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In this chapter we will consider a few basic points that are crucial in serving the Lord and in working for the Lord. We will also consider the basic conditions for serving the Lord. Many who serve the Lord do not realize that they neglect and even ignore these basic points.
A person who does not pay attention to these basic points will be known by his fruit. The Lord Jesus said, “By the fruit the tree is known” (Matt. 12:33). We can know by its fruit whether a tree is a peach tree or an apricot tree and whether it is good or corrupt. A tree with apricots cannot be called a peach tree, and if its fruit is sour, tart, small, and dry, we cannot say that the tree is good. But if its fruit is sweet and juicy, everyone will know that this apricot tree is good. Similarly, the measure of a person’s work depends on his fruit, not on his feelings or on the appraisal of others.
Some of you have been serving for more than ten years. I exhort you to spend time before the Lord, asking Him to show you the kind of fruit that your service has produced. There is no need for you to say that your fruit is good or even that it is corrupt; instead, let the Lord reveal this to you. The Old Testament speaks of an offering that is “according to the shekel of the sanctuary” (Exo. 30:13). This is a form of measurement. The weight of an offering that a person brought before God was not based on the standard of others but on the shekel of the sanctuary. A person who thinks highly of himself may think that his offering weighs one talent. According to the standard of the sanctuary, however, his offering may weigh only one gerah, which is one-twentieth of a shekel (v. 13), and there are three thousand shekels per talent. In contrast, a person who has been dealt with by the Lord may feel that his offering is not even half a gerah, but after being weighed in the sanctuary, his offering may weigh more than half a talent. Hence, our work is not measured by our own valuation or by the valuation of others. We need to go before the Lord and, without any consideration or bias, ask Him to show us the fruit of our work.
According to my experience, there are four basic points that determine the effectiveness of our work before the Lord.
First, we need to know whether our work produces churches. Those who have been in the Lord’s work for some time should ask whether they have raised up local churches or whether their service has built up any local churches. The churches are raised up and built up in a definite way, just as there is a definite way to build a house. If a contractor says that he has not built any houses but that he has hammered a few nails and supplied building materials for others to build houses, there must be a problem with this contractor, and his company will surely go out of business. A qualified contractor, who has been working for more than ten years, will surely be able to point out certain buildings or houses that he has built. If he can point out the houses that he has built, no one will deny his work. His work will prove that he is a qualified contractor.
We have been working for the Lord for many years, but we are not clear concerning the situation of our work, nor are we clear concerning the situation of others’ work. We must see ourselves clearly before we can help others in the work. When we understand how to evaluate our work, we will not be deceived by others. Whether people speak of our work in a noble, a flattering, or even an ambiguous manner, we will be clear in our heart. Regardless of what a person says about himself, we should only ask, “Where is your fruit? Has any church been built up by your service, or do you take advantage of others’ efforts and take credit for their work?” The first basic point that we need to pay attention to in our service to the Lord is to know whether we have established or built up a local church.
Second, we need to know whether our work ministers Christ. Have we ever helped the saints in practical matters? Have we ministered Christ to the saints? We need to let the Lord, as a spiritual Surgeon, cut open our being and our work in order to see whether we have ministered Christ to the saints in practical matters. If we indeed minister Christ to the saints in practical matters, then those who come in contact with us will be delivered from the world and filled with the Holy Spirit. Those who contact us will know the flesh, know the cross, and know how to live in the spirit. Whether we are sent somewhere by the arrangement of the co-workers or we go out of our own burden, we should pay attention to ministering Christ and rendering help in practical matters. This is a basic point.
Third, we need to know whether our work has a definite impact on the saints. We must minister to the saints and build them up in a definite way; we must not be careless. If we render help to people, there will be a definite impact. Rendering help that is not definite or solid can be compared to chicken scratches in the dirt. It seems that there may be some chickens nearby, but this is not definite. Our help to people must be solid and definite.
An incompetent carpenter cannot tell whether a piece of wood is good or bad material. He may put aside a good piece of wood, thereby wasting its function. Even if the best material is in his hand, he will be unable to produce something of quality and instead will produce something that is of inferior quality. An incompetent carpenter will either waste a piece of wood and render it useless or produce something of poor quality. When we serve the Lord and care for the saints, we should not be incompetent carpenters who waste the function of others; rather, we should provide solid help to others in order to develop their usefulness before the Lord.
Fourth, we need to consider whether our work has prevailing results. Whether we establish churches, minister to the saints, or perfect co-workers, our work must be prevailing. In other words, our work should produce prevailing churches, prevailing saints, and prevailing co-workers. What does this mean? A prevailing church is definite concerning the ground, rich in life, full of the impact of life, and shines brightly. A prevailing saint is not careless and is not deceived, because he has spiritual discernment. A prevailing co-worker is able to serve and produce many useful persons. A prevailing work can be compared to definite and unmistakable colors in a painting: the blues are blue, the greens are green, the reds are red, and the yellows are yellow. If we want to do a work, we must do a prevailing work.
When we work for the Lord, we must pay attention to the results of these four basic points. Does our work establish churches, does our work minister Christ, does our work help people in a definite way, and does our work have prevailing results?
If we would allow the Lord to measure and examine us according to these four points, we may find out that most of us are not up to the standard. If our answers to these basic points are not positive, then our past work has been a failure. We must not continue in such a way. This does not mean that we should withdraw from the work. Rather, it means that we should no longer work as we have in the past, because our previous way was not effective; it delayed both the saints and ourselves.
Some who have labored and toiled for many years are frustrated and discouraged. Instead of being frustrated and discouraged, we should look at the result. We should be comforted and thank and praise the Lord if our work bears some trace of these basic points. However, there are some who have served for years and who are self-deceived and do not have prevailing results. They feel that they have done a good job and should continue to work in the same way, even though they do not have definite results. These ones have deceived themselves and delayed others. We must go before the Lord and allow Him to measure us and our work. We should never rely on our seniority or boast in our seniority, thinking that we know more than others because we have served longer. The more we rely on or boast in our seniority, the less worth we will have. Those who rely on their seniority or boast in their seniority will be disqualified. Seniority has no value in the Lord’s work. What matters is our effectiveness.
Regardless of our age, if we desire to serve the Lord in a proper way and to be effective in our work for the Lord, we must know and meet the following seven basic conditions.
First, we must have a vision. We need to pray for the Lord to give us a vision. The work in the Lord’s recovery is not centered on preaching the gospel, teaching the Bible, or pursuing spirituality. Rather, our work is centered on Christ and the church. Throughout history many Christians have been zealous in preaching the gospel; they made the gospel the center of their work. Some Christians were so burdened to teach the truths of the Bible that they established Bible-study groups, Bible-study classes, Bible schools, and even seminaries. However, the center of their work was merely to teach the Bible. They cared for nothing else and were content only when they were able to teach the Bible. Still other Christians claimed to be spiritual and helped people to be spiritual. These Christians made inner-life experiences their center. These pursuits, however, are not the center of the Lord’s recovery. The center of the Lord’s recovery is Christ and the church, that is, ministering Christ and building up the church. Every saint must see this vision.
If our work does not produce churches, minister Christ, have a definite impact, or have prevailing results, it is because we are short of a basic vision or because we violate or neglect this basic vision. If we have a basic vision, we will obey this vision in our work, and we will have proper results. Arguments are useless. We need to see whether we have results. If we value the basic vision, there will be a result. The result in our service proves that our service is according to vision.
Second, we need to be purged so that we are clean and pure. Our natural old man is not pure; hence, we need to ask the Lord to purge us daily until we are clean and pure, just like gold and silver that are purified of dross. When our heart, motives, and aims are pure, we will ask for nothing other than the Lord. Our greatest fear in serving the Lord should be to serve without a vision. If we have a vision, our greatest fear should be that our heart is not pure. If we have a vision but are not pure in heart, we are finished as far as the work is concerned. An impure motive is a worm that will poison everything within us. Therefore, we must ask the Lord to purge us daily. When I began to serve the Lord, every morning I prayed specifically about this. I prayed, “Lord, purge me. Examine me.” Evil deeds are not necessarily of much significance, but an evil intention in our heart is terrible. I prayed for the Lord to purge and examine me for two to three years. Looking back, I realize that the Lord heard my prayer. We need to be purged. This is the second basic condition for serving the Lord.
Third, we need to take the cross and be broken. It is easy to break a glass cup, but it is hard for us to be broken. A glass cup breaks when it is dropped just once, but one experience of being broken is not enough to fully break us. After an experience of breaking we often return to our previous condition. I can testify that it is possible to experience the Lord’s breaking at least ten times in one day. We should not think that an experience of being broken in the morning will carry us through the day. This is not possible. A person who experiences being broken by the Lord in the morning is likely to revert to his previous condition before evening. When he rises the next morning, he is “whole” again; it is as if he had never been broken. We constantly need to receive the breaking of the cross within us.
Fourth, we need to enjoy Christ. We must get into the Bible and genuinely enjoy Christ in a spirit of prayer. This does not refer only to reading the Bible or praying at set times; we need to become persons living in the words of the Bible. Others might not see us reading the Bible, but we should live in the words of the Bible. Others might not know that we pray all the time, but we should live in a spirit of prayer. We must be in the words of the Lord and in the Spirit of the Lord. We should practice reading the Bible and praying, until our whole being enters into the Lord’s words and into prayer.
It would be good if we could consistently read the Bible and pray every day, but our environment and time may not allow us. Therefore, we must be persons in the Word and in a spirit of prayer. There are many good Christians who preach the gospel, but regrettably, they do many spiritual things without reality. They do not read the Bible in a genuine way, nor do they pray in a solid way. We do not want to read the Bible according to the letter, nor do we want to pray according to the letter. We need to read the Bible until our whole being enters into the Lord’s word, and we need to pray until our whole being enters into a spirit of prayer. Being living, rich, and fresh depends on our entering into and remaining in the Lord’s word and entering into a spirit of prayer and staying before the throne. This is the way to enjoy the Lord. In order for our work to produce results, we must pay attention to our enjoyment of the Lord.
Fifth, we need insight without opinions. A person who serves the Lord must have insight but not opinions. Insight is related to vision. If we do not have a vision, we will not have insight. Insight enables us to minister Christ and build up the church. As long as we minister Christ and build up the church, we should have no opinions. Having no opinions means that we have no problem with the way things are carried out as long Christ is ministered and the church is built up. We should have no opinion about building a large meeting hall, a small meeting hall, a beautiful meeting hall, or a shack. Our only concern should be to minister Christ and build up the church. We should have no opinion concerning when to meet separately in districts and when to meet corporately. We should have no opinion concerning one person speaking or everyone sharing. We should have no opinions, because we have only one vision and one goal, which is to minister Christ and build up the church. As long as we can minister Christ and build up the church, we should not have any opinions concerning how things are carried out. In order to serve the Lord, we must minister Christ. Whether we are in a shack or a beautiful meeting hall, we should care only to minister Christ and build up the church. Then we will not insist or argue in our coordination and service, and there will be no display of our temper. May we all remember that we need insight without opinions.
Sixth, we should not exercise control; that is, we should not hold things in our hands. Holding things in our hands is to control and rule. Everyone likes to control and hold things in his hands. The co-workers must learn to do a prevailing and effective work without holding the work in their hands. They must not hold the work in their hands. If someone wants to be a king, let him be a king, but we should not be kings; rather, we would only work. This is not easy. Even young people like to hold things in their hands. I have been doing the Lord’s work for many years. Whether in China, Taiwan, the United States, or other places, very few people do not hold things in their hands. Nothing kills a person’s work more than this kind of control. However, the more a person likes to hold things in his hands, the less authority he has and the less he gains, because holding things in one’s hands violates the spiritual principle of being small. If we want to be great, we must first be small. We are great when we become small. A person who assumes to be great is never great. This is similar to the spiritual principle that we must give in order to gain. We cannot gain without giving. When we give, we gain.
Having the foolish desire to rule and to hold things in one’s hands comes from our fallen human nature. In the work we ask only whether we have done our best. We do not want to rule or hold on to things. As soon as we desire to rule or to hold on to something, we have failed. The principles in the Bible are that we should give instead of receive, that we should be small instead of great, and that we should be humble rather than exalt ourselves (Acts 20:35; Luke 22:24-27; Matt. 11:29; James 4:6). Controlling and holding things in our hands involve seeking gain, being great, and exalting ourselves rather than giving, being small, and being humble. These violate the principle of the Lord’s blessing in the Bible. Those who have left us because they wanted to be great and gain the world did not receive any blessing in their work; instead, their work quickly vanished. Therefore, we should not control, hold on to things, or exalt ourselves; instead, we should work in humility. I will never exalt myself in order to gain the respect of others. The more a person exalts himself, the less respect he will receive from others. The more a person humbles himself, the more respect he will receive from others.
The last condition is that we know only to work, to minister Christ, and to build up the church, desiring nothing for ourselves.
If we diligently practice these seven points, our work will not be a failure; instead, it will be effective, and we will be preserved. Otherwise, our work will not be effective or last, and we will be damaged on our path of serving the Lord. A few among the first group of young people in Taiwan were very promising and hopeful. However, they were damaged along the way. This is not an outcome that we desired. These young ones did not have a goal or a definite vision; they were like troops fighting without a reasonable cause. As a result, they could not go on, and others did not see the Lord’s blessing in them. We do not want to do a vain work; we want to be fruitful. Therefore, we must diligently practice having a vision, being purged, being broken, enjoying Christ, having insight without opinions, not exercising control, and knowing only to work, to minister Christ, and to build up the church. Such a practice will bring in the Lord’s blessing. However, if we are loose in regard to any of these points, problems will arise.
Question: I feel that these seven points are very hard. What should I do?
Answer: You feel that these points are hard because you have not practiced them. If you begin practicing them, you will no longer feel that they are hard. Do not focus on just a few points; practice all seven points. Then you will not feel that they are hard. The problems in our service to the Lord are due to a lack in practicing these seven points. If we see the vision of ministering Christ and building up the church, this vision will become our insight. However, we will bring problems into the service if we insist on our opinions instead of exercising and practicing these points. If we repent, confess to the Lord, and drop our insistence and opinions, the problems will disappear. The other serving ones and our environment are not the problem. Problems arise because we do not practice what we have heard. For example, a brother knows that he should not hold on to things in his hands or exercise control, but in the coordination he holds things and controls. His excuse is that he does not want others to mess things up. Those who take charge and hold things in their hands are likely to become like Uzzah, who reached out to hold up the Ark (2 Sam. 6:6-7). They will experience spiritual death. Often, others do not make a mess of things, but as soon as we take charge, things turn into a mess.
Question: I once rebuked a brother who handled a matter in a poor way, but he did not listen. What should I do?
Answer: Whether or not you should do anything depends on whether you are responsible for this matter. If someone else is responsible, you should let it go. Whether or not a brother listens, you should not insist. Instead, you need to consider whether you have overstepped. For example, because you think that it is better for the cover of our books to have rounded corners, you ask the serving ones why they do not print books with rounded corners. If you were in charge of printing our books, every book would have rounded corners. However, they are in charge of printing, so our books do not have rounded corners. We should not insist on our opinions. Whether or not our books have rounded corners, our purpose is to minister Christ. In general, we must not argue with others, and we must pray for the service and the serving ones. We should only minister life, minister Christ, and build up the church. If someone else is sitting behind the wheel, let him decide how to drive. Even if he constantly gets lost, you are not driving the car. When you drive the car, you can drive as you wish. If your passengers have opinions, you do not need to argue with them; just continue to drive according to your knowledge of the matter, not according to their opinions. When you arrive at the destination, they will shut their mouth. Ministering Christ and building up the church are our primary goal.
We should never argue. Even if we are right and others are wrong, we still must not argue. As long as we achieve the goal of ministering Christ and building up the church, others will have nothing to say. Hence, we must not be confused over what our goal is. The goal in our service is not to find out who is right or to win arguments. Consequently, we must learn the lesson of not arguing with others regarding right and wrong. We must not have opinions, but we need insight. We should stay focused on the goal of ministering Christ and building up the church. Then there will be no problems. When we are clear that our service is to minister Christ, we will not debate with others. Regardless of what others say, we can continue to preach the gospel, visit the saints, minister Christ, and bring the believers into the church in a solid way. We should not oppose the church, criticize the elders, or accuse the saints, nor should we stop our service. We should simply do our best.
Question: What does it mean to hold things in one’s hands? Can you give an example?
Answer: Let us consider the printing service as an example. Suppose there is an arrangement for you to serve with others on printing. If you do not hold things in your hands, you will do your best to labor but not discourage others from participating. Often, however, when we do something, we put it in our pocket. This is a problem. When others want to participate, we push them away. This is what it means to hold things in our hands. The brothers may arrange for a few brothers to coordinate with you. Instead of coordinating, you blame the brothers for not knowing the situation and for sending too many people who do not know how to serve. You also claim that the brothers who have been asked to coordinate with you will only cause damage. These are excuses. The fact that you do not allow others to participate proves that you are holding things in your hands. Furthermore, when the brothers fellowship with you and express the desire for others to be involved, you say that you do not need any help. This is holding things in your hands. This is our condition as fallen men. When we take care of something, we want to keep it in our hands and under our control.
Many people can testify that I travel extensively and labor diligently throughout the year, but nothing is in my hands. By the Lord’s mercy I realized in the beginning of my service that we should do our best in the work but refrain from controlling. The brothers who coordinated and served in the church in Chefoo know that I was strict in leading the church in Chefoo and that there was a prevailing work there. Every item related to the deacons’ office was neat and orderly. However, no matter how strict I was, no matters related to the church in Chefoo were held in my hands. When I later fell ill, I told the responsible brothers that I could no longer take care of the affairs of the church, but this did not create a problem for the church in Chefoo, because the brothers were responsible for everything; nothing was in my hands. I have served in many churches. The church in Taipei is another example. I have a deep relationship with the church in Taipei, but no matters related to the church in Taipei are in my hands. Even the Taiwan Gospel Book Room, which I set up, is not in my hands. This shows that I do not hold things in my hands and that I do not want to assert authority. As long as we do our best to minister Christ and build up the church, others will listen. The co-workers in some places do not fellowship with others and are secretive about what they are doing. They do not want to share the secrets of their work, because everything is in their hands. This is what it means to hold things in one’s hands.
When we serve, we should both work and look for others to participate. If in Chefoo there had been some brothers or sisters who could have organized the deacons’ office, I would not have been involved. However, I had no choice, because initially no one could do it. Therefore, no one could say anything. If we know how to do something, we should do it in a way that shows others how to do it. If we do not know how to do something, we should learn from others. This is the way to be successful in whatever we do.
Someone who does not know how to conduct himself does not know how to do things and, therefore, does not know how to work. We must learn first how to conduct ourselves, then how to do things, and then how to work. This principle applies to everything. Those who are successful must be humble and willing to be taught; they must be willing to learn from others. Others often have superior methods, so we must learn from them. In the world people are afraid of competition, but in the Lord’s work we should not be afraid of competition. If we fear that others will compete with us, our heart is not proper. The churches around the world can testify that nothing is in my hands. Hence, they welcome me, and I am very busy. If I held anything in my hands, no one would welcome me.
Question: When people are working together, how do they decide on a way through fellowship?
Answer: We often think that fellowship involves voting to follow the opinion of the majority. This is a wrong understanding of fellowship. Our work must be open. If others have better insight regarding the work, we should take their way. If our insight is better, there is no need to argue. When the work is accomplished, no one will say anything. Fellowship does not necessarily mean that we drop our way because no one agrees with our proposal. The Bible reveals that Paul insisted on certain things. For example, he did not want to take Mark, but Barnabas wanted to take him. Paul insisted on this matter (Acts 15:36-39), but his insistence was not a matter of opinion but rather of insight. Therefore, fellowship is not a matter of voting and following the opinion of the majority.
In the work there have been several important matters in which the brothers could not keep up with me, but I pressed forward. As a result, the church was blessed, and the brothers did not have anything to say. In another instance in 1959, however, I proposed to deal in a certain way with the brothers who caused the turmoil, but some co-workers did not have the same feeling. Therefore, I stopped. I later realized that if I had dealt with the matter forcefully, the result would not have been desirable.
If we have a clear view in our service and are able to determine that our actions will not result in serious problems or will not negatively affect the situation, we may continue. We must know the destination and know that we are taking the right way. We can continue driving if we know the goal and know that our actions will not complicate the issue or negatively affect the situation. If our actions will complicate the issue or negatively affect the situation, we should not insist on our way. Before operating on a patient, a surgeon first needs to know the patient’s physical condition. If the surgery would lead to serious complications, the surgeon will cancel it immediately. Fellowship is not a means for finding the opinion of the majority; fellowship is a means for making things known to the members of the Body so that they can function according to their measure. If something needs to be done that the brothers cannot do, we can go ahead. Such an action would not be contrary to their fellowship, and no one should be offended. But if we disregard the feelings of others in our fellowship and do not allow them to participate, we will create conflicts.
Question: What should we do if someone insists on his opinion?
Answer: Whether we are younger or older, we need to avoid insisting on our opinions. The most harmful attitude is to love to be first, to want to be the head, and to disregard others’ suggestions. This is the principle of Diotrephes (3 John 9). In such a situation no one has a way, and the church is damaged. Furthermore, such ones are destroyed. Hence, we need to look to the Lord to keep us from becoming a Diotrephes.
We need to help the brothers minister Christ and build up the church according to the vision. It is delightful to see that everyone’s spirit is strong and that the meetings are full of mutual support and prayer. I hope that we will grow in the Lord. We are clear that the way to grow is to enter into the Lord’s word. The Lord’s word is living; His words are spirit and life (Heb. 4:12; John 6:63). We must enter into the Word by pray-reading. We must also exercise our spirit, blend in spirit, mingle in spirit, and live in our spirit. When we touch the Word and the Spirit, we will be living, joyful, and enriched, and we will grow. Furthermore, in the meetings we must speak and function so that the church may be built up.
Many older saints are not far behind the younger saints; they are endeavoring to exercise their spirit and to speak in the meetings. This is good. The current atmosphere of speaking and praying in the meetings in Taiwan has changed. There is no longer a long opening and a tedious closing. The opening and closing have been dropped so that everyone can eat and be satisfied. The more everyone speaks, the more the meeting is living and rich. A long testimony will bring the meeting down. Now we know that the way of life is for all the saints to enter into the Lord’s word, to enjoy and experience the Lord in their spirit, and to speak in the meetings. This is the way for everyone to be living and perfected and for the church to be built up.
