However, the Lord prophesied that something unexpected would happen. When the Lord planted the mustard seed in the field, it was the smallest of all the seeds, “but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree” (v. 32). The Lord had no intention that the church would become a tree and be rooted deeply in the earth. Now it is no longer growing and being reaped in bundles. Instead, it has become something lasting and remaining, something tall, big, and wide. It draws attention, respect, and visibility, and has become a shelter to others.
The God-ordained way for the church is one that is according to the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth, the One who was hidden, lonely, and humble. The church should follow the footsteps of our Lord who walked on this earth in lowliness and humility. At the beginning of its earthly history, the church was persecuted and suffered much opposition. But one day it became rooted in the earth and began to grow. The Roman Caesars who ruled over the world, who controlled the destiny of the nations, suddenly became the church’s partners and brothers. Christianity became a religion of kings, rulers, and commanders. The herb became a tree. It achieved a certain status in the eyes of the world. It became big. This was the beginning of Roman Catholicism.
The church in the New Testament is local in nature. It is scattered in every locality and is not united or organized in any way. Although there were centers for the work, the churches were never united into unified organizations. But with the passing of the apostles, the churches began gradually to unify themselves on the earth. Churches in big cities organized the churches in the smaller cities around them, and spontaneously the churches in the bigger cities took over the leadership.
At first, the bishops, or overseers, were the elders, and they were always plural in number. Later, a bishop from among the elders was appointed. Still later, the bishops began to oversee not only the church in their own locality but churches in several localities. The elders, however, continued to oversee one local church. As a result, the elders and the overseers became two separate classes! Originally, the overseers and the elders were one and the same group of people, but later, an elder was chosen from among all the elders to be a bishop. One elder bore the title of bishop, while the rest remained as elders but were no longer called overseers. The bishop was considered to be an elder of the elders; he presided over the other elders and ruled over the church in that locality. Still later, these bishops expanded their authority and began to cover other localities. Gradually, the condition of the church changed. The bishop of the capital of a province would rule over that entire province, and the bishop of the capital of a nation would rule over the churches of the entire nation. The bishop of Rome naturally ruled over all the churches in the entire Roman Empire. As a result, the church became something very big!
Originally, the church was a mustard seed, something very small. But then she became a big tree. Now we find something strange on the earth—united churches. These are institutions organized by men. The Bible shows us that God’s intended union of earthly churches is a union of the Body. The fellowship of the churches on earth is the fellowship of the Body. But what do we see today? Men have cast aside this spiritual fellowship and spiritual union. The fellowship of the Body is spiritual, and the union of the Body is spiritual. Today, however, men replace this spiritual union with organizational unions. Beginning from the second century, the church gradually degenerated into a confederation of churches.
When Constantine accepted Christianity, he saw a church which by then had already become the Roman Catholic Church, a church welcomed by men. That church had become full grown; it was a tree. It was no longer made up of individual churches. It had become a united tree. When the Roman Empire accepted Christianity, many birds came and nested in its branches!