The presence of the visible Church in the world is to accomplish the plan of God. Before the Church is taken away, She must fulfill Her duty to perform all Her functions: to preach the Lord’s salvation; to bear witness to God’s existence; to proclaim His praises; to demonstrate His attributes and to restrain the power of evil. Within these prominent commitments, different local churches in different generations have had different focuses and directions according to their commissions from God. Although diversified, their paths should all converge to God as the centre of their services, and “faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms”. Basically, before the establishment of a local church, believers should have the guidance from the Lord and the entrustment of His commission. The execution of such commission then forms the direction of the local church. “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint”. Similarly, without any commission and entrustment, there is no direction. Then the Church will “run like a man running aimlessly; fight like a man beating the air ”. In this issue, we will address the Church direction and its application.
Regarding our church’s position towards spiritual edification, the original goal of our gathering was to learn His Word and to follow Him single-mindedly with simplicity of heart. There is no one among us “who seemed to be important” and would dare to boast about “eloquence or superior wisdom”. We place more importance on sharing God’s life through His Word than theological research. We are deeply aware that knowledge and life belong to two different realms. If a church is ignorant of edification in spiritual life, then Her establishment is not well founded. Modern day sermons on the pulpit are often sweet talks. Few challenge Christians on their spiritual weakness and laxity in life and many simply talk about the work and external achievements of the church. As a result, many believers tend to acquire some form of enthusiasm and superficial godliness but are spiritually poor within. In fact, in the three aspects of our life, i.e. our possessions, our achievements and our “self”, we are still pretty much self-centered. First, pertaining to possessions, we treasure the things we own in our physical life, such as material assets and talents. These things have become the basis of our self-assessment. Second, we take pride in our worldly achievements. Out of self-gratification we strive to be successful in studies and careers, to be outstanding in social status and even in church services. Third, we are oblivious of the weakness of our old nature: We have minimal knowledge of our selfishness, self-exaltation and self-love, and we seldom take action to deal with them. These three phenomena show that we have not truly relied on God to recognize the wickedness of our old nature. Consequently, we would not bother to seek His way to deal with it. The tolerance of this old nature is the prime cause in letting sin to invade and to prevail in our lives. For this reason, we desire to practice the principle of “dying and living with the Lord” with fellow members on the path of spiritual growth, applying “dying together with the Lord” to deal with the corruption of the old nature; and applying “living together with the Lord” to claim victory and freedom in the new life.
However, we want to point out that the manifestation of spiritual growth is entirely different from those stressed by the charismatic movements. We do not agree with these movements. Concerning the issues of spiritual gifts and teachings that advocate charismatic phenomena, we ascertain that the bestowment of gifts is under the control of the Holy Spirit, operated through the Lord’s commission, and are given according to the plan of God. The growth of spiritual life does not depend on supernatural experience or by pursuit of gifts and signs. The primary test for spiritual gifts would be: The effect of Spirit-filling in a person will always be that the Lord Jesus Himself be glorified through that person. (Ref. John 16:14)
We have shared previously on the church’s directions on evangelism as well as edification. Our goal is that our members, having met together all these years, will come to a clear understanding of what God has entrusted to our church. Under the Lord’s guidance, we will have a common vision to support one another and to work together. On the two vital issues of evangelism and edification, we would then share the same mind and follow the same course. Only then will the Church grow with blessings.
For evangelism, our church’s stance is that God is the centre of salvation and mankind is our objective. We do not agree with some modern evangelical movements, which stress on the expansion of the visible churches and membership growth, and insist on evangelism as the only goal of the churches. The Bible reveals that God has predestined the number of Gentiles to receive the saving grace. (Ref. Romans 11:25) Therefore the total sum of people to be saved would not necessarily increase in proportion to the world population, (as some advocates of modern evangelism movements insist). Nevertheless, we should preach the Gospel with passion, dedication and skill. By using various methods within Biblical principles, we should preach the Gospel according to our mission and gifts, through different formats such as corporate events, cell groups and personal out-reaches, that the number of the saved may be filled sooner and God’s plan be accomplished.
On the issue of service in the Church, we stress on active involvement from the whole Church, that is our obligation and our privilege. We recognize that each member has individual functions in the Church. Therefore there should be no one “being ineffective and unproductive” among us. The Church is the body of Christ. Serving God is an innate desire of life. All our services for the Lord, whether they are apparent or hidden, with or without an assigned position, in evangelism or edification, are done for Him and His glory. The Church is the house of God and we are His household members. Therefore we have the obligations to fulfill our shares, for they are our duties as well as our privileges. Therefore we ought to commit positively in His service. As long as we are “faithful with a few things”, we will receive His commendations in the end.
As to the Church’s position towards the world, the Lord has declared that His disciples do not belong to the world, thus incurring its hatred and oppression. The Scriptures clearly teach that we are called from the world and are separated to God. The Church must have a clear and firm stance towards God, to be set apart from the worldly ideology. She ought to demonstrate the properties of light and salt, in order to achieve Her task to guide and to preserve in this dark and corrupt generation. The Church should take heed not to follow the world, lest She would lose Her power to witness and become worldly gradually.
One of the signs showing that the Church has become worldly is that She goes along with the ways and trends of this world. We live in a society with highly developed technology and resources. However, it is also a generation of utter moral and ethical corruption. On value concepts and purpose of life, there are fundamental differences between God’s demand and man's attitude. Many Christian parents, desirous only of the “advancement” and “freedom” of the western culture, do actively counsel their children to merge into its main stream and are oblivious to the God-rebelling spirit concealed behind it. Many believers allow their children to gain acceptance in an ungodly society, rather than to hold fast to faith and reverence towards God. The result is a lukewarm second generation of which some are even uncertain of the assurance in salvation. The scene of desolation in the western churches with dwindled attendance, closures and sales of meeting places, indeed serves as warnings for our Church today.
Another sign that the Church has become worldly is that the believers have lost their desire for the Heavenly rewards and blessings. Through salvation by grace, we are supposed to live in godliness, to serve with eagerness, and to wait for our rewards in eternity. However, in the present day situation, believers often treat eternal life as a “safety net”, as a security for life that “will not perish”. From such attitude we develop a state of mind like: “Secured in the eternity, but pursue after the present world”. Consequently we commit our entire life and strength on worldly targets. If we are not vigilant of the judgment before the throne of Christ, and are not longing for the incorruptible rewards in eternity, then the strength of the Church in living and witnessing will diminish. Her functions as salt and light will dissipate, and will be subjected to the trampling and mockery of the world.
The continuation of entrustment and testimony of the visible church is based on two fundamental issues: First, has our generation faithfully guarded the vision entrusted to us? Have we fought the good fight, have we finished the race, and have we kept the faith? If we lose courage in spiritual combat because we shrink from the threat of death, if we are in want of strength due to spiritual stagnation, or if our faith collapses with changing circumstances, we shall not have any spiritual inheritance to pass on to the next generation. Second, the desire to pursue God cannot be molded by systems and structures. It is only through the revelation and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we can be constrained by God’s love to pursue Him decidedly and to respond to His call willingly. Otherwise, given that the Church may teach and preach dutifully and church attendance may also increase, the exhortation or persuasion will not be effective if people are not inspired by God to perceive His glory, to listen to His call, and to feel His tender mercies. Church history has shown us that, in past generations, God has brought forth devoted people who, during stormy days and trying times of faith, came forward with might and strength, to resist the tides and to close up the breaches. However, as time passed on, and as the congregations expanded, newer generations grew up and their spiritual goals diversified, the original visions became blurred, and their directions of pursuit gradually shifted toward other objectives. Eventually, the Church might still retain Her name and reputation, when in fact She has lost Her entrustment and testimony.
However, amid such a disoriented and lost situation, God has not interrupted His plan. He has not forgotten the Church whom He redeemed with His Son’s life. Once again He will work in the newer generations. With spiritual inspirations and revelations, He will reveal His call to some individuals, constraining them with His love, revealing to them the effect of His sacrifice and the power of His resurrection. Gradually they will be gathered together by God, sharing the same mind and the same direction. Once the goal of serving becomes clear, and the path of pursuit identified, they will rise up - regardless of difficulties, irrespective of being a minority, unafraid to resist the tides, and unmindful of sacrifices - to respond to His call and commission in their own generation. Faithfully they would run their part of the race prior to the second coming of the Lord. And such is the recurring cycle of prosperity and decline of the visible churches.
Today, at a time when faith is lightly treated and pursuits become aimless, we endeavor to follow the insight we received from the Lord and to carry out His charge entrusted to us. There is no room to boast or to show off. The Lord commanded His disciples to walk the narrow way. And therein implied the principle of holiness through separation. When our Lord recalled Peter on the seaside of Galilee, He did not answer Peter’s question directly, for He has full authority and perfect planning for the future of every disciple. Therefore, to Peter He replied: “What is that to you? You must follow Me” (John 21:22). May the Church in this gathering place, from the present generation to the coming generations, do hear and respond to the Lord’s calling: “You must follow Me”.