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Prayer: Lord, we present ourselves to You. We need Your timely help. Examine, enlighten, and expose us. Show us where we are. We need to see You and know Your heart and Your way in Your economy. Lord, we also need Your forgiveness and Your cleansing. Because we are still living in the old creation, we are contaminated by our natural life, strength, way, and wisdom. Lord, we confess that we are still very natural and in darkness. Forgive us and cleanse us of all this with Your precious blood. We look unto You for a transparent fellowship so that nothing remains hidden or covered. Expose our situation and condition. Lord, we ask for Your mercy and grace. We humble ourselves before You. Defeat the power of darkness and the evil one. Leave no ground for him. We stand with You. Lord, we trust in You for the completion of Your word and Your work on us, in us, and among us.
Humanly speaking, in any group or society, people like to be above others. In other words, people like to be special or uncommon. Workers hope to be promoted in their jobs. We all like to be different. Because this tendency or habit is constituted into our being, we may unconsciously and subconsciously bring it into the church life. This word is a necessary inoculation.
In Matthew 23:8 the Lord told His disciples, “Do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.” In verse 10 He said, “Neither be called instructors, because One is your Instructor, the Christ.” In Mark 10:37 James and John said to the Lord, “Grant to us to sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” They wanted to be above others, to be different from the other disciples. After hearing this request, the Lord taught His disciples, “You know that those who are esteemed as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you shall be the slave of all” (vv. 42-44). Although organized Christianity neglected this crucial word of the Lord, in the 1800s the Brethren paid attention to the Lord’s word. Based upon the Lord’s teaching in Matthew 23:8, they did away with the clergy and only called one another brothers. Because of this, others began to call them the Brethren.
We should not allow an attitude to come into the church life that the elders are above others. This is ugly. There is no rank in the church. The brothers who are the leading ones should consider themselves to be lower than the other saints. They do not rule others; rather, they are slaves and stewards who serve the church. In Luke 22:25-27 the Lord said, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors. But you shall not be so; but let the greatest among you become like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who reclines at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am in your midst as the one who serves.” The churches should not have an atmosphere in which the elders are considered to be greater than the other saints. It is absolutely wrong to think that it is a glory to be an elder. To think this way is a sign that we are not walking according to the spirit. The elders need to help their wives to realize that they are not higher than the other sisters. The wife of an elder is the wife of a slave.
To be regarded as being higher than others in the church according to the secular way is unseemly. When others try to elevate me, I ask them to consider me as only a brother. We should never presume that we are anything. It is a shame if the concept of hierarchical rank or an atmosphere of ambition is brought into the church life. This concept is not justified in the New Testament. The Lord rejected it, and the apostle Paul also depreciated it. If the leading brothers in a locality consider themselves to be higher than others, assume that they are the authority in their locality, rule others, and make themselves different from the other saints, the church in that locality is sick with a dangerous cancer. Our desire to be higher than others may kill the church.
After the Lord fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish in John 6, the people wanted to make Him King (vv. 14-15). However, He would not allow them to enthrone Him, and He immediately withdrew alone to the mountain. Anyone else in His position would probably seize the opportunity to be crowned, believing it to be something of God since it was initiated by others. The next day, after the Lord returned, He told the crowd, “I am the bread of life” (v. 35). He claimed not to be a great king but a small piece of food. He came not to rule us but to feed and nourish us. We need to have the same humble attitude.
If we do not take this word seriously, one day we will realize our mistake, because our considering ourselves higher than others will damage the church. To be higher than others does not minister life to them. We can exercise our so-called authority only to subdue others temporarily. Those whom we subdue will be our strongest opposers in the future. This is not the way to build the church; rather, it makes us a cancer to the church. Making ourselves higher than others is a sowing, and one day we will reap what we sow. There is no exception to this God-ordained principle (Gal. 6:7). If we receive this word, it will be a great rescue to us.
Concerning the elders not giving the other saints the impression that they consider themselves higher than others, what matters is the elders’ attitude. Our attitude is basic. For instance, although we should discipline our children, love must be our attitude toward them. The outward things, such as where the elders sit and how much they function in the meetings, do not matter as much as their inward attitude. If our attitude is wrong, whatever we do or say will mean nothing. If a brother is inwardly proud, the other saints will not believe that he is humble even if he says something like, “I humble myself before you all.” Others will know if a brother is inwardly humble, regardless of what he does or says. Much depends on our attitude.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “I, when I came to you, brothers, came not according to excellence of speech or of wisdom...I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:1, 3). Because Paul did not make himself great, some foolish ones belittled him and said that they preferred Cephas or Apollos (1:12). The name Paul means “small.” The philosophizing Greek believers despised Paul as a little man without much wisdom. Paul was actually well-educated and very wise, but he did not act arrogantly. Instead, he made himself small.
As leading ones, we also need to consider the matter of our character. In 1953 I gave a training on character in Taiwan and shared thirty points of character in ten groups of three. The first group is genuine, exact, and strict. We need to be genuine. A teenager who pretends to be an old man is not genuine, because he is acting like someone he is not. We should be what we are. To be exact is to be accurate and precise. Most people’s character is not accurate or precise. In 1947 a serving sister in Shanghai told me, “The roof of the meeting hall has a big hole in it and needs to be repaired.” In order to get an accurate estimation of the size of the hole, I had to ask her several times, “How big?” Eventually, it became clear that the hole was not very large. Inaccurate information may cause damage to the church. An elder must have a precise character and be accurate when speaking to others. To be strict is not to be loose.
The second group of character traits is diligent, broad, and fine. After we decide to read the Bible every day, the time we spend reading the Bible may gradually decrease. Such laziness is versus diligence. In writing the footnotes for the Recovery Version of the New Testament, I scheduled a certain number of chapters per week. Although I often finished my scheduled work before the end of the week, my character caused me to continue working rather than relaxing. Before going to bed at night, if we do not put our shoes in the proper place, it indicates that we are lazy and loose. Keeping a clean living place requires a proper character. Those who serve the Lord must be diligent in everything, including caring for their appearance. A brother who does not keep his shoes shined cannot take good care of a church or speak the word of God with impact. When a person is exact, strict, and diligent, he often becomes narrow. He does not forgive others or tolerate looseness or laziness. Toward ourselves, we need to be diligent. Toward others, we need to be broad. We should not criticize or condemn others. Those who are broad are often rough. To be fine is to pay attention to detail. We need to have balancing character traits. We need to be diligent but not small, broad but not rough.
The third group of character traits is stable, patient, and deep. The fourth group is pure, just, and calm. The fifth group is single, corporate, and open. The sixth group is affectionate, ardent, and accommodating. The seventh group is strong, pliant, and submissive. The eighth group is suffering, lowly, and poor. The ninth group is steadfast, enduring, and bearing. The tenth group is clear, magnanimous, and grave. These character traits may serve as a mirror with which we can examine ourselves. We may be surprised by the truth about our character.
In 1965 I traveled with a group of brothers from the United States to Taiwan. The brothers in Manila wrote me a letter asking that I send a brother to preach the gospel in English there. I fellowshipped with one of the brothers who had come with me, and he had the burden to go. The serving ones in Manila provided him with excellent hospitality. One day when he was out, some sisters went into his room to clean. They saw many things tossed carelessly about, including a sock that was on a glass on the desk. This was a great shame. One with such a character cannot be useful in the Lord’s work. A loose person cannot do a diligent work. A person always works according to his character.
Character is thirty percent nature and seventy percent habit. We receive our nature by birth, but our habit is built by practice. By birth we may have a quick or slow nature, but our upbringing and culture affect our habits. As a result, two children with the same disposition, or nature, but raised in different cultures will have different characters. A slow Chinese person is very different from a slow American. They may have the same nature by birth but their characters will be different because of their different practices and habits.
Our character affects even our walking according to the spirit. A diligent person who walks according to the spirit will rise up early to have a time in the Word, but a loose person who walks according to the spirit will rise later and spend a shorter time in the Word. An elder who talks to another saint may do so according to the spirit but will speak mostly according to the standard of his character. The same dye applied to different textiles will produce different results. A green dye applied to silk will produce a shining green color. However, the same dye applied to cotton will produce a dull green color. The brightness depends not on the dye but on the quality of the textile. Similarly, the kind of Christian we are depends not on God’s life and nature but on our character. We all need to walk according to the spirit, but our character will make a great difference in the outcome.
According to my experience, for the Lord to regenerate a person is easy, but for the Lord to change a person’s character is difficult. We can easily change our mind, but we cannot easily change our character. Once a habit becomes part of our character, it is difficult to change. Before the 1953 training on character in Taiwan, I built a co-workers’ home near the meeting hall. The first brothers to live in the home attended the 1953 training. In the first year after the training, everything in the home was kept clean, neat, and orderly. However, over several years, the home gradually became sloppy. This shows that it is very difficult to change someone’s character.
The leading ones in the churches should not assume that because they are elders, their character is up to the standard. We must be careful not to act, speak, or make decisions loosely. We need to be genuine, exact, strict, and diligent in everything. The elders should always arrive at the meetings on time. In the training we require that everyone arrive at the meetings five minutes before the scheduled time. However, I have noticed that when the trainees return to their localities, they do not continue to practice this. Character is not a small thing. Our usefulness to the Lord depends not only on whether we walk according to the spirit but also on our character. Any regenerated person can walk according to the spirit, but only a person with a proper character can walk according to the spirit well.
The more we walk according to the spirit, the more the resurrected human nature of Christ will saturate our fallen human nature and transform our poor character. Nevertheless, when we consider the thirty character traits mentioned above, we will see that our character is lacking and may delay our spiritual growth. This word of inoculation should affect our attitude so that we have no trust in ourselves. We all tend to subconsciously appreciate ourselves and not others. However, when we consider our character, we will see that there is not much to appreciate. We may say that we do not lie, steal, or commit gross sins, but we probably cannot say that we have the thirty character traits mentioned above. We may have a problem with every point. If we have a proper attitude of humility, the Spirit will have the freedom to saturate us.
A good gospel message mainly changes the listeners’ attitude, which enables them to repent. Formerly, they were self-righteous. When they are convicted, their attitude changes, and the Spirit has an opportunity to work in them. The same principle applies throughout our Christian life. The earlier we begin to practice to improve our character, the more likely it is that we will receive the mercy and grace to be successful. We work and take care of the churches mostly unconsciously according to our character. Two brothers may interpret the Lord’s leading in a particular situation differently because their character is different. Thus, we even understand the Lord’s leading mostly according to our character.
