The Local Church: City or House?

The Church in a City and the Church in a House

A few verses in the New Testament identified a local church as meeting in a person’s home (Rom. 16:5; Col. 4:15-16). Such verses seem to imply that a “house church” is an acceptable way to meet, rather than the ground of locality. Witness Lee and Watchman Nee cogently expound the Scriptures to clarify this point, cutting straight the word of truth.

When we say that the church is expressed in the place where the saints are, we need to define what we mean by place. What is the limit of this place? The limit is not a house nor a street. In the New Testament there are no street churches or avenue churches.

Today, however, so-called churches are designated by a street or an avenue. Some might say, “In the Bible there are no street churches, but there are house churches.” Concerning house churches or home churches we need to be careful. Yes, the New Testament does mention the church in the house of certain saints (Rom. 16:5a; Col. 4:15-16). If we read the New Testament carefully, we will see that in these cases the church in the house was the same in limit as the church in the city. In other words, the limit of the house church was equal to the city. The church in that house was the church in that locality, in that city. Therefore, we cannot have a street church, nor an avenue church, nor a church on a college campus, nor a church in a house that is not also the church in the city. According to the New Testament we can have only a city church, that is, the church in the city where we are.

(Witness Lee, Heavenly Vision, 21-22)

When the house is the same as the locality, it can be the boundary of the church. When the house is different from the locality, the two cannot be the boundary, the unit, of the church at the same time. The key rests with locality, whether or not the house equals the locality.

If the house is the unit, then locality, which is bigger than the house, cannot be the unit. How can locality be the unit if it can be divided into smaller units? If we acknowledge locality as the unit, how can we also acknowledge the house as a unit? Since locality is the smallest unit, how can it be divided into smaller units such as houses? (Please remember that those who promote “house” churches do not view the word house scripturally; that is, they do not consider house in the context that locality and house are identical. Instead, they view the house according to their own concept, making it smaller than locality. This is not the kind of house spoken of in the Bible. Please pay attention to this matter.) If a foot is one unit of measure, then an inch is not sufficient to be the unit, because it is less than a full unit. If we take an inch to be the unit, a foot can no longer be the unit, because a foot equals twelve units. Likewise, if the unit for the church is locality, then the many houses in one locality cannot be many churches. One locality with one house has but one church; one locality with one hundred houses also has but one church. With one hundred houses there are not one hundred churches. If the house is the unit, then there is one church with one house, and there are one hundred churches with one hundred houses. In this case a locality with one hundred houses could never have only one church. These two, house and locality, are completely different units. Either we take the house as the unit or locality as the unit. There must be a unit, but we cannot have both. The house and the locality cannot both be units for the church.

If the locality is the unit, then 1) a united church of several localities joined together is wrong, and 2) isolated divisions within one locality are also wrong. If the house is the unit, then 1) the united church is still wrong, but 2) the divisions in each locality are justified. All the divisions within a locality can hide behind the word house. If the “house” is the unit, all who refuse “to hear the church” (Matt. 18:17) can organize separate “house” churches. The “house” church becomes a shelter to all the divisive ones in a locality. May the Lord be merciful to His church.

Therefore, we must be clear that there can be only one unit—either house or locality, not both of them together. Similarly, if our salvation is not by grace, it has to be by works. It cannot be by grace and works; we cannot have both. According to the Bible, the boundary, the jurisdiction, of the church is the locality, just as our salvation is by grace. Dividing the church in a locality into many “house” churches brings divisions into the Body. It is the work of the flesh.

I believe God in His great wisdom made the locality the boundary of the church in order to eliminate the works of man, which try to divide the church within one locality.

(Watchman Nee, Further Talks, 44-45)

Although the early believers sometimes met in houses, the meetings there were meetings of the local church in that city, not independent associations. As indicated by these excerpts, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee are once again in complete agreement regarding the truth of the local church within the unique boundary of the city in which it exists.

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