If you try to divide the Body into denominations and then unite them again, you no longer have the Body! To unite something after cutting it apart results merely in an association, not the Body. You should not think that you will have the same person after cutting him into pieces and then putting the pieces together again. There is no such thing. The life is gone! It is foolish to cut the Body of Christ into hundreds of denominations and then to unite them again! That is not the Body. That is just a union of organizations. I hope you will see before God the error of dividing the Body of Christ into many denominations. When the members are together, it is the Body, and when they are apart, they are the members. This is all we know. Other than these two things—the Body and the members—there is no intermediate organization. There is no such thing as grouping members into many organizations and then uniting all these organizations into a Body. This kind of ecumenical union is not the Body of Christ, but human organization. It is the product of a condemned conscience.
How then should this oneness be maintained? If unbelievers were accepted into the church in Foochow, it would no longer be the church. We would have to call it a sect and leave it. Suppose some churches are composed entirely of believers, yet there is the element of sectarianism in them. We must also leave such groups. Then there are those who unite various organizations together to become larger ecumenical affiliations. This is also the work of the flesh, and we must leave them as well.
If we are to have the church in Foochow today, it must have a boundary that is as large as the Body of Christ. Whether or not others like it is their own concern. Whether or not others would take this way is up to them. But those who want to take this way must be faithful to take a stand; they must not be sectarian. They must not willfully allow any unbelievers in their midst, and they must not replace the Body with ecumenical organizations. This is the basic principle. We must stand on the ground of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ dictates the boundary for the church. This is our way today. This is the only way for God’s children to take in every locality.
We must be clear about the position we should take. We cannot be sectarian or divisive. We must not have unbelievers among us, and we cannot replace the Body of Christ with ecumenical organizations. Ecumenical organizations speak of the operation of light but the absence of the strength to obey this light. It tells us that there is the knowledge of God’s will but the reluctance to keep this will. There is God’s revelation but a failure to carry it out. It is nothing more than a halfway house.
God has placed us in another position, the position for all the children of God to meet. But others will not come to us. We are not saying that others must acknowledge what we say we are. We are merely saying that we are taking a stand for the Body of Christ.
We admit that there are brothers and sisters in the sects, the state churches, and the ecumenical organizations. If they are faithful, they should come home; they should take the same stand as we have taken—a stand for the Body. Today our door is open to them. However, we have no other choice but to keep our own standing. What is the situation today? It is like a family with two young brothers who have been kidnapped by robbers. You cannot disband the family just because two brothers have been kidnapped. There are still the father, the mother, and the other brothers and sisters in the family. The family cannot be disbanded. However, we have to say that there is no peace in the family now because two brothers have been kidnapped.
Those who have been kidnapped are temporarily away from the family. However, the other brothers at home should have a broad heart. They should not shut their brothers out just because they have been kidnapped. They should learn to open their door and their heart to them. Whenever the kidnapped ones come home, they should be welcomed with open arms. Thank God, they may come back for a short time, or they may come back forever. They may have lived a wandering life for a long time, but we have to say that this is still their home. We cannot shut the door to them just because they have left us.
Some have said that too many people are wandering in the denominations today and therefore God’s church has disbanded and is no longer in existence. But God’s children on earth can never be disbanded; they can never cease to exist. Today we must do our best to uphold our testimony. Our Father is here, our Lord is here, and the Holy Spirit is here. As long as we have these, that is enough! As long as we have three or five brothers, that is enough. Two or three brothers is enough for a testimony. In some places, we have even more than this!