Whether in Acts or the Epistles, all the work of the apostles was carried out in the local churches and for the local churches. The Epistles written by the apostles were addressed to local churches. The Epistles to the Corinthians were written to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2), the Epistles to the Thessalonians were written to the church in Thessalonica (1 Thes. 1:1), and the Epistle to the Ephesians was written to the church in Ephesus. None of the Epistles were written to the universal church. Apparently, the Epistle to the Ephesians addresses the matters of the universal church, but it was sent to saints in Ephesus (Eph. 1:1). This proves that the apostles’ work was altogether in the local churches. Unless their work was in the local churches, there would be no way for them to work in the universal church. To the workers, the universal church is intangible; only the local churches are real.
If there were no local church, the saints would be unable to have a corporate living and a coordinated service. If we live in Taipei but do not live and serve with the brothers and sisters in the church in Taipei, where would we have our church life and service? Could we live and serve in the universal church, which is intangible? Hence, to the believers, the universal church is abstract; only the local churches are real.
Since the local church is the practice and the expression of the universal church, only when a person touches the local church can he touch the universal church. The more we speak concerning the universal church, the more vague and intangible the church will be to us, but once we speak concerning the local church, the church becomes concrete and real to us.
The administration of the local churches is by locality. If the administration of the church is not local and independent, the local nature of the church will be lost. Thus, to preserve and maintain the local nature of the church, the administration must be independent in each locality. Church A should not intervene in the practical affairs of church B; likewise, church B should not intervene in the practical affairs of church A. Although churches in villages and towns may be small, they are still the church in that locality, and other churches can neither intervene nor interfere with their practical affairs. If a local church loses its independence in its administration, it immediately loses its local nature.
Acts 14:23 and Titus 1:5 reveal that the church in each locality has its own elders. This proves that the administration in a church is independent. Elders oversee and administrate a particular church. If the administration of a local church is not independent, there is no need to appoint elders in every city. It would be sufficient to appoint elders in a central location. However, there is no central location because the expression of the church is in localities. All the local expressions, that is all the local churches, are equal and have their own elders. Hence, the administration of the local churches is independent in each locality.