When we rose up to take the way of the Lord’s recovery by absolutely obeying the word of God, we read from the Word that the situation of division into sects and denominations is not right; it is not according to the Bible. Therefore, we all left our respective sects and denominations. In 1932, when we began to meet as the church in Chefoo, Shantung Province, there were eleven brothers present for the first three Lord’s table meetings. These eleven brothers came from at least six or eight denominations. This shows how prevailing was the matter of leaving the denominations. At that time we truly had a spirit of oneness. We did not care that one brother was baptized by immersion and another was baptized by sprinkling. We also did not care that one brother was from the China Inland Mission, another from the Presbyterian Church, and still another from the Chinese Christian Church. When we sat around the Lord’s table, it was seldom that we did not shed tears. We all felt grateful to the Lord that even though we were previously divided by the denominations, we were now breaking the Lord’s bread together to testify of the oneness of the church. This may be considered the second point of the recovery among us.
At that time we also abandoned rank and systems and recovered the position of all the saints being brothers to one another. At that time, calling each other brother was very sweet. Previously in the Christian denominations in China, the believers called each other chiaoyu, meaning “religious friend.” Thus, they would say “Chiaoyu Chang,” “Chiaoyu Lee,” or “Chiaoyu Liu”; they never used the intimate term brother. However, at that time we changed and called each other brother. When we met, we called each other brother; it was sweet and intimate. Furthermore, we rejected all rank; we had no pastors, no priests, and even more, no bishops. We abandoned the priestly system in the Roman Catholic Church, the clergy system in the state churches, and the pastoral system in the private churches. We lived together before the Lord as brothers under the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We practiced two more points, that is, being separated from the world and staying away from idols. We were completely separated from the world, and we stayed far away from idols. We absolutely did not want to have any part in anything contaminated by the world and idols.
As a result, we completely took Christ as the Head and allowed the Holy Spirit to rule among us. All intermediary classes and all forms of organization were eliminated. Every believer, and every church as well, lived directly before Christ, the Head, and allowed the Holy Spirit to govern and direct in all matters.
In 1933 and 1934 we clearly saw a crucial matter—the principle of the church taking a locality as its boundary. At that time, in many places there were brothers who rose up to meet together, but there was a question concerning the boundary of each of these meetings. How should the boundary be delimited? Concerning this matter, a certain brother, after spending much effort in studying the Bible, found that the church takes a locality as its ground and boundary; that is, he saw the light of one locality, one church. In Jerusalem there was one church, in Antioch there was one church, and in Ephesus there was one church. In a large city the church was one; also in a small city the church was one. The church in a large city did not divide into several churches; also the churches in several smaller cities did not unite to form one church. There was only one church in a large city such as Jerusalem, and there was also only one church in a small city such as Thessalonica. In every case, there was one locality, one church.
Based on this principle, from 1934 onward, no matter how large or how small a city is, we have taken the way of having only one church. On one hand, this prevents division and confusion; on the other hand, it also prevents “extra-local” unions. If one locality were united with another locality, it would cause Christ to lose His position and the Holy Spirit to lose His authority. This is not pleasing to the Lord, and it is most offensive to the Lord. According to the teaching of the Bible, the church in each locality should live directly before the Lord and be responsible to the Head, Christ. There should be no superior church, no head church, and no federation. All local churches, whether large or small, are equal. The lowest church is the local church; the highest church is also the local church. There is only one class of churches; there is not a second class. When there is a ranking system among the churches, the church on a higher level becomes the head and the authority of a church on a lower level, thereby usurping the position of Christ and encroaching on the authority of the Holy Spirit. Because we saw this clear light from the Bible, the churches in various localities absolutely would not form a union. No locality can control another locality; rather, every locality allows Christ to be the Head and the Holy Spirit to exercise His authority. On the other hand, all the churches love one another, fellowship with one another, minister to one another, and help one another in the Lord. This is something spiritual and of love; it is not organizational or formal.