Now we must consider how to discern the church, that is, what the church is and what it is not. This is a great question. When we meet some Christians or a Christian group, they may say that they are the church, but how do we discern whether or not they truly are the church? How can we judge this matter? If we want to discern whether a Christian group is the church, the strongest basis for discerning this is the fact that the church is the Body of Christ. The church as the Body of Christ comes out of Christ and is unto Christ. This is the strongest basis for discerning the church. If a person does not know this, he cannot know the church in an accurate way; his knowledge concerning the church will be outward rather than inward.
We need to realize that the church is out of Christ and produced by Christ. Since Christ produces the church, the church and Christ are one, and the church is Christ Himself. This word may sound very simple, but we must have a thorough understanding and a clear view in order to discern whether or not a Christian group is the church. Because there are many aspects in the interpretation of this matter, we need to spend some time to study it.
We cannot remain as children; rather, we need to become full grown. We all know that children like outward excitement. If we tell them stories and play with them, they are very interested and excited. However, if we talk to them about their grandfathers and genealogy, they quickly become bored. This is because they cannot receive serious matters; they can only receive exciting things. Often we are like little children, who can receive only exciting messages, not serious messages. If someone wants to tell us about our spiritual genealogy, we begin to fall asleep and are unable to listen. It seems as if these things do not matter to us. Consequently, few among God’s children are able to receive these words.
Indeed, these words cannot be received by those who like outward excitement. This word can be received only by those who follow the Lord in a serious way, those who want to know their spiritual genealogy and history, those who desire to know who they are. These matters are of no consequence to an immature Christian; however, the more mature a Christian is, the more he wants to know these matters.
No person has two bodies. If someone had two bodies, he would be a monster. Christ has only one Body, and this shows that in the whole universe there is only one church, not two. In the past I traveled quite frequently, and when people met me, they always asked, “Where do you live?” If I replied, “I live in Taipei,” then they would ask, “How many churches are in Taipei?” I did not know how to answer them because this can be compared to asking, “How many bodies does a person have?” Regrettably, many Christians ask this kind of question. Similarly, if someone comes from Tainan, people ask, “How many churches are in Tainan?” This question has no basis in the truth; however, this kind of talk is very common in Christianity.
When people ask how many churches are in the place we live, we should be very clear that this is the same as asking someone from the United States how many moons are in New York or asking someone from England how many suns are in London. This would be a joke. Everyone knows that there is only one sun and one moon for us in the universe, but there are thousands and millions of stars. According to typology in the Bible, the sun typifies Christ (Mal. 4:2), the moon typifies the church (S. S. 6:10), and the stars typify the saints (Gen. 22:17). Just as there is only one sun, there is also only one moon; just as there is only one Christ, there is also only one church. The church as the Body of Christ cannot be two; she can only be one.
Some have asked, “Since there are several dozen local churches in Taiwan, how can there be only one church?” This is like saying that there must be many moons in Taiwan since there are different expressions of the moon in Taiwan. If we ask the brothers from England how many moons are in England, they would laugh and answer that there is only one moon. Only a little child, thinking there must be many moons because there is an expression of the moon in many places, would say, “I saw a moon in England, and I saw another moon in the United States.” Even in two hundred and eighty different places, there will not be two hundred and eighty moons. We all know that there is only one moon.
There is only one church in the universe. However, the church is expressed in each locality. There is one expression in Taipei, one expression in Tainan, one expression in Taichung, and one expression in Kaohsiung. Wherever there is a group of Christians, there is an expression of the church in that place. We need to see that the church is one and that there is only one church in the universe. Nevertheless, the church is expressed in localities; every locality has an expression of the church. In a large locality, there may be a larger expression; in a small locality, there may be a smaller expression. But whether the locality is large or small, the nature of the expression is the same; the church is one. Regardless of how many expressions there are and regardless of whether these expressions are large or small, they are all one.
We have clearly seen that there is only one church in the universe. In principle, the church should have only one expression in the locality of Taipei. This is correct. Nevertheless, we need to ask about the present condition in Taipei. If we ask how many churches are in Taipei, we are speaking like those in Christianity. Instead, we should ask about the condition of the church in Taipei. Today there should be only one expression of the church in Taipei, but we actually see a different situation. Seemingly there are many different expressions, as if someone has cut the moon into pieces, hanging one piece in the southwest corner of the city and another piece in the southeast corner. It seems as if people are unable to see one moon in Taipei. Instead, they see individual pieces, perhaps as many as thirty-five scattered and broken pieces. This is not a normal situation.
We should see only one “moon” in Taipei. However, we do not see one “moon” in Taipei but rather many fragmented and individual pieces. Consider the neighborhood around Jen-Ai Road. There are at least three different signs: one says Baptist Church, another says Presbyterian Church, and a third says Christian Assembly Place. This is not normal; it is abnormal. This abnormality is caused by man’s confusion. I do not need to say too much here, but I want to show the saints that the genuine condition of the church is one of confusion. Based on the revelation in the Bible, there is only one church in the universe, and there should be only one expression of the church in each locality. However, today this expression is fragmented, confused, and abnormal. We can see many different groups in one place, but they are not proper. The church should express a condition of being one, not one of being fragmented and scattered.