The Local Church

Three of China's Mighty Men

On David Yang, Watchman Nee, and Wang Ming-dao

All three saw clearly the Pauline truth of the Church, local and universal. But they all reacted against the importation from the West of our denominational confusion. They longed to see a truly Chinese pattern of church life firmly based on the New Testament concept of the Body of Christ. One or other may have reacted too strongly against the missionary churches, but were they to be blamed? Was not the blame rather on the inadequate doctrine of the Church as understood and taught by missionaries as a whole? At New Delhi in 1961 the World Council of Churches coined the expression "all in each place" to describe the nature of the Church. If missionaries in China had had a better appreciation of New Testament Church truth, there would probably have been less reaction against the missionary movement there. Possibly only local churches on the New Testament pattern will be able to preserve their inner vitality in the catacombs of present-day China.

Lyall, Leslie. Three of China’s Mighty Men. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1980: 141.

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