If a group calls itself the church, its inward condition, activities, and everything about it must be according to the Bible. According to the Bible, a local church should not have a special name, a special belief, or a special fellowship. Regrettably, most Christian groups today cannot pass these three tests as a filter.
First, almost every group has a name. We know that the moon is the moon; we do not need to add a special name to it. Similarly, the church is the church; she does not need another name. If people ask us what church we are from, we should tell them that we are in the church. If we reply, “I am from the Church Assembly Hall,” it will puzzle people and cause them to wonder exactly what the Church Assembly Hall is. We need to see that the church is one. The name of the church is simply the church; other than this, the church has no other name.
We need to see that “Church Assembly Hall” is not our name; it refers to the place where we meet. For example, the house where Mr. Chang lives is called “Chang’s residence.” This refers only to a place. We do not use “Church Assembly Hall” as our name, but government regulations require us to register a name. Thus, we are forced to use this. We do not have a choice, but we do not designate ourselves by this.
We do not want to use a name, because the church is simply the church; she cannot have any other name. If someone puts a sign in front of Mr. Chang’s house, saying, “Chang’s Residence,” it would not be a problem, and it would be all right if there were no sign. However, it would be very strange if someone puts up a sign that says, “Wang-Chang’s Residence” or “Liu-Chang’s Residence.” We should never call ourselves Church Assembly Hall, because that is not our name; it is only where we meet. Furthermore, we are not members of any particular church; we are members of the Body of Christ.
God does not want believers to say, “I am of Paul,” “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas.” He reproves all these things (cf. 1 Cor. 1:12). God is not pleased with any special name. God does not approve of this. We are gathered into the Lord’s name (Matt. 18:20); we are saved because we believe into the Lord’s name. The place where Jehovah establishes His name is the center of the gathering of God’s children. The matter of a name is a great thing in the universe. We should not have any name other than the Lord’s name. There should not be a Lutheran Church, Wesleyan Church, Anglican Church, Presbyterian Church, or other type of “Church,” because none of these names are according to the Bible.
We should never let the enemy deceive us and think that the matter of name is unimportant. If Mrs. Hwang is called “Mrs. Chang,” her husband would be furious because such a thing is not acceptable. Just as we cannot give someone a name in a careless way, we cannot name the church in a careless way; God does not permit this. Those who really know the church and the truth concerning the church would never dare to give a name to Christians. The apostles were on the earth several decades after the Lord’s death and resurrection, and many of them were greatly used by the Lord. However, if we read church history, we will realize that none of them ever put a name on the church. They did not dare to carelessly give a name to the Body of Christ; it is absolutely forbidden because it is not according to the Bible.
Not only is a special name a serious matter but so are the matters of a special belief or a special fellowship. These three tests are completely according to the view of the Bible. Thus, if we want to know whether a church is on the position and ground of the church, we should place every situation under the light of the Bible and measure each one with the Bible. Furthermore, we should never compromise or accommodate in our measuring.
About four or five years ago, I met a brother who is the most compromising and accommodating person I know. If a four-foot-tall person was walking beside him, he would squat down to walk with him. Only if a person was seven feet tall would he be unable to accommodate him. After several years, this brother’s greatest improvement was realizing that he should not compromise. We need to see that compromising is man’s way of neutralizing things; man always likes to neutralize the truth. God’s truth is absolute; if it is yes, it is yes, and if no, no. It should never be neutralized. Every compromise is a neutralization. Man thinks that it does not matter very much if the church has a name and that we do not need to be so particular as long as we are zealous for the Lord. This is wrong because the truth should never be compromised; the truth is always absolute.
Those who like to compromise are usually not very absolute. Those who like to compromise may have been touched by God, but they do not want to be absolute. An absolute person never compromises. It will be easy for us to compromise with others and not be absolute if we dismiss God’s inward touching and are unwilling to obey and deal with Him.
If a church does not have any special name, special belief, or special fellowship and has passed all three tests of the Bible, we still need to investigate further to see if it is full of Christ and the element of Christ. This is the second filter.
The first filter is the Bible, and the second filter is Christ. When the saints gather together, do they have more of the element of man or more of the element of Christ? Do they take man as the head or Christ as the Head? A Christian group may not have a special name, special belief, or special fellowship, but if they have too much of the element of man, they are merely an independent group in their locality. They may say that their group does not have a special name, special belief, or special fellowship, but they may also not have any genuine fellowship in the life of Christ with other members of the Body of Christ. They can be independent in a locality. If a Christian group has more of the element of man than the element of Christ, this certainly will be their situation. This is a fixed principle.
The saints in a certain church may not have a special name, special belief, or special fellowship, but certain people may have a special position which nullifies the position of Christ. Consequently, the church will be full of independent opinions and doctrines. In contrast, if we learn to reject our self and allow Christ to have the position as Lord, we will desire fellowship with saints in other localities. This is a certain fact. The more a person lives in the self, the more he feels there is no need to fellowship with others. However, the more a person lives in Christ, the more he feels a need to fellowship with others. This is true both of individuals and of churches.
If a church seems to be according to the Bible outwardly, but the saints do not like to fellowship with Christians in other localities, this shows that they have more of the element of man than of Christ. The more a church is in Christ, the more the saints in that church are eager to receive fellowship from others. Whenever we are secluded and try to serve God by ourselves, we should remember that we are being independent and sectarian. Thus, we need to filter the condition of the church with Christ.
We have told the co-workers many times that we would not allow man to have the top position among us even if it meant stopping our work and shutting everything down. Everything must come from the amount of Christ we have within. We should allow only Christ to pass through us; we should never allow anything of man to pass through us. Only those who have received more of the element of Christ, who have known, experienced, and gained more of Christ, and who are filled with Christ have the ability to bear responsibility. Such a person spontaneously manifests his position. People in the world look to ones who have wealth, education, and social status; however, we do not have such things in the church. Among us, we do not distinguish people by wealth, position, or fame. Among us, we have only Christians, and we have only Christ as everything. What is a Christian? A Christian is one who is full of Christ. This is the church. The church is not like human society. People in society determine a person’s position based upon human observations, human desires, and human views, but the only factor for such a determination in the church is Christ.