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Church A: In general, the saints here love the Lord but do not have a solid foundation and, therefore, greatly need guidance. Even the responsible ones for various services have not been perfected so that they can truly bear burdens in a practical way. Over the past year we have paid much attention to the gospel and have also done some edifying work, but the results have not been apparent. Overall, our problems can be grouped into three categories. First, because the spiritual weight of the leading brothers and sisters is inadequate, our impact is low, and we have little supply. The number of elders is insufficient — one lives far away, and another is busy with many affairs. Second, there are not enough deacons; some of the deacons do not even come to the meetings. This puts us in a difficult position. Moreover, most of the responsible ones in the small groups have been saved for only a short time; their foundation is shallow, and their pursuit in life is inadequate. Third, there are financial difficulties. The ceiling of the meeting hall is in need of constant repair this year, and the financial burden on the brothers and sisters has been very heavy.
Church B: Last year we focused on the aspect of service, but since the beginning of this year, we have turned our attention to the gospel. After preaching the gospel for a period of time, we will go back to the edification of the saints. Our problem is mainly related to an inadequate number of serving ones. In comparison to the brothers, the sisters are doing better. They go out to visit and take care of the sisters. Among the brothers, however, few are involved in the shepherding work. Hence, the condition of the service is relatively weak. This is a great problem. Furthermore, the shepherding in the schools is very difficult and weak. In short, the problems in this church may be put into three categories: an inadequate number of serving ones, insufficient learning on the part of the brothers, and not being clear concerning the way to go on. I also have many problems. My main problem is that I do not have sufficient knowledge of the truth. I feel that my motives are pure, but my knowledge is lacking, my faith is small, and my patience is short. For instance, I arranged for the brothers to take care of certain matters. When I saw that they were unable to carry out these matters properly, even after doing them over and over again, I could not bear it and did them myself.
Church C: The number of people is slowly increasing in the church here, and problems are also increasing. I have consecrated myself before the Lord and committed myself to the Lord so that I am in God’s hand. However, when God’s hand comes through the environment, I cannot bear it, and I reject it. In the past two years the Lord has used many things to tear me down. In the conference in Manila, one of Brother Lee’s messages regarding purity in motives touched me very much. I feel that in the matter of learning to serve the Lord, I am full of ambition, but I thank the Lord for showing me that being torn down is related to having pure motives.
The church here is actually quite immature. There are problems in the service because many of the brothers and sisters have been saved for only a short time. When saints from overseas come to visit us, it is easy for them to find the “altar” but not the “Ark.” In our service meetings many opinions were expressed, and there was no mutual understanding; therefore, we had to stop. There was no way to go on. In terms of the outward service, we have gospel preaching, and we respect the leading of the apostles. Besides the various services in the church, every Lord’s Day afternoon we also go to prisons or to places where people gather, such as factories or hospitals, and do some gospel work to lead people to the Lord.
In terms of numbers, we have more than five hundred saints and as many as two hundred attending the Lord’s Day meeting. According to the human perspective, the outward tabernacle of the church looks good, but the spiritual weight within is lacking. In terms of spiritual pursuit, it is very difficult to bring the brothers and sisters into the reality of pursuing.
The church here also has a particularly large number of young people. We sympathize with their heavy load of schoolwork and thus have not led them properly. Recently, we spent four mornings in the young people’s meeting to speak to them about loving the Lord, consecration, the anointing, and the discipline of the Holy Spirit. We hope that they will exercise in these basic lessons. In addition, there are a number of saints serving in the military, and it is difficult to lead them because, even though they are zealous and love the Lord, their free time is limited.
Although we have four responsible brothers, in reality there are only three; one brother encountered some difficulties and has virtually stopped serving. Concerning the deacons, the number is relatively low, and concerning the responsible ones for the small groups, it is difficult to help them to rise up. The sisters are stronger than the brothers; regardless of wind, rain, or scorching sun, they carry out their visitation work steadily, persistently, and diligently. Most of the problems among our young people are related to making friends and to marriage. Unless we give them proper attention and shepherding, these matters will become great problems. Furthermore, if we are careless, some of our fellowship related to service will turn into mere friendships, which is a kind of leaven. These are our problems.
Church D: We have the same problems that the previous churches have. We emphasize the leading of the saints and edification in life and truth. We are from a small locality, but we have big problems. We feel deeply that our learning in the service does not carry much weight because we do not have any real exercise and experience. This is our lack. We are unable to render the saints any practical help in their problems because our learning is limited. Although we very much want the brothers and sisters to take the practical way, we are unable to achieve what is desired due to our own inadequacy.
Furthermore, our leading of the saints has no order, and we are short of the love of nursing mothers. A sanatorium with a total of three thousand beds in five different locations is nearby, and a few sisters work there. Some saints also are relatives of the patients, and there is a total of about two hundred saints meeting there. They normally take the bus to get there, and each way takes an average of one hour. Because the saints are very seeking, we go every week and give them some fellowship and leading. A nearby town with ten brothers and sisters has begun to have meetings. Another town has two Taiwanese brothers and sisters who are very seeking. They have invited us to preach the gospel. There are many opium addicts who are suffering very much and need our care. The more we go on, the more we feel a great need; however, inwardly we are worn down and cannot meet the need.
Regarding my personal problems, I am one who rarely admits defeat. Hence, I am full of ambition and hope that the church I am in will not be behind others. When many situations come up, I suffer within. The meetings are low, and I want to use some human methods to enable the meetings to have an atmosphere of God’s presence. This is my natural man. In terms of coordination, I feel somewhat pressured. I lose my temper easily, and I do not have any true learning. In terms of the truth, it seems that I have some understanding, but it is not deep, and in terms of my service, I also do not have a foundation. Concerning our service, we have a few who always serve, but we have been unable to perfect more saints to coordinate with us. Concerning edification, the saints have not grown much in life, and the spirit of the gospel is very weak. This is our true condition.
The fellowship from these churches shows that there are a few important points that truly need our attention. First, in all of the brothers’ fellowship we should all see the common principle that our work is always based on our person. What we are in our being determines the work that we can do. What we gain in the work does not depend on how much we hope and expect; it depends on what we are in our being.
Please do not be discouraged. We should never be discouraged in our work only because we have not done enough or not done things well. Many things cannot be carried out or done well simply by our endeavoring, nor can they be successfully accomplished by our striving. Rather, what we accomplish is based upon what we are. Hence, even if we have not done so well or done so much, we do not need to be discouraged, because discouragement serves no purpose.
On the other hand, we must devote a great deal of effort to work on ourselves, including the way we conduct ourselves and the way we do things. We need a deep knowledge of the Lord, we need the experiences of life, we need to be skillful in handling matters, and we need to know people in an adequate way. We must devote some effort to learn in all these aspects. For example, a brother, who was full of ambition after finishing the training last year, recently decided to go back to his locality and do better than others. This kind of ambition is not only useless but also should be rejected. Genuine work is not determined by our ambition but by our genuine condition before the Lord. The outcome of our work will be determined by the effort we put into the truth, into prayer, into the pursuit of spiritual life, and into our dealings with every matter. Hence, we must continually pursue to know the Lord, to know life, and to know people.
The young brothers and sisters tend to focus on pursuing the work. However, more than ninety percent of the work, when it is actually carried out, depends upon our diligence to be in the spirit, our conduct in the spirit, our skillfulness in doing things in the spirit, and our learning to know the Lord and know people. This kind of diligence may not seem like it is doing a work, but it truly enables us to do our work properly. If we disregard these things and do not devote any effort to them but, instead, only want to do a work, we will not accomplish anything, and our work will not yield any result. The result of our work is based absolutely on the weight of our work, and the weight of our work is based absolutely on what we are. In other words, God cares more for what we are than for what we do. What we are is more important than what we do.
The young brothers and sisters must devote a great deal of effort before the Lord. In our living and in our conduct, we do not need to have lofty ambitions, expecting to do some great work. If this is what we care for, we should be prepared to wake up to an empty dream. We do not need to be ambitious in the work, nor do we need to determine anything. Instead, we simply should cultivate what we are in a diligent manner. We should not expect to do so much in Taiwan to accomplish something in the churches nor expect to reach a certain stage in the work among the churches to become the most accomplished and capable worker. All these expectations are futile and should be condemned because they all come from man’s natural concept and vain imagination.
Each of us should pray earnestly to the Lord daily, asking Him to enable us to devote our effort to learn how to conduct ourselves, pursue the experience of life, and pursue the knowledge of the truth. We should also ask the Lord to make us skillful in doing things and insightful in knowing people. We must devote more of our effort in these points. As a result, we will produce a work even though we have not done very much. Conversely, if we ignore these points and concentrate all our efforts on working, our work will fail and amount to nothing.
Actually, we need to devote a great amount of effort just on learning how to conduct ourselves. As a fellow brother, I frequently go to the workers’ homes. According to my observation, the way co-workers conduct themselves is lacking in many aspects. Forgive me for saying this: they not only lack proficiency in studying the Bible but also are short in the knowledge of the truth. Furthermore, they are poor in the way they conduct themselves. They are not well-trained in knowing and evaluating people and in conducting themselves and doing things. May the Lord be merciful to us so that we could receive this word humbly.
May the Lord cover me as I say something concerning my personal testimony in this matter. Before I was saved, when I was nine years old, the Lord put me in a situation in which I needed to work in order to sustain my livelihood. While working, I learned some skills concerning how to handle matters, and I also learned how to know people. I cannot boast about this, but it truly was a help, even a great help, to me.
The Lord can testify for me that a work was produced when I was saved because I had this kind of preparation in my character. In July 1932 I was called to do the Lord’s work. At that time I had just turned twenty-seven. Before then, I never had the heart to do some kind of work; I never had such a heart inwardly. By the Lord’s mercy, however, I have been fully occupied with the work from the day I was called by the Lord. I have been occupied with an all-out effort in pursuing the truth, in reading the Bible, in studying spiritual matters, and in finding the secret of contacting others. If we do this, we will be equipped practically to know the truth and be well-trained in conducting ourselves and in doing things.
We should never put the fruit, the result, of our work as the goal. Only the Lord knows how many people will be saved through us; we do not know. Only the Lord knows how many churches will be helped through us; we do not know. We do not know how many churches will be established through us and how many saints will be edified through us; this is up to the Lord. Moreover, only the Lord knows how much truth and how many messages will be released through us; we do not know. The only thing we know is that we should devote effort to these matters. Our effort should be used mainly for learning, not for working.
The work does not depend on how much effort we exert; rather, it depends on how much we learn. Learning is the real work; the real work of serving the Lord is ninety-five percent learning, and five percent doing. The more we learn, the more effective our work will be. However, we should not estimate the effect; we should let God do the estimating, and God’s estimation will be determined at the judgment seat in the future. Our sight should never be set on results but on how we conduct ourselves, deal with God’s life, and handle matters. Ultimately, we must pay attention to these points and devote more of our effort to learn them.
Recently, I dealt severely with a certain brother who was quite peculiar. Regardless of what was put in his hands, he would work without common sense, consideration, and discernment. Consequently, the result was always a mess. One day I saw him and asked what he was doing. He said that he was reading a spiritual book. I said, “You should learn to do something practical.” I told him that if he did not learn how to do things, he would not be able to leave Taipei. He replied, “But there are not enough serving ones, elders, and responsible ones for the homes.” This exposes our true condition. There are not enough responsible ones and serving ones because we give messages ninety percent of the time while learning to conduct ourselves and do things only ten percent of the time. In other words, we put in less effort related to our conduct and to doing things than we do in giving messages. Our work is unable to produce serving ones because we are inadequate in the way we conduct ourselves and do things.
The inability of our work to produce useful people is a serious problem that we should not ignore. If we serve in a certain place for two or three years without producing an elder and some serving ones, it is because of what we are. If someone else were in our position, he would probably produce some useful elders in a year or less. In other words, those who can only give messages, but who are not skillful and experienced in the way they conduct themselves and do things, cannot produce useful people. For example, a bricklayer easily can produce a few workers in less than a year by simply training some apprentices. This is not achieved by speaking but by leading others to work. This is the case with the Lord’s work even more. If our personal dealings are insufficient, if our knowledge of the truth is deficient, if our handling of matters is not skillful and experienced, and if our knowledge of people is shallow, we will not be able to produce useful people even if we know doctrines from books and can tell them to others. Producing useful people requires effort. Only those who make an effort can produce useful people in the work.
I hope that we can look at these two things together. We must be diligent to know the truth, and we must labor to learn to be skillful in the way we conduct ourselves and do things. Giving messages can stir up people’s emotions to love the Lord but cannot enable those who have been stirred up to be perfected and useful. In order to perfect them and make them useful, we need to labor before the Lord. After our labor we should spend another year and a half to work; as we work, we should bring the saints with us in order to perfect them, like a bricklayer brings his apprentices along with him for training. We do not need to open a school to teach the saints or have any kind of special training; rather, we can simply be faithful to bring the saints with us. After a year or less of working with us, they will be perfected to become useful ones.
On the one hand, the saints cannot rise up to serve the Lord after only hearing a message and being touched; they still need to pass through the stage of edification. Indeed, we have been lacking in this aspect. On the other hand, we have not been doing a proper perfecting work on some of the saints who have a heart for the Lord. These two aspects reveal our lack, and the main reason for our lack is that we have not learned enough. If we were more positive in these two points, the majority of our problems would pass away.
Because the workers and serving ones in various places have not made much effort, many saints have not been perfected, and the number of useful people is close to zero. A shortage of useful people is a great problem in the churches. The way to solve this problem is for all the workers to make a greater effort to learn.
Recently, as I was fellowshipping with the brothers about these matters, we all felt sorrowful inwardly. There are at least one to two hundred people in most of the churches in Taiwan. However, we face the most difficulty in the matter of leading the responsible ones. According to our present situation, nearly every major city has a full-time worker. However, if there is a need for these ones to go to another area of the work, their locality immediately will have a shortage of useful ones. This is a serious problem. If our work cannot produce useful ones, the workers will be entangled and unable to cooperate with the move of the Holy Spirit.
The number of deacons is even a greater problem. There is a significant lack in the number of deacons in every place because we have not taken the time and effort to perfect the saints through practical training in order to see who has the capacity to be a deacon. Such people are not only lacking but nonexistent in certain places. As a result, churches have been established in various places, but there are no co-workers who can be sent to help the churches produce useful saints. This is a very heavy burden within us, yet no one can go out to do this work.
If we trace these problems back to their source, we will see that the definite, unique reason for these problems is that we have not put forth an adequate effort. For example, if one goes somewhere to establish a school, it is easy to recruit students; he needs only to post a few advertisements and posters on the streets, and people will come and enroll. However, after the students enroll, the real problem involves how to teach the students and how to arrange the classes, dormitories, and teachers. Recruiting students is easy; instructing them is not. Giving messages and preaching the gospel are somewhat equivalent to advertising and recruiting for students. After people hear the gospel, they are saved and stirred up in their heart to love the Lord, and after they hear a message, they become burning and are willing to serve the Lord. But how shall we lead and instruct them? How shall we bring them, little by little, onto the right track? What we do depends on how much we have learned and what we are.
I have been weighing a great matter continually before the Lord. Should the co-workers from all over the island stay in Taipei, learn together, and then return to their respective localities to work at the end of the year, or should they go back now? There are things that need to be done in the various localities, but I am afraid that if we do not put forth enough effort to learn, we will not be able to reach our goal even though we may want to be fast. Hence, there are two basic principles: first, we must learn, and second, learning requires that we make a sufficient effort.
A brother from a certain locality spoke regarding the matter of finances, saying that the saints have been exhausted in taking care of the church’s finances and offerings, and it seems that they have no strength to go on. This seems understandable, but in principle it may not be right. In terms of the work, the financial means may reach a point of exhaustion, but in terms of the church, the financial means should not reach a point of exhaustion. If those in a local church do not have the heart to serve, this should not create a financial problem, and if they do have the heart to serve, their service should be according to the saints’ capacity, in other words, according to the saints’ financial capacity. In the matter of service, no local church should look to other localities for its finances; in the Bible we cannot find the principle of one church relying on another church financially. A church in a locality is like a family. After being established, no family should expect help from other families. We should not have such an attitude. Otherwise, we will not be a family but some other entity. If there is no financial capacity, a church should not be established. If a church is established, it should serve according to its financial capacity. This is a great principle.
A few years ago we did something very risky in the work in order to care for the needs of all the churches on the island of Taiwan. At that time the overall environment forced us to care for the financial needs of the churches in Taiwan and even for the financial needs of their meeting halls. When we did this, we were taking a great risk, and we were afraid that the churches would misunderstand and think that they could obtain financial support from the work as long as they had some serving ones. This practice is not according to the principle in the Bible, and it will result in “missions.” Christianity in China had this kind of concept. There was a thought that as long as the saints loved the Lord and served God zealously, money would pour in from other countries. Hence, people in every place built meeting halls, hired evangelists, and so on. This negative thing was produced by Western missionaries working in China.
There is a very important principle related to finances. Wherever saints rise up to serve God as a local church, the local saints should bear the responsibility for the service and expenses. If the saints in a locality do not have that much material offering, the locality should not have much service. In the Old Testament all the furnishings in God’s tabernacle came from the Israelites; they did not come down from heaven. If a locality cannot provide its own money, we should not expect money to be given from other places. This is a basic principle.
Henceforth, the expenses for the work can be used only for places in dire need; we have no way to accommodate the localities that have meeting halls. Responsible brothers in various places should note that when there is more financial capacity, they can do more service, but when they do not have the capacity, they do not need to have so much service. For instance, a brother serving in a certain place should be very simple. If he is financially able, he can build two small rooms to serve as the church business office; if not, he does not need to do anything.
As long as we have money and capacity, we can do more; if we do not have the capacity, we should do less. For example, some brothers from a certain locality once fellowshipped with us about their desire to care for the meeting places of two other churches. We said that it would be better not to do this. If the places could not afford rent, it would be better simply to meet in the saints’ homes, and if this is not possible, they should find a cheaper location. I am not joking; this is a matter of principle. When the first group of saints began breaking bread in Tsinan, they broke bread in a cemetery on a remote hill. They gathered around a table used for sacrifices and put the bread and cup on it. This was the beginning of the meetings in Tsinan. At that time they were only poor students; later some of them sold their clothing and gradually saved up some money for a meeting place. This is the proper way.
The saints in Taiwan at the present time cannot possibly be poorer than those students. One brother wrote to me, saying that he went to a certain place where there was no meeting hall, and he asked me to help. At that time I was in Southeast Asia. When I sensed the tone of the request, I immediately refused. Thank and praise the Lord that when people refuse us, God cares for us. They finally have a meeting hall in that place. We must learn to look to God and not rely on man. These decisions rest with the local saints. We must let the brothers and sisters see that a church must be self-sufficient financially in order to rise up to function.
Now only a few of those who serve God full time in various places are being supported by the churches. This is wrong. The churches must return to supporting the Lord’s work. At the beginning the work sympathized with the financial shortage of the saints, and we did not want to put the burden of the work on the workers themselves. Up until now, the needs of the workers have been taken care of almost entirely by the work; more than ninety percent of their needs are being borne by the work. However, in terms of the saints in each locality, it is abnormal for the work to support the churches. As a whole, the churches in Taiwan have been quite blessed and are quite good. In the past, however, the churches in Taiwan received the service of the workers while overlooking the needs of the workers and of the work, not having the slightest concern for the workers’ living. This is extremely abnormal; this should not be the case. Bringing up this shortage is not for the purpose of soliciting contributions from the localities for the work and the workers but for us to be clear concerning the real situation and to have the proper giving.
By the Lord’s grace we can say one thing boldly. All the churches in Taiwan have the ability to care for the needs of the work and the workers, and our heart to serve is unquestionable. However, there must be a change from the abnormal situation of the churches asking for support to one in which offerings are given for the work and the workers. May the brothers in all the churches look to the Lord’s leading and speak about this to the saints clearly. However, we should not give the saints the impression that we are asking for their money; rather, we must help them to see that they have a responsibility toward the Lord’s work and the Lord’s workers. At the same time, we should ask what effect there will be on the Lord’s work if all the churches and the saints on the whole earth are like those in Taiwan. How will the Lord’s workers live? We must help the brothers and sisters see this matter clearly.
What the Lord has given the churches in Taiwan is rich, abounding, and overflowing. However, when there is a conference, the work has a great number of expenses; we even take care of the transportation of the participants. Nevertheless, few saints care for the work. All the churches should have a normal fellowship regarding finances unless we believe that the work is not of God. As long as the work is of God, we should have fellowship. I hope that the brothers in all the churches will have more fellowship on this matter. May we practice this together in every place so that the Lord’s work and workers can receive the proper care.
