The Ground Of The Church

[Hope]

Originally Posted by Gubei

Dear UntoHim,

The ground of church is not mentioned literally in the Bible, just as Trinity is not. What matters is what the ground of church is talking about. The ground is simply locality. This means there is no dividing factor among Christians except locality, or time-and-space limitation which was given to man who is not as omnipresent as God.

And then, please think about "The Southern Baptist" which Hope mentioned. Of course, I agree with their activities except their name - The sourthern Baptist. As you siad, "It was not used, or even faintly implied, by the Lord Jesus or the scripture writing apostles." To me, the name itselt sounds very divisive.

Gubei

Pretty good statement dear Brother Gubei.

When it comes to the practicality of a spiritual reality, the Bible does not give prescriptive formulas. The church, the assembly, the Body of Christ, Christ as the Head of the Body etc. must be first and foremost practiced locally and even individually. Hence, the stress in the New Testament on the “local church.”

I once had a very interesting conversation with Witness Lee about the term “Local Church.” Philip Lee was collecting various statements of faith from various denominations and seminaries. WL was telling me all about it one day over lunch. (He was addressing me directly regarding the state of Christianity.) He declared that Philip had told him that, “the term ‘Local Church’ has become a hot property.” WL went on to ask if I was aware of the denominations picking up this term which they surely had gotten from him, WL. (WL always suspected that Christianity was reading his material and gleaning the best for their own use.) So he read me a statement from a Southern Baptist pamphlet where the term “Local Church” was used. He declared this was proof that we were right to use the term and that we would see Christianity use it more and more.

I smiled and waited for Benson or Ray who were also there to say something. They only nodded their heads in agreement with WL. (In fairness to them, the statement had been directed at me.) Then I explained to WL that I had grown up using the term “Local Church.” The Southern Baptist used it all the time to distinguish themselves from the universal administration of the Catholic church and the bishop/district system of the Methodists and Episcopals etc. I then turned to Benson and Ray and ask them to affirm that this was so. It was amusing watching them being forced to correct WL. They confirmed what I said. WL was visibly disappointed and we went on to something else.

Hope, Don Rutledge

A believer in Christ Jesus who is seeking to be a true disciple

John 8:31-33, Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. "