Many times the responsible ones in the districts may have this kind of thought: “It seems that because the brothers do not let me make decisions or carry things out by myself, they are not allowing me to fulfill my duty. Since they do not let me make decisions and act independently, they are not allowing me to fulfill my ministry. This being the case, I might as well not be a responsible one in a district meeting.” It seems that if we do not have a position, we do not need to do anything. If there are thirty district meetings in the church in Taipei, and every responsible one takes this kind of attitude, instead of thirty districts we will immediately see thirty churches. This is the practice of the Congregationalist churches and the Baptist churches, and this practice is called congregationalism. Congregationalists advocate that each congregation is a church. They do not practice having one church in a locality with many district meetings; rather, they have many congregations within a single locality. Each congregation is a small church, and they are all independent of one another.
Congregationalism is a practice that came out of private churches, which in turn came out of state churches. Congregationalism is the product of a particular environment, or background. Those in the state churches believed that there should be only one church and that the church should have organization and various ranks. Those with a higher rank ruled over those with a lower rank. Some people, however, felt that this practice was not right, and with the background of the state churches, they conceived of another “ism” and produced another result. They held that Christians in every place should live before the Lord individually; however, for the convenience of meeting, they should come together to form a self-governing congregation. Since they considered each congregation as an independent unit, they naturally believed that there could be many churches in one locality. Congregationalism is very close to the teaching in the Bible, but those who advocated it did not see that the church must take a locality as its ground, not a congregation.
Congregationalism is right in a certain aspect, that is, it advocates that each congregation is independent in administration and lives directly before the Lord; however, it does not realize that there should be only one church in one locality. The truth is that the church in a locality should live directly before the Lord, having its own administration and no organization ruling over it. However, a church should not be divided into several churches within one locality. Regardless of the size of a locality, according to the revelation in the Bible, there can be only one church within a locality.
The reason we encounter difficulties is that God’s goal is for us to learn serious spiritual lessons. Formerly, big Chinese families liked to have several generations living under the same roof. In contrast, people in modern times like to have small families. Such families are more convenient and free. Two families may love one another, and if there is no relationship in organization or responsibility between them, they will live peacefully. If, however, they both live in a big house with all kinds of relatives, there will be many troubles due to their living together. Although there may be troubles, if the families do not divide, it will force them to learn certain lessons. We may use another illustration. If a woman is married to a man who has no relatives, she will become the queen of a small family; however, if she marries someone in a big family, she will have to learn lessons every day.
The important principle we must learn is the lesson of oneness. Whether we do well and have the Lord’s presence after we have subdivided from halls into districts depends not upon how good or bad the arrangement is or how right or wrong the system is but upon whether the saints, the elders, and the responsible ones in the districts have learned the necessary lessons. If we have not learned these lessons, the situation will be dead, chaotic, or rigid.
For the elders of the church in Taipei to be in so many different districts in a large church, they absolutely need to be spiritual. If an elder in a small local church is not that spiritual, it will not have too much impact, but in a large church with many district meetings and complicated affairs, the elders must be spiritual. If not, several negative results may be produced. First, the elders may become jobless, having nothing to do, because everything will be arranged and managed by the responsible ones in the district meetings. Second, the elders may hold on to all the authority and immediately cause a hierarchy to be produced. They may want people to obey their arrangement in everything; thus, they will need to manage and direct everything. Hence, if the elders are not spiritual and focus only on arrangement and management, a hierarchy will surely be produced. Third, the elders and the responsible ones in the districts may have many troubles and disputes with one another. It is important that the relationship between the elders and the responsible ones be proper. If they have not learned the lessons well or adequately, the result will be either confusion or rigidity in the church.
In the same principle, the more that district meetings are produced, the more the responsible ones need to be spiritual. If they are not spiritual, the following will result: First, the responsible ones may not fulfill their duty and function. This will happen if they think that they should not do anything, because they cannot make any decisions. Second, they may become mechanical by trying to act only according to the elders’ decisions, because they think that they should not and cannot do anything without the elders’ consent. Third, they may become independent in their decisions and actions and not arrange or manage the affairs of the districts under the elders’ supervision. This will produce confusion in the larger sphere of the church.