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Question: I would like to bring the new believers into serving, but they often refuse or decline. What should I do?
Answer: This is a problem. A person who has not arrived at the stage of supplying life to others will have difficulty bringing others into serving. The church is not an organization; it is a Body. A body depends on life and is organic. Therefore, if we have not grown to a certain measure in life, it will be difficult for us to bring others in.
According to my observation, some elders have not entered into the genuine experience of life, which involves knowing the Lord Jesus as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit, loving Him and fellowshipping with Him, and letting Him be our life so that we live, speak, and walk according to this life in our spirit. This is what it means to enter into the experience of life. The genuine experience of life is not a matter of improving the self, restricting the self, or cultivating the self. Rather, it is the Lord Jesus as the Spirit of life being our life in our spirit, and it is also our loving Him and fellowshipping with Him so that we walk by this life. This is a basic matter.
Some elders have not yet touched the experience of life. The saints might consider such an elder to be a good person who loves the Lord. However, such an elder is not living in the Lord as his life but lives outside of the divine life. His knowledge of the Bible and of the truth has become a factor of his Christian living that is a substitute for Christ; that is, his knowledge is not Christ. Every elder should be cautious of this.
In principle, we should bring every saint, regardless of whether he seems useful, into the service. We may accept this principle; however, if we do not have the experience of life, we may be humble, patient, and diligent to contact all the saints in order to bring them into serving, but our labor will be organizational. We must couple our labor with the supply of life and our own experience of life. In bringing the saints into the service, we must not only give them outward arrangements; we must also fellowship and pray with them to show them the way of life and to bring them into life so that they too may have experiences of life. In this way their service will not be merely outward arrangements but the operation of the life within them.
In order for a seed to grow, it must have life, and it must be planted in the soil. Planting is an arrangement. It is not fitting for a seed to be placed on a table or kept in a box; it must be taken out of the box and given some arrangements. First, the seed needs to be planted into the soil. If the soil is too hard, it must be plowed. If the soil is too dry, it must be watered. If the soil is not fertile, it must be fertilized. If the soil has weeds, it must be weeded. All these are arrangements. A person who knows how to make such arrangements is a good farmer who can work and cultivate the land. Of course, if we are dealing with a pebble or a grain of sand, all such arrangements would be in vain, because they lack life. Without life there can be no growth.
We make arrangements in the service for the saints because they are saved and have the Lord’s life. We cannot guarantee that every person in the church is saved. I have encountered such situations. I once made arrangements for a person in the service, and he was willing to serve. But eventually I discovered that he was not yet saved and did not have the Lord’s life. We should not cast such persons out but should immediately bring them to receive life by repenting, confessing their sins, believing in the Lord’s precious blood, and praying to receive the Lord. Then they should be baptized. As soon as an elder realizes that someone is not yet regenerated, the elder must fellowship with him in order to supply him with life.
There are some who have the Lord’s life, but when we touch them, we realize that they do not have enough life. We should contact these saints one by one to fellowship with them and supply them. When a housewife feeds her family, she needs to know what to serve the adults and what to serve the children. It is not so simple to be an elder; the basic factor is to have the experience of life and to supply life to others.
The elders may be willing to practice this fellowship, but if they are short of the divine life or of the experiences of life, they will not be successful. Hence, we must pursue the experience of life in the Lord’s presence. The Lord is our life; He is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit to be our life. Therefore, we must love Him and fellowship with Him to let Him live in us, and for us to live by Him.
Some elders are well-mannered and faithful; they love the church, serve willingly, and know the truth, but they lack the experience of life in spirit. Therefore, no matter how much we emphasize the need to be strong in spirit and to exercise our spirit, they are not affected. There are several reasons why such brothers are elders. They may have become responsible ones and then elders because they initiated the meeting of the church in their locality. They are saved, but they have not been led in life, nor have they had experiences of life. Some local churches are weak, and the saints do not know the experience of life. In such situations the responsible ones may not have had the proper condition, but there was no one better. Therefore, it is difficult for them to perfect others, because they themselves have not been perfected in life, nor do they have the experiences in life. This is the source of many problems. If we have genuine experiences in life, and we live in the spirit, there will be no problems. The elders have “worms” within them because they do not have enough life and do not spend enough time in the spirit.
Some have complained that the elders in one of the churches are not middle-aged brothers. I am concerned that if the middle-aged brothers were elders, they would fight with one another. I am not condemning the middle-aged brothers, but we need to be stirred up to come out of our self into life. If we do not enter into life and do not experience life, we will have only problems. Romans 7:18 says, “I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to work out the good is not.”
Being an elder is a matter in life. One cannot be a successful elder without being in life and in the spirit. The church is the Body of Christ, and the elders are members in the church. Life is needed in the Body. Wisdom and cleverness are of no avail to the Body. When the elders depart from the divine life, they are of no avail, and problems will eventually arise. Even a brother who is naturally meek and able to get along with others may not be successful as an elder. Meekness and the ability to get along with people are not enough. The most important thing is for an elder to be able to supply life. An elder who does not supply the saints with life is handicapped. A stone has no temper, no character, no preferences, no feelings, and no thoughts. Ten stones that are piled together will never quarrel; they will always “get along.” If they are not moved, the stones will “get along” for many years; they do not need life. Therefore, it is not sufficient for the elders to avoid quarreling and be amiable. The church needs the supply of life.
It is a shame that many elders do not have rich experiences of life and have not received genuine help in life; hence, they cannot supply people with the riches of the divine life. This is our fundamental shortcoming and a fundamental problem. Some say that the elders are not in harmony, but the reason for a lack of harmony is a lack of the divine life. Others say that the elders have too many opinions, but the reason for too many opinions is also because of a lack of the divine life. Still others say that the elders are not very clever. However, cleverness can only damage the church; it cannot build up the church. The elders who rely on their natural cleverness lack the divine life and do not pray enough. They do not live in the spirit, nor do they fellowship much with the Lord. They also lack fellowship with one another in the spirit of life. As a result, they lack wisdom and may even be slightly foolish. Our natural cleverness is absolutely of no worth. The church is the only place that can exhaust a person’s cleverness. The church is capable of exhausting our natural cleverness and wisdom. The wisdom needed in the church is the wisdom of the divine life. Such wisdom of life is the Lord Himself.
The elders must have a basis in life in order to resolve the difficult problems that the church encounters. Matters of life are not quick. Life does not grow to maturity immediately after a person prays. A grain of wheat that is planted today will not sprout tomorrow. We must plow the soil, sow the grain of wheat, and wait for at least a week before it will sprout. Hence, if the elders do not experience life regularly, they will have no way to deal with the spiritual needs that arise. If the elders say, “Wait for me to fast and pray for a week,” it will be too late. Those who have experiences of life may receive the wisdom of the Holy Spirit from God after praying and fasting for a week, but those who do not have experiences of life might not receive the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, because they do not have a basis in life.
The basic need of the elders is the experience of life. If the elders have a basis in life, they will not rely on their cleverness or natural wisdom when the church encounters a problem; instead, they will bring the matter to the Lord in prayer. Furthermore, they will not only pray personally but will also fellowship and pray together with their fellow elders. They will ask the Lord to anoint them with His feeling and to enlighten them to deal with the problem and to resolve it. Only the sense, understanding, and leading that come out of the divine life are genuine wisdom. This is altogether different from natural cleverness. In administrating the church, the elders must first have a basis in life. With this basis they should pray, fellowship, and wait, instead of relying on their natural cleverness and wisdom. By relying on our natural cleverness and wisdom, we nullify the experiences of life.
Although in our service in the church we do need to help the saints know what is proper, the main need is still the experience of life. A brother who does not have the experiences of life should not be an elder and is not capable of being an elder, because the function of an elder is to supply life. How can he be an elder if he does not have the experiences of life and is not able to supply life? If a mathematics teacher does not know mathematics, how can he teach others? The elders should be able to supply life. If an elder is short of the divine life or the experiences of the divine life, he will not know how to deal with the needs according to life when they arise. Because he is not able to supply life, he can employ only diplomacy and methods, which will give rise to more problems.
If an elder does not have the experiences of life, his leading the saints to function will have no outcome, because there will be no supplying of life to others. We bring people in and teach them to maintain their position and receive the supply of life. Hence, we must know not only how to make arrangements and lead the saints but also how to supply them with life. In the West when a waiter sets the dining table, he sets one glass at each place. The glass is for water. If a glass is set but no water is poured into it, the setting of the glass is meaningless. A glass set on the table cannot quench a person’s thirst; only water can quench a person’s thirst. But in order for water to be poured into a glass, there must first be the arrangement of setting the glass. The elders need two aspects in administrating and building up the church. On the one hand, whether or not the saints seem useful, the elders should bring them into function so that they can find their proper place. On the other hand, the elders must fellowship with the saints one by one in order to supply them with life. These two aspects require the experience of life, without which the elders cannot administrate or build the church.
I hope that the brothers who are elders will turn to the Lord and pursue the experiences of life. Without these experiences the service of the elders is empty, and problems will be unavoidable. However, when we have the experiences of life, life will swallow up death, and the problems will disappear.
Question: I will soon be forty years old. How exactly can I have better coordination with the brothers in the church in order to be a good testimony? The brothers feel that I am disobedient. I have prayed concerning this, but this is my natural disposition. Whenever I am not in the spirit, problems arise. What should I do?
Question: In the past a sister offended many people in the service and later quit serving. She recently had a turn, and we would like to bring her back into service, but many sisters are opposed to this. What should we do?
Answer: The basic problem in some churches is that too much emphasis is put on arrangements. There cannot be services in a local church without arrangements, but we must avoid emphasizing arrangements. It is as if people cannot serve without our arrangements. If we do not reduce the amount of such arrangements, it will become a hindrance to the service. If not for the emphasis on our arrangements, this sister could have begun serving as soon as she had a turn. If she has the burden to sweep the floor and clean the hall, she can sweep the floor and clean the hall. If she has the burden to serve the children, she can serve the children. Does she need permission to share or testify in the meeting? We must not turn the service of the church into an organization. A person does not need to pass through certain procedures before he can serve.
Some do not approve, because of their emphasis on arrangements. Approval and disapproval have no value in the church. It is not that Brother B can serve because Brother A approves or that Brother B cannot serve because Brother A does not approve. The value of our service depends on our fellowship with the Lord, our relationship with the Lord, and our burden from the Lord. If I have a burden from the Lord, I should sweep the floor when others approve and when others do not approve. If I have a burden from the Lord, I should testify when others approve and when others do not approve. Then the approving and disapproving voices in the church will be rendered useless. The organizational arrangement has created an atmosphere in which people’s approval or disapproval is becoming influential. Such influence must be reduced. No one should say that he does not approve of a certain brother or sister serving. We must learn the lesson that our approving and disapproving should only be toward ourselves, not toward others. We should listen to messages for ourselves, not for others. In the church we must apply everything to ourselves; we must not point at others. Instead of criticizing others for not praying, we should pray more. We should praise the Lord if others pray and praise Him if others do not pray. The saints love the Lord. Their situation is not for us to judge. We can judge only ourselves.
We must create a healthy and proper atmosphere in the church and have a proper heart toward the saints. A sister might have been wrong in the past, but she might turn after a period of time. When she returns to serve, everyone should rejoice and be glad. It is dangerous for a person to quit serving, because he may leave the church forever. This sister did not leave the church, and she came back to serve. We should rejoice for her and give her another chance. Everyone should learn this lesson.
Whether or not a person is an elder or a co-worker, he should not judge others. Whether others are right or wrong, we should point only at ourselves, not at others. Although I should not rebuke the elders in the presence of others, I have the position and ground to rebuke the elders. Others may not have such a position. Therefore, they are wrong to convict the elders using my words.
We must not listen to these messages for others; we must listen to them for ourselves. If we would learn to fear the Lord and receive the grace to learn the lessons, the church will have a future. The future of the church depends on the saints and the elders. The future of the church is affected by our condition. Therefore, we must humbly ask the Lord to have mercy on us so that we would be willing to accept everything that He has spoken in these messages. We should take the condition of others as a warning and ask the Lord to have mercy on us so that we would learn the lessons and not repeat their condition. This is the proper spirit. The future of the church concerns us all; hence, we all must learn the lessons.
Question: There are only two elderly couples in our district. How can they serve?
Answer: This question is related to the previous one. There is a problem with the leading of the elders if the saints need to be asked to serve and coordinate in the church. The overall leading in the church should be for every saint, whether young or old, to serve. When everyone is serving, the saints can be given specific leading according to their situation. The elders should regularly give the church extensive and thorough leading. For example, a nation that maintains proper public health will be exempt from the trouble of relying only on vaccinations. May the Lord give us wisdom concerning how to lead the saints.
Furthermore, we should not depend on arrangements. The elders must pray much and have more experiences of life. They also need to lead in life and cultivate a spiritual atmosphere in the meetings. If we would pray more, we would be strong in spirit and rich in the divine life; we would also want to serve. Our leading is organizational if it is merely based on the messages that we have heard and the methods that we have learned but lacks our experiences of life and our living in the spirit. If our leading is organizational, the saints will not receive the supply of life, and their spirit will not be strong. Furthermore, in such a situation the saints will only go as far as we drag them.
If we have the experiences of life, have a strong spirit, and supply life in the meetings to enliven the saints, they will spontaneously come to serve. There will be no need for many arrangements. Certain services of the church need arrangements in order to avoid chaos. However, if we can avoid arrangements, it is best to follow the leading of the Spirit and let everyone serve livingly in spirit without arrangements. We must be rich in our experience of life, have a strong spirit, and be living so that we will spontaneously be able to help others. When the church is brought into the realm of life, it will be easy for all the saints to serve.
In order for our spirit to be strong, we must pray much. It is impossible to be strong in spirit or to be rich in the divine life without praying. We must learn to pray, to contact the Lord and fellowship with Him. There is no need to be anxious concerning how to do things; the more we do, the more we will know. If we have never served, we will not know how to serve. We must pray in order for our spirit to be strong, just as children must eat in order to be physically strong and healthy. The elders must learn to pray; otherwise, they cannot serve properly.
We should not believe in our own ability or methods. Ability and methods may be successful in a social group, but they must not be used in the church. The church is an organism, not an organization. Hence, the leading ones must be in life. Organization, ability, and methods are of no use in the church; only life, which comes from prayer, is useful. We must learn to pray. The more we pray, the better.
When the responsible brothers meet together, they should spend at least three-quarters of their time praying together, and the remaining time can be spent discussing matters. Most of the time prayer is merely a formality, because most of the meeting is spent discussing matters. The elders should have thorough prayer when they gather together; they do not need to spend so much time to discuss or to study. They must exercise to pray, to be strong in spirit, to be living in spirit, and to learn the lesson of not depending on themselves. The more we depend on ourselves, the less we will pray. But the more we depend on the Lord, the more we will pray, and the more we pray, the more we will depend on the Lord. After we pass through prayer, we will let the Lord do what we formerly would have done ourselves.
We have many lessons to learn. Instead of doing things ourselves, we should let the Lord work. If the Lord does not do something, we should pray until He does something. Even if the Lord does only a little, it is a matter of life; however, there is no life in what we do. What the Lord does has life, but what we do does not have life. What the Lord does is in the organic realm of the Body, but what we do is only a social method. Therefore, every service must pass through prayer. Prayer cultivates our spirit to be living and strong and brings the proper atmosphere into the meetings. Those who pray much are strong in spirit and rich in life. Those who do not pray have a weak spirit and lack life. Only prayer can make us strong in spirit.
