Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Debelak
Gubei:
It seems you see the "ground of locality" as prescribed in the scriptures (though the practice may lag behind). My question is:
Is the prescription "one city-one church" or would it equally comply with the Scriptureal mandate if we had "one region-one church" or "one-nation, one church" or "one-neighborhood, one church" etc...?
I ask this question only because you don't include the "one set of elders" in your rubric as a practical matter, only as a heavenly matter. Thus, I'm not sure why one would limit the geographic region. If having one eldership is not practical (i.e. we can't really know who the TRUE elders are, to whom to submit), then why limit the prescription to "one city, one church?"
In Love,
Simeond
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Thanks for your questions.
1. Prescription vs. Description
Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Matthew 6:1, NIV)
This verse is prescriptive in form, and we take this verse as prescriptive in meaning as well.
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (Matthew 5:29, NIV)
This is prescriptive in form, but we do not take this verse as prescriptive in meaning, because we do not gouge it literally.
Trinity is not supported by prescriptive verses in the Bible like "You should believe the truth of Trinity", but we think the truth is there in the Bible as prescriptive by a lot of descriptive verses about Trinity.
2. The boundary of city
In the Bible and the time when the NT was written, a "city" means a group of people with a distinctive geographical area, which is distinguished by other city by geographical distance. In other words, a city means a time and space limitation which has been applied to a group of people and area. Man is under time and space limitation. God is not under time and space limitation. The ground of locality is nothing other than the declaration that all the saints are not separated at all EXCEPT time and space limitation, which necessitates man arranging physical Christian meetings and some administrative affairs to be done in that constraints.
Region is larger than city in that the notion contains several cities in it. Nation is much larger. Neighborhood is smaller than city. The right size for practical Christian life is city by definition.
3. You do not need to bother to find a exhaustive name-list of elders in a city
We cannot and need not to know that name-list. If you find one or two elders who you think are really according to the standard of God, just follow them. This is very practical.
4. The ground of locality is not for one set of elders.
I do not understand why many posters here criticize me for insisting "one set of elders."
The goround of locality is more about every saints in a city confessing he or she is just a Christian living in that city, less about those saints confessing he or she is under a authority of administration of a specific group of elders. So, I said there are two phases in the truth of the ground of locality. The second phase in which practically we have one set of elders who are accepted by all the saints in a city is really hard to achieve, if not impossible. However, what is impossible is possible with God. We should not give up any possible chance on grounds that our human perceptions do not match.
Please think about this. I'm not saying the second phase now. I'm saying the first pahse. How many Christians in your city are saying that they are just Christians in that city? Contrarily, I see really a lot of Christians say that they are saints in the Presbyterian church, Baptist church, etc.
The truth of locality has a exposing funcution of human nature. That's not without worth.
Thanks.
In love
Gubei