One day a sister told me about a Brethren assembly in Vancouver, British Columbia, that was divided over the matter of using a piano and organ in the meetings. One group was in favor of the organ, but not the piano, and the other group favored the piano, but not the organ. As a result they were divided into two assemblies, the organ assembly and the piano assembly. This division came from their ordinances.
In 1963 in Los Angeles the leaders of at least three particular groups came together with the desire to practice the church life. When this was proposed to me, I said, “It is wonderful for us Christians to come together. However, I must remind you that believers have been divided by different teachings, opinions, and ordinances.” Among these groups one had a Brethren background, and another had a charismatic background. As every Christian knows, these two kinds of groups could never get along together. Nevertheless, at that time they all agreed to meet together. Then I said, “Both those with the Brethren background and those with the Pentecostal background must drop their opinions, practices, and ordinances. If not, you will never be one.” Those in all the groups agreed to drop their opinions and ordinances. Thus, they came together. The first meeting was held the first Sunday of March, 1963. I was present in that meeting, and it was rather good. There were no ordinances. The following Sunday I was in New York. In that meeting the ones with the Pentecostal background began to speak in tongues, and those with the Brethren background attempted to stop them. This resulted in a fight in the meeting. The next day I received a phone call telling me to come back to take care of the situation. The brother who called was one from a Brethren background. He said that some sisters had not only spoken in tongues, but even played tambourines. I asked him what was wrong with the tambourines, and I told him to come together and forget about the ordinances. I reminded him that they all had said amen to my word about dropping their ordinances. However, the brother said that he could not tolerate this situation. Soon I returned to Los Angeles. Those from the Brethren background told me that they could not tolerate the playing of the tambourine in the meeting. I said, “Brothers, in the eyes of the Lord, what is the difference between a piano and a tambourine?” When they admitted that there was no difference, I said, “Since there is no difference in the eyes of the Lord between a piano and a tambourine, why would you accept the playing of the piano, but refuse to tolerate the playing of the tambourine?” They said that they did not like it and that they would not take it. They would accept a piano, but not a tambourine. I said, “Brothers, if this is your attitude, then our joint meeting is through.”
After this, I spoke with those who practiced speaking in tongues. I said, “Brothers, I have learned that last Sunday some of you spoke in tongues and played the tambourine.” When I said this, they became very touchy and replied, “Brother Lee, those brothers don’t know their spirit. When we spoke in tongues, they called a hymn to stop us.” I replied, “Brothers, from the very beginning I told you that in order to have a joint meeting with the leaders from different backgrounds, we all had to drop our practices and opinions. But if you insist on speaking in tongues and playing the tambourine, eventually the others will stop coming to the meetings, and you will be the only ones left. What then would be the use for us to come together?” Then they said, “Brother Lee, do you like the playing of tambourines and speaking in tongues?” I said, “It is not a matter of what I like or don’t like. It is a matter of having the church life. If I had the church life according to my preference, that would not be the church life. Rather, it will be something according to my choice.” Eventually, those on both sides took my word and agreed to come together again. However, when we came together, those from the Pentecostal background still cared only for speaking in tongues and playing the tambourines. They had forgotten what I had said to them and their agreement. Those from the Brethren background looked down upon those who spoke in tongues and did everything possible to control the meeting. As time went by, the tongue-speakers gradually departed. What remained was a group of people talking about the Bible in the way of dead knowledge. They killed everything.
The problem today is that every group of Christians has its own ordinances. Some, turning the question to me, have asked, “Don’t you have pray-reading and calling on the name of the Lord?” I said, “Yes, we do, but these are not our ordinances. Sometimes we practice pray-reading in the meetings and sometimes we don’t.” But some began to oppose the matter of pray-reading and calling on the name of the Lord, saying it was the release of the soul, not the release of the spirit. When I heard that a particular brother had opposed pray-reading and calling on the Lord, I said to the brother who had informed me of this, “Please ask him this question: While you are condemning pray-reading and calling on the name of the Lord, are you speaking from your spirit or from your soul?”