Due to the division and scattering among today’s Christians, not all Christians are the church. All Christians are the members of the church, but not all of them are the church. The nation of Israel is an excellent illustration. Although there are thirteen or fourteen million Jews on earth today, less than three million of them are the nation of Israel. Although the number of Jews in the city of New York is greater than the number in the nation of Israel, the Jews in New York are not the nation of Israel.
Recently a brother told us about a newspaper article written by a group of orthodox Jews. In this article they declared that they would not recognize the nation of Israel. Claiming to be bona fide Jews, those in this group say that if any were to be considered the nation of Israel, they should be considered as that nation. The United Nations, however, does not recognize this group as the nation of Israel. The United Nations will recognize as the nation of Israel only those who are a proper people, who are on proper ground, and who have a proper government to be a proper nation. Those orthodox Jews who are still in New York City cannot say that they are the nation of Israel. Perhaps they are members of the nation of Israel, but they are not the nation of Israel because they are not on the right ground or under the proper government.
Likewise, not all bona fide Christians can say that they are the church. They must consider where they are. Are they on the proper ground? They need to consider the example of the Jewish people. There are millions of genuine Jews who are not the nation of Israel. Only those Jews who have returned to the land of their forefathers and who stand on the proper ground and under the proper government are the nation of Israel. Yes, you may be a genuine Christian, and as a true Christian you are a member of the Body of Christ. Nevertheless, you are not on the proper ground. You may be in the Catholic Church, in a denomination, or in a free group. Do not argue with us—check where you are. If you are a member of the family, then why are you not at home with the family?
Some may argue with us, saying, “The church in Anaheim includes all the believers in Anaheim. Since you are such a small number, obviously not including all the believers in this city, why do you still say that you are the church in Anaheim and that the other believers are not?” Consider again the example of the divisions in Corinth. Although less than a tenth of the total number of believers in the city of Corinth had the standing of the church in Corinth, they were still the church, and the majority of the other believers, those in the four divisions, were not. The majority were in the “Pauline church,” the “Petrine church,” the “Apollonian church,” or “the church of Christ.” But the small minority of seventy-five still remained on the ground of the church in Corinth. If they were not the church, then what were they? To be the church is not a matter of numbers—it is a matter of the standing, the ground. It is just like the nation of Israel, which has fewer Jews than New York. But the smaller number of Jews standing on the proper ground are the nation of Israel, and the greater number of Jews, having lost the ground of their nation, are not the nation of Israel. As long as you are in a division, you lose the standing of the local church. Thank the Lord that by remaining on the proper standing and by not being in a division, we may be part of the church in our locality.
Let us consider another aspect of the church as revealed in this example of the divisions at Corinth. Suppose the believers in the “Pauline church” were very good, spiritual, heavenly, and lovely, but the seventy-five remaining in the church in Corinth were rather sloppy. If you were a believer visiting that city, to which group would you go? Perhaps you would say, “I love the holy, heavenly, spiritual saints in the ‘Pauline church.’ I don’t care about their ground or standing— I only care about their spiritual condition. Their standing is not right, but they, like Daniel, are very spiritual.” We need to make a clear distinction between the condition of the church and the ground of the church. The church may be correct in its ground, but poor in its condition. Of course, we look to the Lord that we may be right in both ground and condition. However, the decision concerning recognizing a church must not be made according to condition, but according to the ground. This is the way to discern what the proper church is.