QUESTION: Why in the 19th century did the brothers receive all Christians to break bread, but today's brothers do not do the same? The impression one gets is that they have departed from the truth and become sectarian

ANSWER: I believe it is important to understand a little of the history of the “Brothers.” The restoration of the truth that occurred in the 19th century did not happen in a matter of days or months, but took years. The first brothers who gathered simply to break bread had not yet considered the need to receive someone at the Lord's table, so there were not yet principles in this regard. It was only when the Bethesda problem occurred (the division of the “Open Brothers” in 1845-48) that they understood that care would be needed when receiving people into fellowship, especially those who came from the divergent group. Therefore, it is a mistake to try to rely on the practice of the brothers in those early days as a model for how the assembly functions today. For some, gathering on the foundation of the “one body” (Eph. 4:3), as we profess to do, means that we should receive all the members of the body of Christ. For these, refusing fellowship with any true believer would be denying the position we have taken. In a perfect world we could receive all true believers, but as has already been mentioned, we live today in the last days of the church's testimony on earth, and the ruin is great. Many believers are living in doctrinal error or moral sin, and the Scriptures tell us that such people should not be received. Not receiving such people in obedience to the Scriptures is not denying the truth of the one body.

The main thought related to the “one body” is unity . Ephesians 4:3-4 says: “Being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body.” Guarding the unity of the body is God's work and responsibility, but guarding the unity of the Spirit is our responsibility. The Lord wanted us to express this unity that exists in the body in the way we gather with the brothers for worship and ministry. This we do in the breaking of bread, when we break one bread, and in matters related to fellowship and discipline in the assembly. In short, wherever there are people on the face of the earth gathered on that ground, they will act together administratively and in matters related to all aspects of fellowship. Therefore, when we say that we are gathered “on the ground” of the one body, we mean that we seek to express in practice this unity that already exists. It does not mean that we will automatically receive all believers regardless of how they are walking. Gathering on the ground of the one body is not the same thing as gathering with all the members of the one body. Perhaps it will be clearer if we say that we are gathered on the principle of the unity of the body.