In an open letter published in the twelfth issue of Collection of Newsletters, July 1935, Watchman stressed this goal again with the following brief, strong word: "We are clear that God wants us to manifest the life of Christ in the local churches. Hence, the reality of our work is the life of Christ, and the outward expression of our work is the local churches."
Watchman Nee's ministry was received by many Christians, but the goal of his ministry was rejected by the majority. They appreciated his ministry of life, but they would not care for his goal of building up the local churches. Some even considered him wrong in having such a goal. Actually, however, it was not that he was wrong, it was that they did not see that the Lord had revealed to him God's desire to have Christ expressed in local churches. Fairly speaking, at the time Watchman Nee was raised up by the Lord, among millions of Christians with all kinds of Christian work, where was there one proper church built up with Christ in oneness without any element of division? In a situation filled with division and confusion, he received the heavenly vision that the Body of Christ should express in one church in each locality what was in the heart of God. He was a man after God's heart, testifying to his fellow Christians the vision he had seen, but he was fully misunderstood and rejected in this matter. Because of their strong backgrounds in the denominational structures, his fellow Christians were veiled from seeing the clear vision of God's heart's desire. Some criticized him as being narrow-minded. Others considered him a "sheep-stealer." Others even accused him of being wrong in the matter of the church. Actually, he was neither narrow-minded nor wrong; he was faithful to his Master's goal and took that goal as the goal of his ministry. He knew the price and was willing to pay the price for this. He even paid this price at the cost of his life. He cared for nothing but his Master's heart's desire—the local churches expressing Him in a corporate way. He was not a "sheep-stealer," but a true witness of his Master, who loved the church and gave Himself for it. He had no intention whatsoever to build up his own "church" or to build up anything for himself. His concern was for God's heart's desire. He had a heart large enough to receive all the children of God, and he loved all the Lord's redeemed ones, even though he was misunderstood and rejected by many. His deep longing was that all would receive the light to see what the Lord was really after and seek the Lord according to His heart.
According to the Lord's own love for the church and according to the vision he had received from the Lord, Watchman Nee bore an anti-testimony to divided Christianity and sounded the trumpet that all the Lord's true seekers should leave denominational divisions and come back to the genuine oneness of the Body of Christ to express Christ corporately in each locality. This was the goal of his entire ministry, and he held this goal to the day he died.