Recently I have felt the importance of the one accord. As long as we have different views on a minor point, we cannot have the one accord. This is the reason that in this training, right from the beginning, I spoke concerning the vision in the Lord’s recovery. I believe all the brothers and sisters love the Lord, and all of us want to be in one accord, but if our vision is not up to date, it is impossible for us to be one. Concerning Brother Austin-Sparks, I could never have dreamed that a spiritual ministry as high as his would touch upon and even seriously meddle with minor things. It was actually not worth it. I kept all these things in my heart and did not tell anyone, because I did not want to ruin the atmosphere there. At that time more than five hundred co-workers from all over the island were together. Every morning we were under the training and his ministry. I needed to maintain a good situation.
One evening we had another fellowship with Brother Austin-Sparks. The atmosphere was a little tense, and no one knew what to say. We thought perhaps we would fellowship a little concerning something related to spiritual principles. Suddenly a brother asked, “Brother Austin-Sparks, suppose here in Taipei there are five assemblies that meet in the Lord’s name. Please tell us which one is right and which one is wrong, or are they all wrong?” As soon as I heard this, something jumped up in alarm within me. I knew that this would lead to trouble. Yet I had to translate what he said. Brother Austin-Sparks was well prepared for such a question. He said, “None is right and none is wrong; everything is relative.” Another brother was quite stirred up, and he and the first brother together asked, “Relative to what?” Brother Austin-Sparks immediately answered, “Relative to the measure of Christ. Those who have a greater measure of Christ are more right, those who have a lesser measure of Christ are less right, and those who do not have any measure of Christ are not right.” All the brothers became very agitated. I was the translator, but I had to somewhat calm them down.
The third time we gathered together with Brother Austin-Sparks, we were still on this subject. In the previous two meetings, I remained quite neutral and served only as the translator. This time I felt that I could not be neutral anymore. No one was speaking then, and I opened my mouth. I said, “For the last few times we were together we have been speaking of the matter of the church and the church ground. Brother Austin-Sparks has told us that none is absolutely right, and none is absolutely wrong; how much one is right depends on the measure of Christ he has.” I did not appear to be stirred up, but I turned to a brother from Denmark and said to him in a calm voice, “Brother, let me ask you a question. God ordained that the children of Israel would be taken captive in Babylon for seventy years, after which they would return to their homeland and would rebuild the temple upon its original foundation. Suppose a very influential prophet would rise up at that time and tell the people that it did not matter whether or not one returned to Jerusalem. Suppose he would say, ‘See? Daniel is such a spiritual person, but he did not return to Jerusalem. Therefore, it does not matter whether or not one returns, as long as he is spiritual.’ I would ask all of you here if this is right or wrong.” Brother Austin-Sparks was an intelligent man. He knew that I was reacting to his word concerning the spiritual measure. I explained further: “Daniel had the greatest spiritual measure of his time; in today’s terms, we would say that his measure of Christ was the highest. The reason that he did not return was that the time had not come for him to go. Around the time the Israelites were returning, he died. He could not go while he was living, yet his heart was toward Jerusalem. He knelt down three times a day and prayed with an open window toward Jerusalem. During his time with us here, at least a few times our Brother Austin-Sparks has highly recommended Dr. F. B. Meyer. I have read Dr. Meyer’s books and have received some help from him. But all of us know that Brother Meyer is still in the denominations, that is, in the so-called ‘organized Christianity’ that our Brother Austin-Sparks condemns in his messages. Since Dr. Meyer still remains in organized Christianity, the very organization which Brother Austin-Sparks condemns, can we say that he is right in the matter of the church merely because his spiritual stature is high?”
I continued, “For more than three hundred years, all those who have sought after the inner life have received help from Madame Guyon. She should be regarded as a person with a great measure of Christ. As far as the spiritual stature of Christ is concerned, probably none among us can match hers. But Madame Guyon, a person with such a spiritual stature of Christ, still remained in Catholicism. Today any Christian who is enlightened at all would condemn Catholicism, yet Madame Guyon, whom we respect so much, never left the Catholic Church. We cannot say that simply because her spiritual stature was high that she was right in the matter of the church.”
Finally I said, “These examples prove to us that it is one thing to be spiritual, and it is another thing to have the proper ground of the church. Spirituality has to do with our personal condition. The ground of the church, on the other hand, is a corporate ground; it is the corporate standing that we take. Not everyone who left Babylon to return to Jerusalem was a spiritual person. Neither was everyone who remained in Babylon necessarily unspiritual. In fact, among those who returned, we find many who were not that spiritual, because some had married Gentile wives. However, as far as their ground was concerned, they were approved by God. With such a ground they could build the temple. No matter how poor their situation was, their ground was still the right ground. When the temple was built, God’s glory filled the house.”
I then made the following conclusion: “Today in pursuing the Lord, we must take care of both aspects. Spirituality has to do with our condition, and the ground has to do with our stand. A man cannot be right only in his condition; he must also be right in his stand and position. Whether or not a person has a justifiable position is based not so much on his condition as on the ground he takes. On one hand, no matter how spiritual a person was, if he remained in Babylon and stood on the ground of captivity, he was wrong. On the other hand, no matter how poor and confused the returned captives were, they stood on the proper ground which God had ordained for them and which their forefathers had left to them. Their approval was based on their ground and not on their personal condition. Of course, their confused situation did not please the Lord. It is for this reason that God raised up Ezra to teach them the law to enlighten and rebuke them; as a result, they wept, repented, and confessed their sins. At any rate, we cannot despise the returned captives’ ground simply because their spiritual condition was poor. Nor can we justify the ground of those remaining in Babylon simply because they were spiritual.”