In 1957 a group of brothers and sisters from Europe visited us with a desire to fellowship with us. They saw our spiritual condition and how blessed we were. They felt that our young saints were very good. One of the brothers, who was very deep in the Lord, said that he had been serving the Lord for many years, but he had never seen the kind of audience we provided him. This brother was very pleased with the work the Lord has raised up among us. A few weeks later he disapproved of the ground of the church, which we stress, in private conversations and publicly. He said that the Lord had truly blessed us and that our work was good, but the teaching concerning the ground of the church needs to be brought down. Other Western missionaries were also critical of our work. They said that the teaching concerning the ground could be likened to a dead fly in the perfumer’s ointment (cf. Eccl. 10:1).

One day as we sat down together for tea, they complimented the tea in Taiwan, saying that it was very good. I took the opportunity and said, “You enjoy our tea. However, it is regrettable that you are willing to break our teacups. If you break our teacups, we will have nothing to contain the tea. Without the teacups, there is no way to enjoy the tea.” They understood what I meant and made no further comments. If the teacups are broken, there will be no vessels to contain the tea. These believers said that they wanted only Christ, not [185] the church. Although what they said sounded good, it could not be practiced. If we do not want teacups, how can we drink tea? If we do not want the church, what can contain Christ? If we do not want the ground of the church, what can contain our spirituality? This is very clear.

There is one more thing that we must be very clear about. The ground of the church is necessary, but the content and the reality of the church are even more important. The content and the reality of the church are Christ. Christ should not merely be a slogan or a doctrine to us. He must be our experience. This is what it means for Christ to be our person. When all the saints take Christ as their person, the church will have the genuine content and reality.

The Lord has done a great work in raising up many young brothers and sisters in Taiwan. The future of the churches depends on these young saints. The future of the churches depends on whether these saints have a clear view concerning the church. The young saints must not only know the ground of the church but must also see the content of the church, which is to take Christ as their person. Ephesians 1 speaks of the church being the Body of Christ (vv. 22-23), and in chapter 2 this Body is the new man in the spirit (vv. 10, 15-16, 18). Chapter 4 says that we must put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of our mind, and put on the new man (vv. 22-24). To put on the new man is to put on the church life. We put on the church life by taking Christ as our person for the church. I hope that you will pray-read and study these verses: Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:10, 15-16, 18; and 4:22-24. This is the way to have a clear view concerning the content and the reality of the church.