Human mentality is strange. In the church there are people with all sorts of strange thoughts; furthermore, they all base their thoughts on the Bible. They can find many “doctrines” from the Bible as grounds for their strange suggestions. When I was young, I met a group of Christians who said that the church should not love the world. Based on this conviction, they decided that any brother who came to their meetings must have his head shaved and should wear shoes made only of cloth. If someone wore leather shoes and had enough hair to be parted in the middle, they would push him out of the door. Moreover, they also decided that the sisters could not wear a long gown popular in modern China. Instead, they could wear only blouses with skirts or with long pants. If a sister was not dressed in this way, she would be accused of loving the world and would be forbidden from coming into their midst. In the beginning I was quite touched by them, but gradually I felt that this was not right. According to their decisions, a good number of Christians could no longer meet with them. This illustrates how Christians can have strange thoughts. Some people find many doctrines in the Bible and use them as a basis for dividing from others. I would like to say a strong word: All of these activities are of the flesh! The church cannot be divided. Those who do not have a shaved head can come, and those whose hair is shaved can come also. Those who wear cloth shoes can come, and those who wear leather shoes can come also. Those who wear Western style suits can come, and those who wear Chinese style clothes can come also. Everyone can come. The church absolutely cannot be divided. We should ask only whether a person has the one faith, whether he has the Spirit within, whether he has the Lord, and whether he has God; all other things should not matter.
Let me give you another example. In northern China there once was a group of believers who were very zealous, who loved the Lord very much, and who were very much blessed. When they sang hymns in the meetings, they would sway their bodies and clap their hands simultaneously. Sometimes people who came into their meeting would leave after sitting for a short period of time. If one was asked why he left, he would say, “I cannot stand the swaying.” Sometimes one of the swaying ones would go to a place that had quiet meetings, and he would leave after sitting for less than five minutes. If he was asked why he left, he would say, “I cannot bear it. The meeting is too rigid and quiet.” What should we do? Do the swaying brothers have the one faith? They do. Do the quiet brothers have the one faith? They do as well. However, because of insignificant matters such as swaying and being quiet, these groups of brothers cannot be one, even though they have the one faith. Should these matters be counted as the faith? Should these matters be used as a basis for being one or for being divided? Absolutely not! These things are altogether human opinions, human views. If we use such things as a basis for doing something unconventional and unorthodox, and thereby separate ourselves from others, this is a fleshly act which is absolutely not pleasing to God. In Galatians 5:20 the Greek word for sectsmeans “heresies,” referring to schools of opinion. This means that people use doctrines or opinions to form sects; that is, they divide from others because of different practices based on a certain doctrine. Verse 19 says that sects are a work of the flesh, an action by the flesh; hence, it is condemned by God.
According to the Bible, even such matters as eating only vegetables and observing days must not be used as a basis for dividing the church. Romans 14:1-6 shows that it is all right to eat vegetables and to observe days, and that it is also all right to not eat vegetables and to not observe days. He who eats and he who observes, eats and observes to the Lord. Likewise, he who does not eat and he who does not observe, does not eat and does not observe to the Lord. He who eats and he who observes should not despise him who does not eat and him who does not observe. Likewise, he who does not eat and he who does not observe should not judge him who eats and him who observes. The former should not reject the latter, nor should the latter refuse the former, because both the former and the latter have been received by the Lord. We all have been received by the Lord, so we should receive one another. We should not say that we cannot take it, nor should we say that we cannot bear it. We need to bear it even if it is unbearable, unless we do not want to be Christians. If we want to be Christians, we cannot avoid meeting some peculiar brothers. But no matter how peculiar a brother may be, we still need to bear him and cannot be separated from him.
The church really is a mystery; it is a great matter. Countless numbers of peculiar people have been saved throughout the ages, and they are all our brothers and sisters. They all belong to the church. We need to receive them, and we cannot be divided from them. Even those who preach the word have idiosyncrasies. Some of the preachers stand straight—even perfectly straight—when they preach, without moving their body at all. But they are full of power to move people. Many people admire preachers who are so dignified and proper, considering them to be true servants of God. But other preachers leap and jump and cry and shout when they preach. Once I saw a brother preaching the gospel, and it was truly “exciting.” While he was preaching, he would jump around on the platform and then suddenly jump off the platform. That was truly difficult for me to take. Nonetheless, hundreds and thousands were saved through him. What can we say? Our God is so great and so mysterious that we simply cannot limit Him. Perhaps we prefer preachers who behave properly. When we see a man with well-mannered preaching, we may praise him highly, thinking that this kind of behavior is befitting to a servant of God. If we see someone leaping and jumping while preaching, we might say that he is crazy and does not look like a servant of God. Therefore, we may not listen to his preaching. However, those who prefer action may approve of him, saying that this kind of preaching can stir up people and touch their feelings. For them, well-mannered preaching is rigid and dead, and it instantly puts people to sleep. Therefore, it is intolerable. Nevertheless, all of these things should be tolerable to us. We all need to be broken. We must remember that the oneness of the church needs only the one faith. Having one God, one Lord, one Spirit, and one Body is sufficient. We cannot make other demands on our brothers. A brother may jump and swing, but does he not have God? Does he not have the Lord? Does he not have the Spirit? Is he not a member of the Body? He has God, the Lord, and the Spirit! And he is a member of the Body! We must acknowledge that he is a brother. We need to bear the cross; there is nothing else that matters. In like manner, there is no problem in being well-mannered and quiet; one should not be condemned for being “deadened.” We all need forbearance with one another.