With every matter, there must be someone who bears the responsibility. Related to the division of the church, there must also be someone who bears the responsibility. We must be clear concerning this. A careful and logical examination will show that the responsibility of division should be borne completely by those who stand on the ground of the denominations, not by those standing on the local ground.
After my return to Chefoo from Tientsin in 1937, a brother invited me to dinner. I can never forget that evening. Other older, well-known people from Christianity had also been invited. At dinner an elderly brother questioned me, saying, “Mr. Lee, you always say that the church is one and that it should not be divided, yet you have taken a group of people with you and separated yourself from us. In doing so, is not your group another division? We have a rare opportunity today to sit together, and we would like to hear from you.” I said, “Wonderful! I have also been looking for such an opportunity to clarify this matter, and this account should be settled clearly.” The older brother agreed and said, “Very good. Let’s settle this matter today.” I then said, “First, Paul condemned the Corinthian believers because they said that they were of Paul, of Apollos, or of Cephas. It was obvious that they should not have had such divisions. I would like to ask you all, is it correct for one to say, ‘I am of the Chinese Church of Christ, I am of the Baptist Church, or I am of the Presbyterian Church’?” He said, “Of course, this is not correct, there is no question about this.” I said, “Wonderful, we have settled the first point. Second, do you want me to belong to the Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church, the Chinese Church of Christ, or some other denomination?” He said, “We do not want you to belong to the Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church, the Chinese Church of Christ, or any other denomination.” I said, “Very good, this point is also settled. Third, may I ask, having received mercy and grace from the Lord, can I preach the gospel and bring people to the Lord?” He said, “Of course, you can preach the gospel.” Then I asked, “After I preach the gospel and some are saved, where should I bring these ones? If I myself do not go to a denomination, can I bring these ones to a denomination?” He said, “Of course not. If you yourself do not go there, you should not ask others to go there.” I then continued, “Then what should I do with these ones who are saved? Should they not meet?” He said, “Of course, they should meet.” I said, “Good. Since they should meet, where should they meet? If I bring them to the Baptist Church, we will be divided from the Presbyterian Church. If we go to the Chinese Church of Christ, we will be divided from the Presbyterian Church. Where should we meet?” At that point everyone became silent. I then continued, “As elderly ones, please consider this. Today we are meeting on Fourth Street (at the time the meeting place of the church in Chefoo was on Fourth Street). We desire that all of God’s children would be one. However, your stand in the denominations, which divides you from other Christians, has forced us to humbly rent a house on Fourth Street to meet there. We have not formed a division, but you are maintaining a division. The responsibility of division is not on us, but on you. Because you are maintaining a division, we have been forced to find another place to meet. However, since you are all representatives of various denominations, let me ask, would you be willing to remove your denominational names—the Baptist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Chinese Church of Christ, the Inland Mission, and so on? If you would do this, I would immediately go back and ask the brothers to close the meeting on Fourth Street, because there would no longer be any divisions.” When they heard this request, they were shocked and replied, “We cannot do this!” I responded, “If this cannot be done, what else is there for us to say? Since you are set in your division, what else can we do? We have no choice but to meet in a place that does not belong to any denomination. Even though you say that we are divided from you, who bears the responsibility of this division?”
I believe this is clear; the responsibility for division is not with us but with those in the sects. It is impossible for us to go to the sects today, and it seems that by doing this, we are divided. However, the responsibility for this is not on us but on those in the sects.
All the Christians in Taipei today should meet as the church in Taipei. If we all take the locality of Taipei as the boundary and the ground, there would not be other “churches.” However, some say they are the Baptist Church, others say they are the Presbyterian Church, and still others say they are the Methodist Church or another “church.” They have all drawn a small circle around themselves, leaving only a small number who are not within a circle. Who should bear the responsibility of this division? Obviously, those who are in the small circles should bear this responsibility. Those who have not drawn a circle around themselves should not bear the responsibility of division. Although we seem to be divided from others, this is not because we have drawn a circle around ourselves. If others were willing to remove their circles, there would be no divisions. If everyone met in the church in Taipei, there would be no division. Regrettably, within the boundary of Taipei, small circles have been added—the Baptist denomination, the Lutheran denomination, the Presbyterian denomination, and others. This has resulted in many small circles within the large circle of a locality. What should have been a simple, single circle has been filled with many circles; this has resulted in division. It is obvious that the responsibility of division rests on those who are in the many circles.
Therefore, we should not allow our conscience to be weakened by the wrong and unreasonable condemnation of others. I was young when I heard these accusations in 1933, and I felt that I could not lift up my head. Many condemned us, saying, “You want the church to be one, but you divide yourself from others.” At the time I also felt that what they said sounded right. However, as I went to the Lord and sought His shining, I was unveiled within to see that their word of accusation was a lie. It was not we who had formed a division, but they. They had left us in a position of division. They had drawn a circle around themselves and left us out of their circle. Hence, the responsibility of division was entirely on them.
Standing for the ground of the oneness of the church is a battle. For over thirty years, many brothers and sisters have struggled. Even though there will be many hardships ahead of us as we stand on the ground of the church, we must be faithful in order for the Lord’s will to be accomplished and for our future generations to have a way to advance.