A Local Church Having No Isolated Fellowship

A local church, any local church, in its intrinsic spiritual nature, is a living, vital component of a larger whole called the one Body of Christ. A local church is never merely a unit within an aggregate of unrelated units; that is, no local church is simply a church among many churches. Rather, the local churches together organically compose the unique, universal and living Body of Christ. In the following quote, Witness Lee speaks of the intimate relationship between the local churches and the Body of Christ:

All the [local] churches are the one universal Body of Christ. The one Body, the one universal church, comprises all the local churches. There may be thousands of local churches, but together they constitute one universal church. Each local church is a part of the universal church.

(Witness Lee, Conclusion, 2185)

Besides being an essential component of Christ's Body, as Witness Lee also points out, each local church is the actuality, practicality, and expression of the universal church:

The one universal church expressed in many places on earth becomes the many local churches. The expression of the church in a locality is the local church in that particular locality. The universal church as the Body of Christ is expressed through the local churches. The local churches, as the expressions of the one Body of Christ, are locally one. Without the local churches there would be no practicality and actuality of the universal church. The universal church is realized in the local churches.

(Witness Lee, Conclusion, 2149)

While the administration of a local church may be local, yet the proper local church must never be spiritually isolated. And the test of spiritual isolation is the presence of genuine, universal fellowship. The necessary spiritual relatedness, indeed, intimacy that must exist between local churches cannot be overemphasized. Each local church, as a vital constituent of the one Body of Christ, is the expression of the oneness of the Body of Christ in its locality. When a local church becomes self-contained and secluded, when its sphere of fellowship shrinks to include only itself, that local church is actually a local sect; the inward reality and hence the outward expression of the grand universal Body of Christ cannot be truthfully said to exist there.

Contrary to what may be said by some, the local church in a city is not the local “Body of Christ.” There are many local churches, yet Christ has only one mystical Body; there is only one Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4). Though each local church is situated within a city which is separated geographically from other local churches in other cities, it must remain spiritually connected with them, for all the local churches collectively constitute the one universal Body of Christ. The administration of a local church is necessarily local, but its fellowship must be universal. Witness Lee makes this point abundantly clear throughout his writings, for example:

The local churches should fellowship with all the genuine local churches on the whole earth to keep the universal fellowship of the Body of Christ. Any local church that does not keep this universal fellowship of the Body of Christ is divisive and becomes a local sect. Some so-called local churches are not genuine and have become divisions; we do not need to fellowship with such “churches.” But we should have fellowship with all the genuine local churches on the whole earth to keep the universal fellowship of the Body of Christ. If not, we are no longer a church but a sect. A church is one that remains in the Body; a sect is a group of believers who divide themselves from the Body. When my arm remains in the body, it is a part of my living body. If it is cut off and separated from the body, it becomes a dead thing.

(Witness Lee, Eldership (2), 122)

In the third volume of Elders’ Training, Witness Lee warns against the isolation of any local church:

Just because a group of believers are meeting in your locality, it does not mean that the Body is there. Today on this earth, there are many Christian groups. You may have the thought that your local church has nothing to do with other churches and should not be in any connection with other churches. This thought isolates your local church, making it no longer a part of the Body of Christ. The Body is unique in the whole universe. There may be thousands of local churches, but there is still just one Body. All the local churches are the one, unique universal church, the one Body of Christ.

(Witness Lee, Eldership (3), 114)

There may exist on the earth thousands of local churches. Strictly speaking, however, Christ is only building up His one organic Body; hence, a local church must not be isolated. For a local church to be, in reality and in practicality, a genuine, scriptural component of the Body of Christ under Christ's blessing and building work, the New Testament requires that it be in fellowship with other local churches (Col. 4:15-16).

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