From the Normal Christian Church Life
Quote:
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"If in any given place anyone believes on the Lord, as a matter of course he is a constituent of the church in that place; there is no further step necessary in order to make him a constituent. No subsequent joining is required of him. Provided he belongs to the Lord, he already belongs to the church in that locality; and since he already belongs to the church, his belonging cannot be made subject to any condition. If, before recognizing a believer as a member of the church, we insist that he join us, or that he resign his connection elsewhere, then "our church" is decidedly not one of the churches of God."
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If you remove a little from the first sentence, you have "If ... anyone believes on the Lord, as a matter of course he is a constituent of the church...." This is a true statement. Now Nee was really quite generous in his additions, but he still added something not required. He added "in any given place" and "in that place." But the statement is true without any place at all. Being a constituent of the church in the terms that he is using is not dependent on place, or even time.
For purposes of actually meeting together, there surely is a place. But two sentences later he more clearly says "in that locality" and further confines the discussion to the "ground of locality" that he has already created. He does say that we should not insist that any Christian "resign his connection elsewhere" or "join us." But what is missing from this paragraph is the part where he defines the "right way" that he is not going to insist upon. That is left to Lee who does insist upon it, even somewhat adding it to the basics of the faith. I know some have asked where that was, so I will try to find it again.