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In these first few chapters we are first considering the person of an elder. After this we will consider the principle of administration in the church. I want to repeat soberly to the brothers and sisters that whether a matter is carried out in a good way or in a poor way depends absolutely on the person. Eighty to ninety percent of the success of a work depends on the person, the remaining ten to twenty percent on the method and principle. Therefore, the main problem in overseeing the church is the person. Today we will speak about character.
Character and habits are closely related. To speak of character is almost the same as to speak of habits. During the training in 1953 we stressed heavily the matter of character. Later, at the training in Manila we spoke again on character with a few additional points. There were altogether thirty points, composed of ten groups with three points in each group. We have said that character differs from nature. Nature comes completely from the hereditary traits; it comes by birth. Character does not come only by birth; there is the question of habits also.
From our experience a strict analysis of character shows that it is developed from our hereditary nature plus our habits. When we add habits to the nature received at birth, we have the fixed character of a person. However, within the character the percentage of habit is higher than that of nature. Perhaps sixty to seventy percent of character is habit, and thirty to forty percent is nature. For example, two baby boys may be born of the same Chinese parents. But the older one may be brought into a Western family from birth and brought up and educated there, whereas the younger one may be born in China and raised up in a Chinese family. When they both grow up, the elder brother will fully manifest the Western character, whereas the younger will fully manifest the Chinese character. I believe all of you will accept this fact. Therefore, although character contains the element of nature, it is mostly developed from habits. Some are born slow; others are born quick. This is a difference in the hereditary nature. But some are slow by habit, and others are quick by habit. The difference is developed mostly from habits. The character we are speaking of is primarily related to our habits.
No one is ever free from the influence of his character in his walk and conduct. The walk and conduct of every person is definitely restricted by his character. This is inevitable. Of course, when a person is not broken, it is very difficult for him to be spiritual. If his heart has not been dealt with severely, it will not be sufficiently large, honest, and upright. All these surely will affect his walk. But there is one more point: no matter what kind of walk a person may have, he can never go beyond the boundary of his character. Everyone is restricted by his character. If it is your character to be a quick person, you cannot but work hastily. If your character is slow, you cannot but work at a slow pace. If your character is careless, you could never be serious in your work. If your character is inaccurate, you could never give a message with accuracy. This is absolutely true. Not only does character control the whole person as the heart does, but it is a person’s whole world; it is his realm and even his sphere. It is impossible for anyone to act outside of this realm. No matter how anyone walks and behaves, there is no way for him to go beyond the realm of his own character.
Therefore, experience has shown us that in order for the elders to be a true profit to the church, their character must be carefully considered. We all know that the demands upon a person’s character increase as his undertaking becomes more lofty. If you are a man pulling a rickshaw or a man cleaning the street, the consideration of character is not so important. But if you undertake to do something higher, such as being a physician or a professor, then the demand for character becomes higher. Today those brothers who are elders in the church and who oversee God’s house are engaged in the highest undertaking in the universe. As such, they must pay full attention to the matter of character.
In this chapter we can only deal with a few points of character that are directly related to the administration of the elders. If you neglect these few points, no matter how well you pray and how spiritual you are, I can conclude that you will be ineffective as an elder; the situation of the church will be helpless under your hand. These few points are: thoroughness, diligence, steadfastness, concern for others, and being accommodating. Let us consider these points one by one.
The most important point of the elder’s character is to be thorough and not careless. Brothers and sisters, if you have ever tried to be thorough, you will discover how much man is not at all thorough. Sometimes the elders have caused much confusion in the church among the brothers and sisters because of a lack of thoroughness. For example, some of the brothers and sisters may present a matter to you, but you merely listen casually to them and assume that you have understood clearly what they said. Actually, you have not listened clearly and accurately enough to the words of the brothers; you have not understood the meaning of their words. Consequently, by the time you deal with the matter, you can only deal with it in a general way. You may consider that the matter is generally taken care of, but actually, the matter is far from completed.
If you investigate a little, you will find out that most people are not thorough. For example, it is hard to find anyone among the brothers and sisters who can repeat another’s words accurately. I may tell you something, and you may pass it on to someone else. The same word may pass through seven people. By the time it reaches the eighth person, the words will then differ very much from the words spoken by the first one. The second person may speak almost the same as the first. The third one may also speak more or less the same as the second. But by the time the words are relayed to the eighth person, the difference will be very great. Sometimes, when a brother passes on the words of another, a problem arises in the church. If you bring together the brother who initiated the words with the one who relayed those words, the two will quarrel with one another. One will say, “At such and such a time you spoke this word to me.” The other will say, “No, the way I said it was thus and thus.” Eventually, you discover that neither is lying, and neither of them has any problem with their motives. The fact is that the one who speaks, speaks carelessly, and the one who listens, also listens carelessly. The two careless persons now form a pair. The one speaking does not speak correctly, and the other listening does not listen accurately. As a result, a problem arises. I do not know how many times I have confronted this kind of situation. From experience I know that I cannot hastily accept people’s words, because their words are too inaccurate. The basic cause for their inaccuracy is the lack of thoroughness in their character.
I believe that we brothers do not need to look at others; we only need to look at ourselves. Let me mention one thing, the reading of the Scriptures. If you will check yourself concerning this matter, you will discover how lacking you are in thoroughness. Try to write down what you have comprehended in the first chapter of Genesis, and you will discover how your comprehension of Genesis 1 lacks thoroughness.
I can never forget an incident that took place when I was in Shanghai in 1947. One day I was sitting in the living room. Suddenly, a sister came rushing in and said, “Brother Lee! A terrible thing has happened! Upstairs in the ceiling a big hole like this has broken through.” As she was speaking, she made a gesture with her hands. At that time I was taken by surprise. I asked her, “How big?” She said, “This big!” The gesture with her hands was slightly smaller than before. We asked her again, “Really how big?” She said, “Like this.” I asked again, “How big?” She said, “Nearly this big.” Each time I asked, the hole she described became smaller and smaller. There were others sitting in the room with me. After I had asked five or six times, they began to laugh. Actually, if I remember correctly, the hole at that time was only the size of a penny. This seems like a joke, but if you test yourselves with this principle, you will then realize how inaccurate a person you are.
Sometimes a brother may tell me, “Oh, Brother Lee, Brother So-and-so has a high fever.” I would ask, “What is the temperature?” He would say, “I will go and measure it.” After a while he would return and would say, “I have measured it. It is only 37.5°C.” Then I would go and measure it myself. It would turn out to be only 37.3°C., even less than 37.5°C. You see how inaccurate one can be even in taking body temperature. Do not think that I am joking. This actually happened.
When I was in mainland China, sometimes I would go to a place to work and to hold conferences. I asked the responsible brothers how many could be seated in their meeting hall. One elder said, “It can seat two hundred fifty.” Another elder said, “It can seat approximately four hundred fifty.” Still another said, “We have only two hundred twenty seats.” When I heard this, I was utterly confused. Was it two hundred fifty, four hundred fifty, or two hundred twenty? How many seats were there after all? After much questioning, I still could not get an exact number.
Never consider this to be a small matter. The elders must have a character that is very thorough. Otherwise, sooner or later, everything in the church under your hand will become a problem. In the church, no matter what is placed in the hands of a careless person, it will become a problem. In managing things, negotiating matters, passing on words, or solving others’ problems, our character needs to be thorough.
When a brother tells you his spiritual problem, you cannot listen to it carelessly. You must listen seriously to it like a physician. We often say that a good physician must be fine in his heart and bold in his courage. This fineness is a matter of character. You must be very fine and very serious. When a brother or a sister speaks to you concerning the problems of others, he or she may be careless in speaking. However, you must listen seriously and even inquire seriously. Occasionally, a sister may come to you and say, “Oh, how terrible is my husband!” If you say, “Wait until I get a piece of paper so that I can write down what you say,” you can be sure that if you put the paper on the table and write down point by point what she says, she will change her tone. It does not mean that she has originally intended to lie, but it means that she is careless. When she sees that you are seriously taking notes, she will then speak seriously. After she is finished speaking, you may nail the matter down further: “Did you say that he came home at twelve o’clock last night?” She may say, “Yes, it was twelve o’clock...Oh, no! Maybe it was a little past ten.” You may say, “Did you say he spent two thousand dollars?” She may say, “Well, maybe about one thousand two hundred dollars.” If you pin her down a little, she will change her tone. Things like this have actually happened. If you are not thorough in this way and you merely sit there listening, she may speak something “up in the air.” If you believe every word she says, you can never help her solve her family problem.
Even in listening to the truth and to God’s word, we often hear inaccurately. If you do not believe me, please repeat what you have heard. You will find out that the message was given one way, and when you repeat it, it takes on another form. We often record our messages on the tape recorder here. It is best after you have heard a message to repeat it once to yourself, then compare it with a recording of that message. You will find out there is a vast difference. What is the reason for such inaccuracy? It is simply the problem of character; you are a person who is not thorough. I can only touch the principle. I believe that the brothers and sisters can apply it to their practical daily living.
In addition, an elder must not be slothful. A slothful elder in a local church brings that church under a curse. It can be compared to what happens in a family; if the parents are lazy, it is a punishment to the children. The elders must have a diligent character. Anything in the hands of a slothful man will be delayed and cannot be depended on. All those who know how to work know that success in every task depends on the seizing of time. What is an opportunity? Opportunity is the seizing of time. When you seize the time, you gain the opportunity. When you let time slip by, you lose the opportunity. Whoever can seize time is a diligent person.
If you read through the Old Testament and then the New Testament, you will realize that everyone who serves the Lord has a distinctive character, one of diligence. If you want to manage the church well, you must exercise yourself to have a diligent character. Once a matter is placed in your hands, you should not place it on the shelf. Everything in our hands must be carried out diligently.
A diligent character is ninety percent developed through habit. Some people were not born lazy, but they have developed a lazy habit. As a result, they bear a lazy character. Slothfulness is a serious matter. If you allow slothfulness to have its way, it will make you more slothful. No wonder Solomon said that the sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again. Consider the extent to which a person’s slothfulness may carry him. Whenever I read Solomon’s description of slothfulness in Proverbs, I cannot help but laugh. He described how a lazy man is good at finding excuses. For example, if you want such a man to run an errand down the street, he would say that he does not want to go down the street, for there is a lion on the street. Whenever I read this, I always laugh. This is truly a good excuse! You may remember another way he described a slothful man, that he wallows on his bed like the door turns upon its hinges. These are all Solomon’s descriptions. He shows that if slothfulness becomes our habit, it can become very harmful.
I wish to tell you that if you wish to overcome your slothfulness and develop the habit of diligence, you must start from your own personal matters, both great and small. In some places I said this to the young people: “If I see that your shoes are unpolished and dusty, I know that you must be a lazy person.” You may say that you do not have time. This is an excuse. I must tell you that you have time no matter how little time you have. It takes only a few seconds to clean a pair of shoes. There is an old saying: “Slothfulness and uncleanness are twin sisters.” Wherever you find a place that is unclean, you know that a lazy man has been there. What is uncleanness? Uncleanness is to leave everything as it is. When you visit some churches, you will find the condition there is one that is unclean. By unclean I do not mean that it is filthy or dirty; I mean that things there are messy, disorderly, and lacking in management. This condition simply proves that the elders there are lazy.
I have been to some local churches and have met some elders who, if I suggest some meetings on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings, would frown at the idea and say, “I am afraid that the brothers and sisters may not be able to take it.” Let me tell you that it is not the brothers and sisters but the elders who cannot take it. They may say, “Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday seem too much. Perhaps we can keep the Tuesday and Thursday only.” I may then ask, “What then should we do in these meetings? Should we pray, study the Word, or fellowship?” The lazy ones always have their way. They may say, “An hour and a half is too long. One hour is good enough, with half an hour for prayer and half an hour for studying the Bible. In this way we have the study of the Word, and we have prayer, and we get two things done at the same time. This will also save the brothers’ and sisters’ time in traveling.” This word sounds good, but every time I hear such a word, I shake my head and say to myself, “This church is in trouble, because the elders are lazy.”
I have also met some diligent people. For example, you may go to a local church and say to the elders there, “It would be best if we can have two meetings each week, on Tuesday and Thursday.” They may answer, “Brother, how about Saturday?” You can see that their eyebrows are raised. If you say, “I am afraid it may be too much,” they will say, “Brother, not at all. We can meet every evening.” From this you can see that with the same question, diligent ones and lazy ones respond with different tones and different suggestions. A lazy man has a lazy view, whereas a diligent man has a diligent view.
Moreover, if you put something into the hands of a lazy man, he will surely make an important matter look small and a small matter to be nothing. If the same matter is placed in the hands of a diligent man, he will make something out of nothing and will make a small thing into something big. The more he lays his hands on things, the more things there will be. If you do not believe me, simply try the matter out. Sometimes a brother or sister would come to advise me, “Brother Lee, try to make the Scripture a little simpler.” I would answer in return, “Do you want me to be a lazy man? I can be very simple and finish the book of Numbers in fifteen minutes. The first chapter deals with the forming of an army, and the last chapter deals with the ordinances concerning the inheritance of the women to the east of the river Jordan. Hence, the book of Numbers is simply the forming of the army and the apportioning of the inheritance.”
Please remember that with anything in this entire world everything can be simplified to the degree that it can be finished in an hour. At the same time, it can also be extended to the point that it can go on for a whole lifetime. The range is very great. It all depends upon whether you are diligent or lazy. When a diligent person solves the problem of a brother, he solves it diligently, and not in a simple way. But when a lazy man tries to solve the same problem, he does it in a lazy way; to him everything is easy and can be done quickly.
I can tell you that I am a person who writes letters often and receives much mail from brothers and sisters. Sometimes, after looking at a brother’s letter, I cannot help but laugh. To me, it would have been better for this brother to send a telegram rather than write a letter. If you ask him why he writes so little, he would say that he does not have anything to say and that what he has written is good enough. This is laziness. Anyone who is not lazy can find much to write about.
Once, a brother who was responsible for the co-workers’ dormitory spoke to others in my presence: “Whoever manages the dormitory cannot possibly bear Brother Lee. Today he comes and asks for all the bedspreads to be changed and the desks to be moved. The next day he asks for all the mattresses to be turned over. I simply cannot stand it.” However, I wish to tell you that this is not a matter of being able or unable to tolerate something. Rather, it is a matter of slothfulness or diligence. If you are slothful, you will not be able to bear even work that is lighter. If you are diligent, even work that is heavier is acceptable.
If you visit a local church, you will know whether the elders there are diligent or slothful. Sometimes, when you go to a local church and observe the condition there, you will find out that the gospel has not been preached as it ought to have been preached, and the saints have not been edified as they ought to have been edified. Visitations have not been made as they ought to have been made, and many backsliders have not been sought out as they ought to have been sought out. In spite of all these things, the elders nevertheless have peace day after day. When meetings are being considered, these elders would wish that an hour-and-a-half meeting would be shortened to one hour. These elders are like hired workers. Everyone who manages his own store or who works in an office has to take his business seriously; he has to work with long-suffering and utmost diligence. When his business requires nine hours, he spends ten hours. When it requires ten hours, he spends twelve hours. When it requires twelve hours, he spends fifteen hours. This was what I saw with the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. In the morning, before any of the employees arrive, they arrive early at the place of business and take the lead to work. They stay until 11 p.m. or 12 a.m. before returning home. No wonder they make a success in their business.
Brothers, never think that all you have to do in overseeing a church is to pray a little and wait for the Lord a little and expect God to do it all for you. There is no such thing. God will never perform such a miracle. To manage the church is like managing a family. All the sisters who manage their homes know that whether a home is large or small, they can never get their job done, even when they put all their time into it. However, a person may do nothing around the house, and she can still call it her home. But there is a great difference between one home and another. Likewise, a church is a church, whether it is managed by diligent ones or slothful ones, but there can be vast differences between one church and another.
When a church is in the hands of some elders who are slothful, it is impossible for that church to go on. No matter what wonderful truths, principles, and methods are entrusted to them, the church will still have no way to go on, because slothfulness damages everything. Therefore, every elder must exercise to be diligent. When anyone becomes an elder, he is not there merely to mark time but to do business. In doing business, a person is not concerned with time. Whenever a matter comes to his attention, he must deal with it and manage it diligently.
The result of this diligence is to make the weakest person the most successful one. There is a Chinese saying — “Better to go slowly than to stand still.” Even though you may be very timid, as long as you go on diligently to oversee and to manage, you will see the church being led in an orderly way and on the right track. On the other hand, if the elders are lazy, everything will be frustrated. No matter how spiritual an elder is, it will still be of no avail. When a church is placed in the hands of a lazy person, it is doomed to desolation.
To be stable means that you do not change easily. For example, you should not place a sister in responsibility over a district and then remove her after two weeks. Or you should not make a decision to carry out some task only to waver when difficulty arises. All of this speaks of instability. A stable person is not like this. He does not trust a person easily, but once he has trusted someone, he will not easily change. He does not make decisions easily, but once he has made a decision, he deals with problems steadily without panic, despite any difficulty that may arise. If elders do not possess this kind of stable character, they will cause trouble to the church, and there will be no way to go on.
A stable character does not come mainly by birth; rather, it comes mostly through discipline. For example, a word may have come to you; you have heard it, but you do not make a final decision about it until you have considered it well and have taken suggestions from all sides. You may need to write an essay. After you have finished the first draft, it is best to lay it aside for a couple of days and then to read it again. By that time circumstances may change, or your thought may become clearer and your observation more accurate. Experience tells us that the weightier a matter is, the more there is the need for one to be stable. For you to be ever so slightly careless will result in some deficiencies and may even bring you into trouble.
We all have to admit that no matter how fine we are, it is nevertheless not easy to make an accurate judgment when confronted with certain matters. Therefore, we must learn to be stable. Do not easily believe or disbelieve. Do not believe too hastily or too slowly. Do not quickly say that someone is good or is bad. When you say that someone is good, you have to remember that he is still the descendant of Adam and that no matter how good he is, he still has some corrupt elements. At the same time, when you repeatedly say that someone is not good, remember that as a part of God’s creation, he still has his good elements. This is especially true for one who has been saved by God’s grace. Therefore, no one is absolutely good or bad. Once you believe in something absolutely, you fall into an unstable position. Perhaps you will consider this as being careful, but this is much more than merely being careful.
When a problem arises in the church, and it appears that you need to deal with it, deal with it you must, but you should not panic or be hasty. You should first calm down before trying to deal with it. When you are in an unstable condition, do not attempt to deal with it. Especially the elders in a large local church must exercise to have this kind of stable character. Everything that passes through your hands must be weighed calmly. Although you may have one hundred percent trust in a brother, while you are trusting, you have to be considering at the same time. Do not put your trust in others all at once; put your trust in them a little at a time. In some situations you need to allow the other person to manifest himself a little, then put your trust in him slowly. If you see anything unsafe, withdraw immediately. We must learn this lesson of being stable.
The thing everyone fears the most in the church is fluctuation; it bothers people to see things changing back and forth. Before you are clear about a particular matter, go slowly. Do not be too quick. Once you make a hasty decision, it is difficult to retract it. In a district meeting, the responsible brothers and sisters must hold fast to this principle. You must listen quickly but believe slowly. Whatever may happen, listen quickly, but pass it on slowly. Things may be passed on to me, but it should not be easy for me to pass them on to others. If I am not sure and not clear as to the consequence of a matter, I should not say anything about it. All of this is included in the principle of being stable.
If you lay hold of this principle, you as an elder in the church will not be changing back and forth every time the wind blows. Many people can offer their opinions to you, but you will not lightly express your view. Unless you are very sure, you will not speak. You will not make any judgment on any matter concerning right or wrong — not because the matter is difficult to discern, but because your character is stable.
Brothers, do not consider matters too simply. In the past years I myself have suffered great loss and great pain through slight negligence in some things. Once there is a change, there is a great loss. When I suffer a loss, the consequences are not that great; but if the church suffers a loss, the consequences are tremendous. Therefore, we must learn to be careful and must study a matter carefully and thoroughly before making a decision. Never change back and forth every time the wind blows.
The same principle also applies to our coordination with the brothers and sisters in the work. Never think that you can coordinate with one person today and change to another person tomorrow. You should never do this. Either we do not coordinate, or if we do, we have to be like Caleb and Joshua, coordinating with each other until death. If a brother who serves in the church becomes very intimate with one brother this month but dissociates himself from that one the very next month, all the while associating himself intimately with a third brother, such a person is too unstable and is without much use. A stable person will never coordinate with anyone easily, but once he coordinates with someone, he will not change until death.
Sometimes, when words of persecution, opposition, or other kinds of rumors come, you should not accept them too quickly. When an unstable person is blown by the wind from the outside, he falls. In 1943 I was in north China. Part of the work there was greatly blessed by the Lord. At the peak of the blessing, suddenly a wind of rumor blew into our ears. If I had not exercised stability at that time, not only one person, but ten people, would have fainted. Concerning this kind of thing, our attitude must be calm. To panic would not lessen the difficulty; rather, it would only intensify it. The more problems the church has, the more stable we need to be. Whether the problem comes from inside or outside, once it happens, we must learn to be stable. When we are stable, the situation will be cleared up.
Frequently, problems in the church come from the panicking of elders who are unstable in character. Things may not have been so serious at the beginning, but an unstable character makes things worse and rumors multiply. On the other hand, if one is stable and silent, he will see that the rumors will gradually subside. Even when a brother falls, you must not be anxious. Do not tell others right away, saying, “Brother So-and-so, who is responsible in a district, has gone to see a movie.” Perhaps he just went once to see a movie, but you tell others a hundred times. This will cause a storm. There is no need for you to shout this way. You must learn to be stable and to wait and see. When you are stable in this way, you will be led by the Lord to know how to help him. All accurate leadings, feelings, and burdens are obtained by those who are stable before God.
One of the things Satan likes the most is to see us being unstable. He likes to stir up a storm. The more you argue, the happier he is. The more you panic, the happier he becomes. The more rumors you spread, the happier he is. When one elder finds out that a brother is going to a movie, he hurries to tell another elder. This second elder reacts immediately, “Oh, how terrible! This is too bad!” The visit to the movie may not have been so bad at the beginning; what really makes it bad is a few elders helping Satan to throw in the stones. In the end there is no more peace. Therefore, we must learn how to deal with Satan’s disturbance here. No matter how many stones are thrown into this lake of mine, my lake still remains calm. No matter how much trouble you stir up, I am still stable. A thousand words cannot move me one bit. To be hardened in heart is wrong, and to be stiff-necked is also wrong, but you should learn to be stable. Without such a character you have no backbone. When the east wind blows, you go to the west. When the west wind blows, you fall to the east. A person who does not have a backbone cannot manage the church.
I want to reaffirm to you brothers and sisters that everything can be solved if we are willing to wait a little. Time is often the salvation sent by God. Let us consider again the matter of preaching. If due to laziness we do not want to preach, that is a great loss. However, if due to our cautiousness we wait again and again before we preach, this is a great profit. It is one thing to put off preaching because of laziness; it is another thing to wait for the sake of caution. Even in visitation we cannot be too hasty. We must also wait to see if the feeling to visit changes or not. Experience tells us that if you visit in such a stable way, often you will see that such a visitation comes at the right time and has the Lord’s presence within it. Therefore, we must learn not to panic or to be upset and hasty. Unless we are very sure of a matter, we must not make quick judgments. All of this is part of a stable character.
A person who has no concern for others cannot serve the Lord, much less be an elder. If an elder is afraid of being bothered, it is best for him not to be an elder. An elder is like a father or mother in a family. Parenthood is the most bothersome responsibility. The more an elder is willing to be bothered, the better he will function. If a brother comes to you today, a sister comes tomorrow, an unemployed person the third day, and if people come to you when they quarrel, when they are sick, when they need to buy a coffin or a gravesite, or when they do not know how to read the Bible or cannot have their prayers answered — if all these ones come to you — you are functioning quite well as an elder. But if no one ever comes to you, I think you should not be an elder any longer.
The secret to having others come to you is to have a concern for them. Once you have a concern for others, they will surely come to you. You have no idea how much help people need today. Strong ones never consider how the weak ones need help. Not only on important issues such as marriage, schooling, and employment, but even on trivial matters, the brothers and sisters need help. Some become ill and need to find a doctor. Even in the matter of finding the right doctor, there is the need of help.
The worldly people do not care much about fellowship, but we Christians are the people that care the most about fellowship. If you want to see a doctor and you can first have some fellowship with the elders, you will surely be blessed. If you want to rent a house and can first have some fellowship with the elders, you will also surely be blessed. Some brothers are really good elders; when others fellowship with them about renting a house, they can immediately ask a lot of questions. They may check to see if there is electricity and water, if transportation is convenient, if the place is close to the market, to the school, and what kind of people the neighbors are. They may check in detail on the kind of people living upstairs and those living downstairs, how is the entrance to the place and the exit from it, and how good is the security. If the brother says that there is a dance hall next door, the elder would at once reply, “How can you live next door to a dance hall? Do you want your children to learn to dance?” You can see that this is genuine help. Some do not have that much common sense and do not consider things thoroughly. Therefore, they need the help of an elder.
Some elders are really like parents. When you present a matter to such an elder, immediately he will consider everything for you. Perhaps you are considering the matter of marriage. While you are still getting acquainted with the other party, you decide to go to an elder. The elder will bring up many questions that are a great help to you. For example, he may discuss with you the kind of mate you should choose, the way you should contact the other party, and the circumstances under which you should contact the other party. These deal with the human side. In terms of godliness before God, he considers for you the proper way to maintain propriety. This is a very great help. If each local church can have more elders who are like this, it will truly be a blessing to all the brothers and sisters.
All these matters depend on a concern for others. If you feel that you are an elder and that all you have to do is go to the meetings and make a few announcements, such an attitude will disqualify you from being an elder. An elder should not wait for others to come and ask but should have a constant concern for others. Suppose eight brothers are assigned to my district. As a responsible one of this district, I should pay attention to these eight brothers concerning such matters as their family background, their marriages, and their educational background. Once I pay attention to them, I may find out that two young brothers are single and have recently graduated from college. My concern must be diligent and stable as well. I must be very concerned for them and very attentive to them. I must take note of the way they live and walk. Perhaps in the beginning I may not have much assurance, but after observing them for a considerable period of time, up to a certain point I may have the assurance to find a match for them. If you function in this way as an elder, in the long run the brothers and sisters cannot help but come to you. Surely they will come to you.
I really wish that the brothers and sisters in the church could come to the elders on any matter, whether large or small, spiritual, family, business, or having to do with one’s daily living. That would truly be wonderful. In principle, the responsible ones for the districts should be the same as the elders; they should also care for the brothers and sisters as in a family. This is a blessed work. You have no idea how much blessing is in it.
But please remember, this should not be something that we do out of our natural disposition. The desire to be involved in others’ business and to inquire about others’ affairs is of the flesh. The right way is for us to learn the lesson before the Lord and to accept a burden to be a shepherd among His children, one who cares for the souls of men. It is because you love them and are concerned for them that you have such a burden upon you. If an elder can do this, the church will surely be blessed. Today the greatest lack in every local church is this kind of elder. Such ones are not inquisitive concerning others’ affairs, but they do have a character of being concerned for others. This is the right character that an elder should have in his shepherding and teaching of the church.
An elder should have still another item of character, that of accommodating others. I have mentioned this point before and have called this character trait one that can be compared to glue; glue may be applied to a horizontal surface, a vertical body, a bump, a hole, or a corner. It can be accommodated to fit any shape. Whether an object is a bump or a hole, crooked or straight, level or slanted, it can be applied to it. An elder must be able to accommodate others in a similar way. However, although we speak of accommodation, this should not be something done artificially.
An elder must have a thorough, diligent, and stable character. He must be concerned for others and must be accommodating. If you have these five elements in your character, you will definitely manage a church well. I am not denying the importance of being spiritual, of which I have already spoken much. But if you are really spiritual, yet you lack these few character traits, your spirituality is still useless, and it still amounts to nothing. Spirituality can be compared to the ingredients, whereas character is the man himself behind the ingredients. Man’s character is composed of his natural disposition plus his habits. The character represents the person. If you are slow, it is the person who is slow. If you are fast, it is the person who is fast. If you are careless, it is the person who is careless. If you are thorough, it is the person who is thorough. You are such a person because you are constituted with such a character. A person may not necessarily produce something good simply because the ingredients are good; much depends on the worker who works on the ingredients. If your character is poor, even if you have spiritual experiences, there will be no way for them to be applied.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is not a great doctrine. However, I have full assurance, and I can lay down my life to guarantee that if an elder is not a thorough, diligent, and stable person and is not concerned for others, neither accommodating others all the time, he will never function well as an elder. To have such elders in a church is like having no elders at all. Only those elders who are thorough, diligent, stable, concerned for others’ affairs, and trying their best to accommodate others will be able to manage a church. Once we have such elders, we can thank and praise the Lord, for that church will surely have a bright future, and much spiritual blessing will be brought in.
Brothers, the elders among us are not professionals; they serve altogether out of love. We function as elders because we love the Lord, the church, and every member of His Body. Even if we pour out all the days of our life and our very life itself upon the church, it is worthwhile, and we are still willing to do it. This matter is bound up with the salvation of millions of souls; it is also bound up with the building up of millions of souls. How exceedingly glorious a work this is!
