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As we lead the church and the work, we should not rely too much upon organization. This does not mean that we should not have any arrangement. No matter what we do or what kind of move we have, there is a need for some arrangement. Without a certain amount of arrangement, it is difficult to move; hence, there is a need for some arrangement. However, to work merely by organization is the way of degraded Christianity. Moreover, we need to pay attention to never incite or stir people up. While this may have some impact at the beginning, in the long run and in reality, inciting people has no eternal value of life. Any work done out of incitement does not last. For example, after the international high-school and junior-high students’ meeting in 1987, the result in all the localities seemed quite good, but things changed with the passage of time, and now we may say that the positive situation was only momentary and that not much fruit remains.
At the very beginning of the Lord’s recovery, whether in the work related to the church, the gospel, or the students, we always tried to avoid inciting people. From the time we were raised up by the Lord, we have had much experience in this regard and have seen that whatever comes out of incitement does not have the value of life. We have learned many lessons in this matter. Currently, the move of the work in many places depends too much on incitement, especially the work of the high-school and junior-high students. Besides having organization, there is arrangement and incitement. It seems that locality after locality has not paid attention to the testimony of the genuine work of life. Consequently, we need to spend some time to pray before the Lord not only for an open door in all the colleges and high schools but also for some among us to be raised up to bear the burden in life. These ones will bear the burden to labor on a particular school, to serve with the high schools and junior high schools, or to work with the college students. In short, we ask the Lord to save us from incitement; we do not want any incitement but a genuine burden of life.
In the church, anything that comes out of incitement is temporary because its principle is wrong. Those who incite others are soulish and cannot touch people’s spirit. Only the kind of work that comes out of genuine prayer, genuine burden, and paying a great price is of life, has the issue of life, and is eternal. According to my knowledge, there is a definite lack in the condition of the students’ work in various localities in regard to the element of the burden of life. Although there may be eight or ten junior high and high schools in a given locality, we should not simply go out and recruit eight or ten “salespersons” and assign them to work in the schools. This can be compared to using salespersons to sell commodities. While salespersons can be assigned in this way, we cannot do the same in the matter of preaching the gospel and ministering life. In our students’ work, we must see if there are any brothers and sisters who are burdened for these schools or for a particular school; then we need to fellowship with them as to how they can serve these schools. Spiritual work is altogether a matter of burden and of life and is not carried out by methods one uses in a career. In other words, spiritual work cannot be carried out simply by assignment and negotiation.
In the Bible there is no such thing as assignment or negotiation; rather, everything is carried out according to burden. The elders in all the churches need to pay attention to this matter. Since they are the ones who take care of their locality, they should first receive a burden. If the elders do not receive a burden, it will be difficult for the students’ work to advance and continue. Some brothers and sisters may receive a burden directly from the Lord. This is acceptable. In short, with the students’ work, there must be the initiation of someone who has received a burden; it may be that the elders receive the burden or that other saints pray and the Lord answers their prayers by raising up burdened ones to do the work directly. Perhaps their burden is toward a particular school; then we should let them labor on that school. While laboring, they still need to remember to follow the principle of never trying to incite people or trying to gain eight or ten people at one time; inciting people and gaining large numbers fast are not according to the principle in the Bible. We need to remember that even if we gain fruit by incitement, it will disappear within half a year.
For example, in the past some suggested to conduct a training camp in Taichung before school started in order to gain the college students. In the end, over one thousand six hundred were baptized. Nevertheless, it seems that there was no further development. Instead of spending the time and effort to labor on these one thousand six hundred, we should devote the manpower to our burden. In other words, we should lead the students one by one to pick up the burden to labor. Perhaps the burdened ones may labor on only two hundred students, and if the majority remains, this will be effective. Through incitement we may quickly gain one thousand six hundred people, but in the end, we may have only their names but not their persons. Moreover, knocking on the doors of the students is very different from preaching the gospel in the communities. While people in the community have addresses, students have a great deal of mobility, which makes it difficult to knock on their doors.
We need to bear in mind that to do a work of incitement will waste our time and energy. In other words, works produced by incitement are not solid; a solid work must be carried out from one’s burden. For example, some brothers and sisters may have the burden to take care of the students’ work. If they have a burden, there is no need for incitement. Instead, they should begin by praying. This matches our experience. When we pray to the Lord and ask Him for a certain one, He may grant this one to us. Then our rising up is out of a burden, and we can impart this burden into people and lead them according to life. After receiving the burden, they will gradually lead others as well.
According to our observation, we cannot say that what we have done is not good or is wrong. However, using a method to carry out the work, that is, to push and incite people, will not yield much result. If a brother contacts his classmates out of a burden he has received, he does not need to contact many classmates. He only needs to contact one or two. By doing this, he will impart a “spirit of producing and propagation” into them. This is the real producing, the real propagation. We do not need to incite, promote, or lead people to do anything; this kind of work eventually produces nothing. Rather, we all need to have a burden and labor in it actively.
We must keep this principle. We should never expect a quick success in the work. Some kinds of fungus, such as mushrooms, sprout overnight, but plants such as apple trees are not able to grow and bear fruit in a single night. Even wheat takes a few months to bear grain. This is the same with regard to spiritual work; it is a matter of burden, life, labor, and paying a price. Hence, no matter what we do, if we merely rely on a method, there will not be much eternal value in the result. Even in regard to what we do in the training, we need to consider whether it comes out of burden or incitement. Anything that comes out of incitement does not have much value and cannot last eternally; only that which comes out of burden can last.
I hope that the elders and co-workers receive this word. From now on, no matter what kind of work we lead, we must stay in this principle. We should never incite others or do something out of incitement. To incite people can be likened to making artificial flowers. Today many factories in Hong Kong and Taiwan make artificial flowers; in order to increase sales, they can make thousands of flowers overnight. The real flowers, however, are different; they cannot grow that fast. There must be seeds of life and then cultivation; after some time, there will be a result. I hope that we all learn this lesson so that our work will have a future. Otherwise, our work will be in vain. After a period of incitement, there will be nothing, and after another time of incitement, there still will be nothing. This is what we need to avoid.
We love the Lord, fellowship with the Lord, and receive the Lord’s dealing. In the Lord’s dealing, we receive His burden. After receiving a burden, we need to pay a price. Everyone who receives a burden needs to pay a price. Upon receiving a burden, we need to pay the price to labor, sow, cultivate, water, and take care of the new ones. Then at a certain time we will reap the harvest. This is the way to lead the church, and this is also the way to carry out the work with the junior-high and high-school students. Actually, this is the way to carry out every work. There are secondary schools all over Taiwan; I hope that the brothers and sisters will receive a burden related to the students. This applies also to the children.
We need to come together to pray specifically for the students’ work that the Lord would open the door for us and raise up burdened ones to carry out this work. This is a desperate need. As for the way, the brothers’ houses and sisters’ houses are quite good. Moreover, if there are saints who are willing to open their homes as “support stations,” it will be a proper and effective way to labor on the students. Sometimes we do need to borrow some ways, but more fundamentally, we need burdened ones. We all need to cry out to the Lord and ask Him to raise up more burdened ones.
