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Date: June 24, 1937, 9:00 p.m.Place: Shanghai(The dinner was attended by saints at three tables, including the elders and some co-workers. The food was prepared by nine sisters.)
During the past month or two, there has been a thought continually within me concerning three aspects of our work: first, the gospel among the poor; second, the need of a large meeting hall for the work; and third, the work in Jen-Ru.
Let us first talk about the gospel among the poor. The poor include thieves, rickshaw drivers, pick-pockets, etc. There are many of these kinds of people in Shanghai. The church should consider preaching to the poor as a part of its regular church life. It is a noble matter. These people have never heard the gospel. For them, coming to the gospel meeting would mean losing a few dollars. They already do not have enough for their living. Therefore, we cannot expect them to come to our gospel meeting. Rather, we have to go to where they are. In Shanghai there are eight hundred thousand such people, accounting for a quarter of the total population of Shanghai. This number is higher than the total population of Foochow. It is higher than the combined population of the provinces of Tsinghai and Sinkiang and Mongolia. If one out of ten were saved in a year, we would have eighty thousand who were saved. Even if one out of a thousand were saved, we would still have eight thousand people. If we do this, others will not say that we are stealing sheep, because the sheep we have will have been born and not stolen. Of course, this is not the only reason for our work, but if we do this, we will avoid some criticism.
We hope that in the future the Lord will provide us with a central place, a meeting hall which can accommodate seven to eight thousand people. It will be used for the work, not for the church. The large meeting hall will be used for the annual Overcomer Conferences as well as special conferences for the release of perfecting messages. Perhaps monthly or bimonthly, the whole church can have the Lord's table together there. The rest of the time, the Lord's table would still be held in various homes. If our place is not big enough, we will rent a place. We are not like the church in Corinth where the number was small. We are like the church in Jerusalem where the number was big. In the future we may even have to rent a place to set up our own tents for meeting.
The third aspect is the work in Jen-Ru. I think it is appropriate for me to say something here concerning the nature of the work in Jen-Ru. Jen-Ru is for two groups of people. The first group is the responsible ones in each locality. This place is prepared to render them some spiritual help. During the summer months or the holidays, they can come to study the Bible. This would enable them to better serve in their responsibilities later. The second group is the young co-workers who are clear that they have been called by the Lord to serve Him. They can come here to study the Bible for a while before setting out for their work. Jen-Ru will not take those who still need to be dealt with; it is for those who have been dealt with already and who are ready to serve. It is not for the lazy ones, but for those who want to serve the Lord diligently. I am not afraid of those who have committed sins, but I am afraid of the lazy ones. You have to drag a lazy one along before he will move. If you do not drag him along, he will not move. Or he may move a little if you shout in his ears. But if you do not shout, he will not move. Jen-Ru is also not for the flippant ones to come to receive some dealings. It is for those who have received the basic dealings already and who need to be perfected more deeply. Moreover, Jen-Ru is a personal work under the responsibility of Brother Luan and I. Jen-Ru is not a hostel, a rehabilitation hospital, or a seminary. It is established specifically for the young co-workers and the responsible brothers.
I dare not say with certainty that these three things are the desire of the Lord, but personally I have this kind of burden within me, which I am presenting before you and asking you to communicate to the saints.
Everyone who is called to the work is on his own; no other person is responsible for him. It is God who bears all of his responsibilities, and no one should come to me later and say, "Mr. Nee, I resign." If he wants to resign, he has to hand in his resignation to God. By the way, once a person offers his money, the one who has received the money has the full right to direct its use. Your offering is to God, and whether or not the person is faithful, he will have to settle his account before the judgment seat. If he squanders all the money that was offered, it is his business. You give to him because you trust him. If you do not trust him, there is no need for you to give. Therefore, personal money that has been given to the work cannot and should not be disclosed to outsiders. The Lord set a very good example: He allowed Judas to take charge of the money. The Lord knew that Judas would steal the money, but He let him steal; He did not mind. As the treasurer, Judas was close to the Lord, yet the Lord did not deal with him. This is a matter that should be left for the judgment day. It is not your business or mine.
Therefore, the financial losses of the Gospel Book Room cannot be blamed on the church or the brothers. Consider again the work in Jen-Ru. Presently, this is my work. But in two years' time I may decide to sell the building, and it is entirely my business to do so. If I decide to keep it for another two hundred years, this is also entirely my own business. The work at the Rehabilitation Center has been going well. Several of the responsible ones there came to ask my opinion. I said, "Your work is not bad. It is good and right, but you have no church." They said, "The ones there have been breaking bread, praying, and preaching the gospel." I said, "You only have the meetings of the Rehabilitation Center; you do not have the church in Shanghai. In other words, you are still not qualified to be a unit for the church. Your bread can only include the Rehabilitation Center; it cannot represent all the believers in Shanghai, much less all the believers at all times and places."
The work is entirely personal. It belongs to an individual or to several individuals; it has nothing to do with the church. The church is not responsible for the work. The church is local. It includes such things as the Lord's table, baptism, fellowship, Bible studies, prayers, and meetings. The work cannot control the administration and various activities of the church.
One brother wrote me to ask for my opinion concerning a certain personal work of his. I will say that it is not necessary to reply to him because this work is entirely personal. Whether he succeeds or fails, he has to bear the responsibility before God. It is unrelated to the church or to any other person. If the Gospel Book Room is the work of the four of us (myself, Lee, Cheng, and Ho) and if it is losing money badly, we cannot blame the church or the saints for not helping us. If you trust the Book Room and if you want to help by giving money to it, we will accept it. But as to how the money is spent, the Book Room does not need to report such matters to the ones who offered the money. This is our responsibility before the Lord. Only the few of us need to be informed of the internal affairs; others do not need to know about them. If those who give are worried, we would urge them not to give.
As an illustration, Brother Yu wants to set up a hospital specializing in ophthalmology. This is his burden before God, and it is something he negotiates with God. He cannot ask the church to get involved in it. If some brothers and sisters feel that this is a good work, they can render him some help. However, if the hospital makes some money, they cannot expect to collect dividends at year-end. George Müller's orphanages were his own personal work. Whether he made a fortune out of it or went broke because of it was entirely his own business.
Regarding the matter of a gospel van, it is not a bad idea. But the driver for the vehicle is salaried. In the future if a certain brother picks up the responsibility and has the burden to provide transportation, perhaps he should ask God for a vehicle. It would be all right for the brothers and sisters or the church to help him a little. But the church cannot buy a vehicle for him or have him return the vehicle when he quits. If he starts his own business and wants to quit, he has to quit before God. Suppose someone wants to work in a village and some doctors and nurses have a burden to help him. It is a personal work. However, all the fruit must go to the local church. You cannot claim them for yourself; otherwise, you will form a sect.
I always check with every new worker to see if he can clearly separate his own personal money from the money of the work. If a person is not clean in the matter of money, he is not qualified to participate in the Lord's work.
