Many in Christianity accept Brother Nee's ministry on Christ, but they reject his ministry on the practicality of the church. I have shared previously how Brother Nee went to visit the Plymouth Brethren in England in 1933. Before that time he had read many of the Brethren's writings. Also, through Miss M.E. Barber, he became acquainted with the writings of Jessie Penn-Lewis and T. Austin-Sparks. When he went to visit the Brethren in 1933, he also went to visit Brother Austin-Sparks at Honor Oak in London. The Brethren were bothered about this because they were exclusive. They thought that Brother Nee had joined them and that he should not contact Brother Austin-Sparks' group. During that time the Brethren took him to Canada and the United States. When he returned, he personally told me all the things concerning his trip.
In our consideration we realized that we could neither follow the way of the Brethren nor follow the way of Brother Austin-Sparks. The way of the Brethren was exclusive, and the way of Brother Austin-Sparks was without practicality. The Brethren wrote us several letters, and we replied to them in 1935.
Later Brother Nee went to Europe again in 1938, and he stayed there for one and a half years to have more fellowship. Mostly he was with Brother Austin-Sparks' group at Honor Oak. He was also invited to speak in some of the Scandinavian countries. In those one and a half years, he ministered mainly on the aspect of Christ as life because he realized that the people there were not ready to accept the aspect of the church in a practical way. The Normal Christian Life is a collection of the messages Brother Nee gave then. These messages were collected and edited by Angus Kinnear, who was a medical student under Brother Nee's teaching.
While Brother Nee was there, he also translated The Normal Christian Church Life from Chinese to English. He did that, of course, with a purpose. This book was translated in London while he was staying at Honor Oak. Miss Fishbacher helped him in this translation work. That book was printed by the bookroom of Brother Austin-Sparks. After it was published, it stirred up some problems. Brother Austin-Sparks told me many years later that The Normal Christian Church Life should either not be published anymore or that some corrections and changes should be made in it. Of course, The Normal Christian Church Life is about the practicality of the church and the truth concerning one church in one city.
At the end of Brother Nee's one-and-a-half-year stay in England, the people at Honor Oak had a farewell meeting for him and asked him to give a word. He gave a short word saying that people's talking about the church is like carpenters' talking about making a chair. It is one thing to talk about making a chair, but where is the chair? Then he said, "Many people are talking about the church, but I would ask, 'Where is the church?'"