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Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:15-16
Ephesians 4:15-16 shows how the Body of Christ is built up and how the co-workers and the elders work and administrate the church. The way indicated in Ephesians is clear and practical.
In a previous chapter we saw that Psalm 133 reveals oneness as the basic condition for us to receive blessing and life. Oneness brings in the blessing of life and the supply of the eternal life. We saw that the elders, deacons, and co-workers should know and hold the mystery of the faith and be able to speak it to others. This is how they shepherd the flock of God and teach the saints. To shepherd is to take care of people, to feed and supply them with life. To teach is to cultivate people to be full-grown and useful. We also saw that the elders in the various localities must learn to build every saint into the Body. The saints should be built into the Body according to their condition, not according to the expectations of the elders. The “good” saints are useful for the building, and the “inferior” saints are also useful. Everyone should be brought into the building. May the Lord have mercy on us so that we see this light.
There is a stark difference between the revelation in the Bible and our past practices. Please forgive me for saying this: The elders often use natural methods to administrate and lead the churches. We have natural methods and the natural element. Most elders are in the natural man. Whether or not we are smart is of no value. The smarter a person is, the more stubborn and self-confident he is. It is easy for a brother to bring his intelligence into the church, because he thinks that he has a superior way of handling matters. To bring one’s natural intelligence into the administration of the church is not only useless but also exceedingly harmful to the church. Our natural intelligence is a worm that gradually erodes the building of the church. Furthermore, our natural intelligence is a stronghold that can be broken only by the Lord’s light. Therefore, we need to be subdued by the light of God.
We should be cautious in the appointment of elders in a local church. Most people think that a brother who loves and seeks the Lord and who is prominent and smart can be appointed as an elder. However, the foolish ones should not be elders, nor should the smart ones be elders. Foolish ones can do many foolish things, but smart ones can do things that damage the church. The foolish things that foolish ones do in the church are obvious, but the smart ones damage the church in a hidden way, because the things that they do are cloaked by their smartness. Our intelligence is of no use in the administration of the church. The church is built up not by intelligence but by the growth of the divine life. Being smart hinders the growth of life.
In the administration of the church it is not right for the elders to hold everything in their hands and do everything themselves; they must trust others. The elders are overseers; hence, they should commit everything to others and ask others to do things. It is not easy for the smart elders to commit things to others. The smarter a person is, the less he is willing to trust others or to let others do things. When a smart person does things, he is confident in himself and therefore holds things in his hands, and according to his preference, he treasures those who also are smart. If an elder is smart, he will treasure smart materials; he will hunt for the smart ones in the church and commit things to these ones. Because smart people do things quickly, smart elders look for smart people to do things in a smart way. In the eyes of a smart elder, the people who are not smart are foolish. As a result, the smart ones will consider themselves to be superior to the other saints in the church. They may think that only the smart ones can administrate the church and be in charge of the church. Even though they may not say this aloud, they bear such an air and flavor.
Frankly speaking, smart elders are not smart, but they think that they are smart. Such elders do not possess much wisdom; rather, they have a form of cleverness. There are not that many naturally wise or smart ones in the church, because God chose the foolish things of the world (1 Cor. 1:26-27). The elders should not blame the saints, nor should they blame God, saying, “Why did You create so many foolish people? Why do You save so many foolish ones? There are many clever people in society, but very few are in the church. Lord, why did You not add more clever ones to the church?” First Corinthians 1:26 says clearly that among those whom God saves, “there are not many wise according to flesh, not many powerful,” but He has chosen the foolish ones. An elder may say, “Lord, You saved the foolish ones; how can I administrate the church?” The Lord would answer, “These are the ones who will enable you to grow in life. These are the ones who will allow you to lead them to grow in life. Do not think that you are clever; rather, come down from your throne of intelligence and be foolish instead! Only foolish ones can lead other foolish ones and grow together with other foolish ones. I want some foolish ones in the church to make you foolish so that you can grow.” This is God’s desire.
The elders need to lead the church in a way that is different from the way people do things in society. The elders need to bring everyone into serving, to put everyone to use. In society the capable ones are valued and promoted, but the incapable ones are ignored and put aside. It is pitiful that such a worldly practice has been brought into many local churches.
The elders should not administrate the church in the way that people do things in society. The church is not administrated in that way. In the church everyone who seems foolish in our eyes must be put to use; such a one can learn to wipe the chairs. The more foolish a person seems, the more we should welcome and treasure him. He may make a mess the first time he cleans the chairs, but we should not give up. We should teach him and ask him to clean the chairs again. If he does not succeed the first week, we can help him the next week. Although he learns things slowly, we must not put him aside, for once he knows how to do it, he will be faithful, and we can fully depend on him. Those who seem to be foolish do not play clever tricks and do not have gimmicks. We may need to spend four or five weeks to teach them, but they will save us much trouble in the future. Those who consider themselves smart like to play tricks. They may do a good job in our presence, but in our absence they will change everything we taught them. Therefore, the smart ones are not that reliable, but the foolish ones are. This is particularly true in the church. This might be the reason that the Lord does not save so many smart ones. The Lord does not have a way with those who consider themselves to be smart. Although the foolish ones learn things slowly, they are very reliable.
The local churches cannot be built up in a short time. If there are one hundred and twenty people in a locality, we will need at least three years to build up everyone and bring them into serving. The way to build up the church differs from the methods of society. Society depends on elections, and only talented ones can win elections. In the church everyone must be put to use. The more the elders ask the saints to bear responsibility and do things, the more involved the saints will be. When the saints do things in the church, they will be interested in the church, love the church, and care for the church, because they feel that they have a part in the church. If the elders do not let the saints do things, the saints will feel useless and indifferent and will lose their interest in the church.
We cannot build up the church with the methods used in society. The church and society are completely different entities. Smart ones cannot gain fame or profit in the church, and the Lord has saved many foolish ones. Therefore, the elders should not consider themselves smart. Those who are competent to be elders live in their spirit, pray at all times, and minister life. They are able to bring all the children of God, regardless of how foolish they appear to be, into serving, to teach and perfect them, and to commit things to them. By such a process both the elders and the saints will grow together in life.
We also need to see that the church is built up by growing in life. Paul says, “Holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ” (Eph. 4:15). Truth here refers to the things that are true and real. We do not want false things or vanity in the church; we want only what is true and real. Caring for physical appearance, playing politics, and treating people not according to our spirit are false things. Therefore, we do not play tricks or politics. Paul also says, “Having put off the lie, speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (v. 25). We do not care for false things, pretense, or methods. We should not treat others with hypocrisy; rather, we must hold to truth in love. Then we will grow up into the Head, Christ, in all things.
In the administration of the church the elders must always be genuine with one another and toward others; they must be without pretense. The elders must also grow up into Christ in all things, whether big or small. We were put into Christ when we were saved. However, we have not yet grown up into Christ in many aspects of our living. Hence, we need to grow up into Christ in all things. This means we should not do anything apart from Christ; we should do everything in Christ. We should not choose the color or style of our clothing apart from Christ. Before we were saved, we were outside of Christ and followed the trend and fashion of the world. Now that we are saved, we should buy our clothes in Christ, spend money in Christ, and do things in Christ. This is what it means to grow up into Christ in all things. Then we will experience verse 16: “Out from whom [Christ] all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.”
A crucial point in the administration of the church is that the elders must not give up on any brother or sister. Nearly every locality has neglected this point. When the elders pray and fellowship concerning the needs of the church, they discover that the church has many needs, but they cannot find the people who will serve. However, it is not that the elders cannot find people but that they cannot find the people whom they think are useful. There are many saints, but the elders feel that this brother is not qualified and that sister is not up to the standard. For example, the elders may want the saints to praise God but feel that no one is competent, because everyone seems to be either “dumb” or “deaf.” If all the saints are dumb, the elders should still pray and inquire of the Lord how to lead the saints. If the saints are incompetent, the elders should be constrained to pray. Then the elders will take the lead to grow in life. After the elders are dealt with by the Lord, they should ask for the Lord’s leading and guidance. Although a dumb person cannot speak, he can use sign language. The brothers should then learn “sign language” in order to teach the saints how to praise God. In this way no one is set aside, but everyone is brought into function. This is the proper way to build up the church. In order to bring the saints into serving, the elders need to pray patiently and teach and perfect the saints. We must not give up on anyone, because the saints are children of God; they were created and redeemed by God. If God treasures them, how can we abandon them? If we as elders have the attitude of letting the saints go, after a few years there will be no one but the elders left to praise God.
In some local churches the elders put everything, including the keys to the meeting hall, in their pocket. As a result, no one functions except the elders. This is unacceptable. The brothers must remember that they should never put any brother or sister aside. It is a gross error to put the saints aside. To put the saints aside is to abandon God’s creation and the Lord’s redemption. God did not make a mistake in creating the saints, nor did the Lord make a mistake in redeeming them. Hence, we must bring all the believers into serving and perfect them to function. I can testify that if we know how to administrate the church, every saint will be precious. In the eyes of the outsiders, we are all foolish people who are cleaning the hall, and we are dumb ones who cannot sing but who use sign language to express our praise. In such a process of administrating the church, we will grow in life, and we will be able to minister life so that others may also grow in life.
The only way for the elders to minister life, to help others to grow in life, and to perfect others is not to consider anyone useless but to bring everyone into serving. Then the elders will have the way and will gain the experience. We will be the first to grow in life, and then we can help others to also grow in life.
It is our hope and prayer that some in every local church will rise up to lay a good foundation. This way may be hard initially, but eventually everyone will follow this way. In some local churches no “graduates” have been produced for many years, because the elders administrate the church in a natural way and have not learned this lesson. In a natural way we do not trust others, we think that we are the only capable ones, and we do everything ourselves. This way must change. We must not take the natural way. Instead, we should take the way that is based on the Word of God and bring the children of God, one by one, into serving so that they can function. If we do this for one day, we will gain one day’s worth of learning, and if we do this for one year, we will gain one year’s worth of learning. We will gain many experiences. If we will carry this out, those who come after us will spontaneously follow the same path. Although this is hard at the beginning, it will be easy for others to follow.
The elders must learn to bear the problems of the saints. Sometimes our shepherding of the saints causes us much trouble, and sometimes we need to help the saints who are in trouble. The only way to bear such situations is to grow up into Christ. Some saints love the church and are righteous, always doing things in a righteous way. When such a saint sees an elder doing things in an inappropriate way, he may deliberately make things difficult for the elder. The only way to handle such a situation is to pray and ask the Lord to open a way. This is what it means to grow up into the Head, Christ, in all things (cf. Eph. 4:15). We should not blame the saints for being troublesome, nor should we play tricks or use politics to solve the problems. This is to use methods that are outside of Christ. We need to bring every problem before the Lord. When we go to the Lord, we will experience the growth in life.
Suppose a brother seeks advice because his wife is a burden to him. When the brother consults us regarding his wife, we should not set him aside by saying, “Brother, bear the cross! Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for good to those who love God.” Such clichés are ineffective. The elders are shepherds. When sheep are in trouble, the shepherds are like parents with children; we cannot throw Romans 8:28 at them. When a child cannot find a way out, the parents need to take responsibility. When the saints do not know how to go on, the elders need to take responsibility. Therefore, when a brother tells us his problems, we should bear the responsibility and say, “Brother, let us pray together. I will pray for you, and you should pray too. Let us ask the Lord to lead us.” We should bring the burden to the Lord. We may say, “Lord, You saved this brother and his wife, but they cannot get along. Lord, how should I help him from the perspective of life?” When we pray, we are the first person to learn the lesson. We will realize that we do not treat our spouse in a proper way. The brother’s problem exposes our problem. Then we will learn the lesson before the Lord and be dealt with by the Lord. After this we should pray with the brother again, and we will minister to him what we have learned, and he will be supplied. As a result, the Body will grow. The elders take the lead to grow, and the saints follow the elders to grow. This principle applies to dealing with the problems of the saints. We cannot use doctrines to set people aside. We must bear the problems of the saints and regard their problems as our own problems by bringing their problems to the Lord and seeking the Lord’s way in prayer.
If the elders administrate the church and lead and care for people in life, the saints will grow in life. The elders will grow in life, and the saints will receive the life supply and grow in life. The whole church will grow together under such leadership of the elders. On the one hand, the elders will bring the saints into serving, and on the other hand, the elders will bring the saints’ problems before the Lord in prayer. Through such prayer the elders will obtain the experiences of life and will be able to help the saints grow. If this is our practice, after a few years every aspect of the church will be glorious. At present every locality lacks such building. If we have such building in the local churches, we will not need any gifts or eloquent speakers, nor will we need special conferences. The divine life will grow spontaneously.
Regrettably, our present situation has not changed, because the elders use natural ways to administrate the church. The elders hold everything related to service in their hands and do not trust others. As a result, the saints love the church but have no part in the service. The problem lies with the elders. If the elders will change, the church will have no problem. The elders need to trust the saints. The saints may initially make a mess of things, but eventually they will learn the lessons of life. The saints who are set aside and not brought into serving will complain and murmur. Such saints do not give up on the church, but the elders have set them aside. The saints who have problems should learn the lessons of life, but they will not know how to advance if the elders do not take the lead to learn the lessons of life. As a result, the church will not advance. If a senior co-worker is invited to give a conference every six months, there will only be excitement. After the co-worker leaves, the church will return to its original state.
We need to change our way of doing things. If the elders do not change, we have no way out. It is not impossible for us to change our ways. We must hold on to two points. First, we must not set any saint aside; even the ones who seem useless are useful. We should gradually bring every saint into serving. If the saints are functioning, they will find their home in the church and be happy. Second, we should consider every saint’s problem as our own problem, just as parents consider their children’s problems to be their problems. We should relate to the saints in this way, pray and inquire of the Lord concerning their problems, fellowship with the Lord, and be willing to be dealt with and enlightened. Then we will learn the lessons, and we will see a reflection of ourselves in their problems. Through the problems of the saints, we will understand our own problems.
If the elders take the lead to learn the lessons and to be dealt with by the Lord, the saints will follow to be dealt with and corrected by the Lord, which will result in the growth of life and the building. This is “all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part” (Eph. 4:16). If each one part functions, the Body will be knit together in a strong way, which will cause the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. I believe that we are able to experience this.
When I say that we do not need many conferences, I do not mean that we do not need the supply from the ministry. The church needs the supply. However, the conferences are merely a supply. The building up of the church depends on the elders perfecting the saints and helping the saints grow in life. Therefore, I hope that the elders in every locality will change their ways.
