Date: April 25, 1948, Lord's Day, 3:00 p.m.Place: Hardoon Road, Shanghai
Chang Kwang-yung: How should we take care of the many problems in coordination? When we work in different local churches, what are the things that we should take care of?
Watchman Nee: There are a few things that a worker should pay attention to. The first thing is his standing in contacting the brothers and sisters. When a worker goes to a new place, he should pay attention to his relationship with the brothers and sisters. Many times, the relationship between the co-workers and the other saints is not spiritual. The degree of intimacy in fellowship can only be determined by spiritual factors. The workers who are too strong or too weak dispositionally need special help.
We have to be delivered from relationships of friendship. Friendship probably is related to sameness in disposition or compatibility in position. Some co-workers are closer to some saints because they like each other dispositionally. Some workers are burdened for some brothers and sisters because they have similar weaknesses. As a result, their friendship becomes more intimate. But this kind of relationship will not render anyone any help. In the end no brother or sister will receive deliverance through this kind of friendship. The co-workers have to cut off all relationships of friendship with the brothers and sisters. Our relationship is a spiritual one. We are not related because we are similar in our disposition, because we are from the same school, or because we were born in the same place.
If we fellowship with a weak brother, we have to help him instead of falling into the same situation. We have to pull him up to another level. This is where the problem lies between our Brother Leland Wang and Brother Chang Chi-chen in Foochow.
The second point to pay attention to is to learn to be led away to the lowly. We have to be careful about people who are famous and who occupy high positions in society. We should keep a distance from them, lest we fall into suspicion. Not everyone can go into the home of a rich brother or sister. Sometimes one has to go through the doorkeepers in order to visit such brothers. Do not live in the houses of the rich ones. It is not a good thing for today's Christianity to be mixed up with great capitalists.
Once I was in Chefoo, and the brothers invited me to stay at the house of a well-to-do brother because of my sickness. I declined the offer. They asked me for the reason, and I told them that it has to do with my footsteps. On another occasion I went to Kaifeng to conduct some meetings. The first few days I stayed at a rich person's home. Later, I decided not to stay in the house of that government officer. Those who love to acquaint themselves with rich and influential people have lost their standing as a worker of God. I have no patience for these ones. Such ones have lost their standing in the work. Our standing is that of a worker of God. Every worker should maintain his ministerial standard. Both the Lord and the apostles rebuked the rich and the influential ones more severely and sharply than others. If we do not take care of the issue of money properly, we will leave a bad taste with others.
In contacting others one has to be careful that his standing does not change with an acquaintance. It is a shameful thing to have selective fellowship among the co-workers.
The third matter is a serious demand on the workers today. It is to learn to listen to others when they speak. The basic requirement, technique, or qualification of a worker is that he can listen to others. We have to be able to sit down for an hour and listen to the brothers and sisters. As the brothers speak, we have to be able to understand what they are saying sentence by sentence. Not only do we have to hear what they are saying; we have to be able to understand what they are saying.
We have to remain quiet while the brothers and sisters are speaking. We cannot be saying something else within us at the same time. Many people hear the wrong things because they are speaking within at the same time that they are listening. This is like having two radios turned on at the same time. When two different stations are speaking at the same time, one cannot hear clearly what either one is saying. In the same way, if a man cannot listen to others, it is because he is speaking when they are speaking.
There is another point concerning listening. Man's spirit is revealed through his mouth. When a man speaks, his spirit is released, and it touches the spirit of others. A man's spirit is released through his speaking. If you cannot listen to others, you will not be able to touch their spirit. Whether or not a worker is strong in his work depends on whether he is able to touch others' spirit with his spirit. It is difficult to find one in a thousand who can detect others' spirit without listening to their words. Whether a man's spirit is rebellious, defiled, strong, weak, or in any other condition, it is expressed through his words. We have to be an objective person. Only an objective person can listen to others speak. This is the greatest need in our work.
The fourth thing that a worker has to learn is to speak accurately in his daily life. A careless person has no hope as far as participation in God's work is concerned. A double-tongued person cannot help anyone in any church; he can only cause trouble. Some brothers have asked me how they should study the Bible. I can tell you that only an accurate man can study the Bible. Some people cannot study the Bible by nature. Even if you were to send such a one to seminary, it would still be useless. He may be able to study philosophy, but he can never study science. Science is accurate, and knowledge in science is acquired through numerous experiments and verifications. In the Lord's work there is no such thing as "more or less the same.'' Either things are the same or they are not the same. For example, the whiteness of snow is different from the whiteness of a white horse. But the careless ones will say that they are the same.
The sisters should pay particular attention to this matter. In their daily life they should be careful; they should speak properly, sentence by sentence. The careless ones, those who are active in their mind and who have a hard time differentiating between real and false things, are of little use in God's hand. The more we want to be accurate in our speaking, the more troublesome it is. It is easy to be careless. But a careless person can only speak from his feeling; he cannot speak accurate words. However, truth is absolute. It cannot change according to your feeling. Truth is not affected by anything.
Who can study the Bible? The Bible is not understood through methods, but through proper persons. A person can listen to, study, and read the Bible. But if he wants to get some light, he has to be an accurate person.
The fifth point concerns the appointment of responsible brothers. Not everyone can appoint elders. Paul asked Timothy to appoint elders, but he did not ask Mark, Silas, Luke, or Demas to appoint elders. Some are hands; they cannot be the eyes. Some people say that they have to consider more. But if you are a hand, will you know whether a pillar is white simply by more consideration? Even if you considered for five days, you would not be clear whether the pillar was white. It is better for you to seek the help of the eyes. It is easy to appoint a person, but it is troublesome to ask anyone to step down from responsibility. If you do this, the whole church will be greatly affected. For this reason, we cannot appoint responsible ones lightly. Paul asked Timothy to look for faithful ones. This is not an easy matter.
When the Western missionaries select personnel, most of the time they select the good and the lovable persons. To us these ones may be the most useless; they may even be swindlers. Some people ask why we do not appoint certain brothers as responsible ones. We have to realize that some brothers are good people and nice gentlemen, but they can easily be deceived. Do not say that this is only the missionaries' problem; the Chinese can have the same problem. It is not a light matter for a man to receive a ministry before the Lord. There are certain basic qualifications in appointing a person. It is not such a simple matter.
Sixth, the co-workers should pay special attention to their physical needs. Concerning our personal life, the Lord's principle is first that our personal belongings have to be simple when we travel. It is too improper for a worker to travel with five or ten pieces of luggage.
Second, we must pay attention to how we eat. Whatever others put in front of us, we have to eat. Other than for the reason of physical weakness, we have to make ourselves persons who are easy to be served. When we are at home, we can do whatever we like. But when we are traveling, it is not so simple.
Once I was in Anhwei province. The people there like sesame oil, but I hate sesame oil. I had sesame oil continually for sixteen days. When they saw that my appetite was not good, they asked if I would like some preserved eggs. I said yes, and they served me preserved eggs, but they were also soaked in sesame oil!
The third thing is related to the place where we live. The co-workers should not pick places for sleeping that are too good or too coarse. They have to select moderate places. Once they have decided where to stay, they should stay there until they leave the city. Even if you find that you are staying in a lion's den, you have to wait until daybreak. If the king has not come, you cannot go out by yourself. Unless others make further arrangements for you, you should not make any choice of your own. Many workers are involved in trouble merely through moving around.
Once someone prepared a bed for me. It was supposed to be a sofa bed, but it was a bed that no one could lie on. The bed was put together with blocks of wood. When I turned over, the wood would make noise. I was disturbed not only by others' noise, but by the noise I made also. A worker has to learn to live in abundance, and he also has to learn to live in poverty. A worker must learn to overcome his body.
There was a brother in southern Fukien province who had a somewhat higher standard of living at home. When he had to work in a place that had a lower standard of living, he found that he could not handle the situation. What we eat and wear and how we live at home are personal matters before the Lord. But when we are guests in others' homes, we have to live according to the standard of that family. Habit is one thing, and a mind to suffer is another thing. No matter how weak we are or how many needs we have, we have to learn to lower ourselves. Do not let any church think that it is a troublesome thing to provide hospitality for a servant of God. If we practice living in a low way at home, we will be able to stand it even when others put us in a lower place. Only those who have learned to overcome their bodies present no difficulty to others. Only a mind to suffer can give us the strength to humble ourselves before men. Hence, we have to learn to overcome our bodies.
Chang Kwang-yung: Sometimes after I deliver a message, I feel hungry, and good food is placed before me. If I eat too much, it would be embarrassing. What should I do? After working in a place, when I am about to leave, others try to give me gifts. What should I do? If I do not accept them, the host is offended. But if I accept them, should I give something in return later?
Watchman Nee: We have to know how to live in abundance. However, to live in abundance does not mean to enjoy abundance. I know when to eat and when not to eat. A person who is careless in eating is one who has never been restricted before God. If I really need a chicken, I can eat a chicken every day. If I do not need it, I could refuse if five chickens were served in front of me. In principle I eat only the portion served to me.
When Satan sinned, he craved for the throne. When man sinned, he craved for food. It is not a matter of eating much or eating little, but a matter of eating what is placed in front of you. I will not make additional requests on top of what others are serving me. When we live among others, we should maintain our standing. Otherwise, we will give others a bad impression about the gospel. When many young workers are about to be sent out for some work, I invite them to a good meal. That one meal determines whether or not a worker will go out. Perhaps this is not a good thing to say, because the next time it will not be an easy thing for me to invite anyone for meals.
Concerning the matter of receiving gifts, I can tell you a story. In 1937 I was in Manila. At the end of my stay, the brothers and sisters sent me away on a ship with a crate of fruit. Inside the crate were one hundred eighty to two hundred pieces of fruit. If I spread out the fruit in my cabin, I could have almost started a fruit store. But by the time I left the ship and went on shore, I did not have one piece of fruit left; I had given it all away to the attendants. Although they were not poor with regard to money, they were poor with regard to fruit. If I went home with two hundred pieces of fruit, what would others think? They would say what a scene that a preacher would come back with so much fruit.
If others give us gifts, we cannot give gifts to them in return. If we do, this kind of thing will never end. We cannot turn down the brothers' and sisters' love. But I would rather share with the poor such love. If others invite me for a meal, I would rather eat five bowlfuls and send the other five bowlfuls to the poor outside the door.
Hsia Hsi-ling from Tientsin: The church in Tientsin began in 1936. By the grace of the Lord, we have been in one accord for the last twelve years. As long as there are two or three who are faithful, the testimony can be maintained. Four major events happened during these years. The first was the political turmoil, the second was the flood, the third was the war in Asia, and the fourth was the so-called North China Christian Alliance. Presently, we have about one hundred people breaking bread. Among them, two or three brothers are particularly living and fresh. The responsible brothers are Hsia Hsi-ling and Lee Pi. Presently, we use the meeting hall for prayer, and the place is too small.
Watchman Nee's word of exhortation: We hope that Brother Hsia can leave his job and be free from the bondage of money. Money should only help us in the gospel; it should not hinder the gospel. In assigning the co-workers we should take the most economical way. We must see that God is moving before we move.
The work in Tsingtao should face west along the railway line. The work in Shanghai should face the direction of the Yangtze River. The work in Tientsin should face the east as well as the west. What we have at present should be strengthened. If some brothers feel clear to go, we should release them to go.
Brother Mak from Swatow: I began to learn to come into the service in 1940. I stayed in Sian for six years. Presently, I am in Swatow. There are about three hundred saints who are in fellowship with us. We are short of brothers who can give messages.
Watchman Nee's exhortation: The Gospels contain the story of the woman with an issue of blood. There were many people at that time. The object of their touching was the same, yet the result of their touching was not the same. Everyone was touching Christ, but the woman's touching was different from the others'. Others may have touched His back or His arms. They may even have torn His garment, but there was no result. The same kind of people may be praying in tears; the same kind of people may be touching the Lord. Everything may be the same, but the result is not the same. We have to see that there is another world behind the visible things. If we are not careful, we will become the crowd that was pressing against the Lord. There were many who were following the Lord and many who were touching Him. But only one person's touch resulted in a change in life. Outwardly, everyone was touching Him, but if one were to dig deeper, he would discover that there was another world. The woman touched the Christ whom no one else had touched. Even though others pressed against Him, the Lord ignored them all. The touching of others did not bring about anything, but this woman's touch brought about something.
Today the Christians who are pressing the Lord will not be saved. Only those who are touching Him in a real way will be saved. Whether or not you have someone to give messages is not the main thing. Today many people who give messages are merely causing people to press against the Lord. What we need are those who are willing to pay a serious price.
