One Church - One City - Biblical?

[Trapped]

Originally Posted by Ohio

The "practical expression of the church" should be defined by the story of the Bible, not be a twisted interpretation. This is similar to the one day I was reading I Cor. 12. Paul spoke to the church in Corinth in much detail about the "practical expression of the church" being exhibited among them, even in their Lord's Table meetings. Suddenly I realized how Lee had twisted the teaching, "many members, but one body." To the Apostle Paul this was on a local level. It referred to the individual behavior of the members of the church. Lee, however, over an extended period of time, changed the meaning here. It became "many LC's, but one body." The implicit and very explicit message from Lee was simple: the relationship of LC's to LSM was far more important that their personal living.

This actually touches on a topic I had on my mental back burner. I had an interaction with an elder one time where he talked about needing to check with "the brothers" (in Anaheim) about a certain local matter. I can't remember what it was, but it was something banal, like having a particular meeting, or possibly having a conference that involved a few churches. It was not a serious situation, like the implosion of a bunch of churches. I asked, "why do you need to check with them if this is something that doesn't actually involve them?" The elders' hesitated for a second and then said, "Well, it's good to get the feeling of the Body."

Of course, this means "check with Anaheim" but, me, always hesitant of that baby/bathwater thing, couldn't help but wonder if there is any Biblical precedent for this before throwing it out as "nonsense". I love what you say that the members/Body are described by Paul on the local level. It makes so much sense to "get the feeling of the Body" on the local level, in your own church. Are there any instances in the Bible where "get the feeling of the Body" on a larger-than-local level could be argued for?