it will be relatively easy for him to keep the oneness and not divide, because the number of people is small. However, if he moves to a big city, a place as populated as Taipei, it is not as easy to keep the oneness and not divide. However, God desires that every one of us function and that there be only one church. This is quite difficult for large local churches.
We are heavy in heart these days because even though the church is large, it cannot be divided and everyone needs to function. Let us use the church in Taipei as an example. In the church there are seven to eight thousand brothers and sisters, among whom one thousand five hundred to two thousand meet regularly. It is truly difficult for every one of these two thousand saints to function and maintain the church’s nature of oneness. To practice these two aspects simultaneously is troublesome to us.
The burden in this message is not to fellowship regarding the practice of these two matters; rather, it is to point out God’s intention in requiring us to practice both of these matters simultaneously. For example, in a small city there may be only twenty to thirty brothers and sisters. Each one is able to function, and they are kept from being divided. Even if a person wanted to divide this small church into smaller churches composed of just eight to ten people, I believe that the saints would not want to do this. In a big church, however, it is difficult to maintain the oneness and at the same time have everyone function.
Why did God ordain this? What is His intention? His primary intention is that in this difficult situation we would learn spiritual lessons. No matter how big a church may become, it cannot be divided. At the same time, every saint in the church needs to fulfill his function. Because the brothers and sisters are in such a “tight spot,” they must genuinely learn spiritual lessons. Strictly speaking, it does not require that much to learn to be an elder, a deacon, or a full-time serving one in a small locality; however, to be an elder, a deacon, or a full-time serving one in a large locality requires a person to learn many lessons in regard to many matters.
In a large church life we need to be subdivided into districts. If we do not have district meetings, many brothers and sisters will not be able to function. Although it is right for us to divide ourselves into districts, it is not right to divide the church. God allows us to have separate district meetings within the church, but He does not allow us to be divided into many churches within the same locality. Although the saints within one locality compose one church, they may meet in different districts. This is a solemn matter. Recently the brothers have experienced a sense of heaviness. They do not know how to divide the saints into districts without seemingly dividing the church. The brothers are not sure what to do in order to help the saints in different district meetings and yet continue to maintain the oneness of the church. The more district meetings there are, the more difficult it is for the elders and those responsible for the districts.
Let us suppose that a certain brother who is responsible for a district meeting used to be an elder in a small local church. Because there were only twenty to thirty saints, it was easy for him to serve there. Later, due to his job situation or other reasons, he moved to Taipei. Because he loves the Lord and has some spiritual weight and function, he was asked by the church in Taipei to be a responsible one in a district meeting. However, there is a great difference between being a responsible one in a district meeting in a large church and being an elder in a small church. Things may be simple in a small locality, but they are not so simple in a large locality. One surely needs to be spiritual to be an elder in a small locality. However, in order to be responsible for a district meeting in a big locality, one needs to be even more spiritual. This is because in a small local church, it is possible to make decisions or act in an independent way, but as a responsible one in a district meeting within a large local church, one cannot make decisions or act in an independent way. Whatever the responsible one does, he needs to care for the oneness of the church.