In the previous lesson we saw a general sketch of the church and briefly touched the concept of the church. These, however, are primarily abstract theories regarding the church and are not so definite. In order to know the church in a definite way, it is necessary to make the church concrete and tangible, bringing the church out of the air to the earth. Hence, we need to speak about the expression of the church.
The church has an expression. The church is not something mysterious, abstract, or suspended in the air but is practical. We can touch the church, contact the church, and be in the church. Therefore, the church must have an expression. Without this expression, our speaking concerning the church is but empty talk, and people cannot touch it. We may see that the church is not a structure such as a chapel or gospel hall nor an organization such as a denomination or mission. We may also realize that the church is the assembly of the called-out ones, the Body of Christ, and the house of God. Nevertheless, if the church is not practical and concrete, we cannot touch the church, contact the church, and much less be in the church. Because we are still on the earth, the church must have an expression. Without an expression, the church means absolutely nothing.
Many people in Christianity have an unscriptural view and understanding of the church. In particular, the seeking ones, who see the desolation and confusion of the church, believe that it is impossible for the church to be on the earth today. They say that the church is spiritual and invisible and that the oneness of the church can be achieved only in heaven in the future. Hence, it is difficult to discuss the matter of the practical church today. They also say that it is sufficient for Christians to preach the gospel to save people and help them to be spiritual. This kind of talk is not only extreme but also erroneous. We must bear in mind that the church is not something in the future, something in heaven, or something hidden and invisible. The church is expressed in time and space. It can be touched and contacted on the earth today, and the believers can be in it today. Thus, the church must have an expression today. This matter is important.
The expression of the church is the practicality, reality, concreteness, and substantiality of the church. The church must have an expression in order to be practical, real, concrete, and substantial. Otherwise, the church is nothing but an empty theory, something of the imagination, something abstract, and something suspended in the air. To us, the church must be practical not theoretical, real not imagined, concrete not abstract, and substantial not suspended in the air. For this reason the church must have an expression.
We will briefly cover twelve points regarding the expression of the church.
The Bible clearly shows that the expression of the church is local. Some say in a general and vague way that there is only a universal expression of the church. This is inaccurate. The church was first expressed in the city of Jerusalem (Acts 8:1); it was surely and definitely expressed in a place called Jerusalem. Obviously, to be expressed in Jerusalem is to be expressed in the universe, because Jerusalem is a place in the universe. However, to say that the church is expressed only universally is too general. The universe is vast; if we say that there is only a universal expression of the church, we will not know where to find it. Therefore, if a person does not consider the local expression and says that the expression of the church is only universal, he will cause people to think that the church is remote and elusive. Although this kind of speaking concerning the universal church was popular and prevailing in past decades, by the Lord’s mercy we are seeing that the church is local, having an expression in localities.
We cannot find the expression universal church in the Bible. On the contrary, everywhere in the New Testament we can find local churches, that is, churches appearing in different localities, in locality after locality. For example, there is the church in Jerusalem (v. 1), the church in Antioch (13:1), the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2), the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1), and the church in Smyrna (v. 8). These examples show that the church has a local aspect; the church is expressed locally. Thus, to emphasize only the universal church is inaccurate.
The boundary of the local expression of the church is the jurisdiction of a community. This jurisdiction can be as large as a city or as small as a town or a village. A city can be the jurisdiction of a community, or a village can be the jurisdiction of a community. The jurisdiction of a community can be a city as large as New York, London, or Tokyo with a population of almost ten million, or it can be a small village with only a few hundred people. At the time of Pentecost the church had an expression in the large city of Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). Jerusalem was the jurisdiction of the community. Later, the church also had an expression in many small cities in Asia (Rev. 1:11). These cities were the jurisdiction of a community. If a person reads carefully through Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation, he will conclude that the church is expressed in the jurisdiction of a community.
On the one hand, the expression of the church takes the jurisdiction of a community as the boundary, and on the other hand, it takes the principle of one church in one locality. There can be only one expression of the church in a local jurisdiction; there definitely cannot be two or more. There can be only one church in one locality. This means that there can be only one church in one locality. In a small locality there can be only one church; likewise, in a large locality there can be only one church. Although Jerusalem was a city with a large population, there could be only one church in Jerusalem, not two or more. Although the cities in Asia were small and the population was sparse, there was only one church in a locality, and two localities were not combined to form one church. In the Bible there was the church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch, not the churches in Jerusalem or the churches in Antioch (in Acts 8:1 and 13:1, church is singular in Greek). Hence, the Bible clearly shows that there should be one church in one locality.
However, since a region or a province can include many jurisdictions, the Bible does speak of churches in a region or province. For example, Acts 15:41 refers to the churches in Syria and Cilicia; Galatians 1:2 and 1 Corinthians 16:1 speak of the churches of the province of Galatia; 1 Corinthians 16:19 speaks of the churches of the province of Asia; and 2 Corinthians 8:1 speaks of the churches of the province of Macedonia. All these places were either a region or a province, including many community jurisdictions; therefore, there was more than one church in these regions and provinces. This shows that the expression of the church is local and is according to the principle of one church in one locality.