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Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 2:2-5, 9; John 1:51; Gen. 28:11-22; Psa. 133
It is not easy for Christians to understand what the real service is that we render to the Lord. The natural thought is that anything we do for the Lord is a service. The word service has even been damaged in Christianity today. People speak of the Lord’s Day morning meeting as a “service,” and in the evening they also have an “evening service.” What they mean by service is simply a Christian gathering. In the Bible, however, service has a much different meaning. The best portion to see the proper understanding of the service is in 1 Peter 2. Verse 5 says, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood.” In the original Greek of the New Testament, there are two words translated as “priesthood” in English. One word is used in Hebrews 7, referring to the priestly service, the service of the priests (vv. 11, 12, 24). The other, used in 1 Peter 2:5 and 9, refers not to the priestly service but to the group of priests, the priestly body. The spiritual house in verse 5 is the priesthood, the priestly body, and this priesthood is the spiritual house. Both the spiritual house and the holy priesthood are being built up. Verse 5 continues, “To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” To offer is to serve; the offering up of spiritual sacrifices is the real service. The true service that we render to the Lord is an offering by a built-up body of priests, and this built-up body is the spiritual house. By this we can see that the genuine, proper service depends upon the building. If there is no building, there can be no house, and if there is no house, there can be no priesthood. The building is the house, and the house is the priesthood, the priestly body.
Today we speak of “service groups” in the church. This is a good term. In the biblical language, the service groups are the priesthood. “Service group” is simply a modern way to refer to the classical, or scriptural, term priesthood. The service of arranging chairs is a chair-arranging priesthood, and the cleaning service group is a cleaning priesthood. We also have the junior-high, nursery, and clerical priesthood. The word priesthood should remind us that our service groups are the building up of the priests. If we are not serving as priests in this way, what we have is not a service group. Those who arrange the chairs in the meeting hall are not merely chair arrangers; they are priests. This means that they not only arrange the chairs; they render a service to God. Chair arranging is not their business, duty, or service. Their service is something holy and spiritual. In itself, chair arranging is not holy or spiritual; it is not a service. Our chair arranging is different. It is a holy and spiritual service rendered to God.
The first test of our service is whether we are serving as priests. The second test is whether we are serving as individual priests or as the “hood,” the corporate priesthood. Those who arrange the chairs are priests, but this is not enough. They should serve not as individual priests but as the priesthood. Priests are many, but the priesthood is one and unique. In the service groups there is only one priesthood, which is composed of the many priests. This implies the building up. The genuine service in the church has the nature of being priestly and of being built up. If our service is not of this nature, it is not genuine; it is a counterfeit and an imitation. Our service is a priesthood.
A priest is not a common, natural person. Of the billions of people on the earth today, relatively few are priests. They are merely common people. A priest is, first of all, one who is separated, not common. Everyone in the church service must be a separated, sanctified, marked-out person. This is why 1 Peter 2 says that the priesthood is holy. It is something special, separated, and sanctified. We must not be common in our thinking, attitude, speaking, expression, in the way we dress, and in every matter and every aspect of our living. If we are common even in one matter, we will lose our standing as priests. A priest is a holy, separated person. In the ancient time among the Israelites, the priests clothed themselves, ate, and lived in a different way, and they lodged in a different building. This was a type, but today the reality is the same in principle. As priests we must take care of what we are. We must be separated, different, and not common. We must be special. Some may say that we need to be “human,” but we need to be careful when we say this. If we are “human” in a common way, we are finished as priests. We need to be human in a holy way with a holy humanity. This is the meaning of being a priest.
Moreover, a priest must also be royal, or kingly. First Peter 2 speaks of both the holy priesthood (v. 5) and the royal priesthood (v. 9). To be royal is not only to be uncommon and special but to have a high standard. Many dear saints love the Lord and know the church, but the way they behave, speak, and do things is too low, not like kings. We must not be proud, which is to be ugly and foolish, but we should not forget that we are kings. We are high persons who belong to the royal family. This also is included in the matter of service. Those who arrange chairs are royal chair arrangers; they are kings arranging the chairs. In this way, chair arranging becomes a kingly service.
Some Christians are ambitious for position in the church. They desire to be one of the leaders, even the leading one among the leaders. We should not care for whether we are elders, leading ones, or simply small brothers with no name. Rather, we should care for the kind of person we are. If a beggar ascends to a king’s throne, his kingship will be beggarly, but if a king sweeps the street, his street sweeping will be kingly. If the chair-arranging brothers and sisters are kingly, the chair arranging in the church service will be kingly, and people will see something high. They will not see a group of lowly workers arranging the chairs; if this is all that people see, we are altogether a failure in our church service. Instead, the new ones should be able to see something high and kingly even in the lowly affairs such as chair arranging and cleaning the hall. Whether these matters are high or low depends on who does them. If the President of the United States came to arrange the chairs, the chair arranging would be a great matter. Arranging chairs is the same business one way or another. What makes a difference is who does it. We are the holy and royal priests. We must be holy, separated, and not common, and we must also be kingly, with a high standard. In the church service even the young ones should consider themselves kingly.
We all need to be built up as the Body, the priesthood, and the spiritual house. The building as God’s goal is a crucial, significant, clear, and definite matter in the Bible, yet for almost two thousand years the Lord has not fully accomplished His purpose and attained His goal. Among the many teachings, messages, and sermons in Christianity, almost none of them ever speaks of God’s building. I learned from the teachers in the Brethren assemblies that Christ is the living stone, and we come to Him as living stones, but these teachers did not mention that the stones are for the building. To hide the New Testament teaching of the building is the subtlety of the enemy. Today the Lord’s ministry cannot neglect the matter of the building. Even in coming to the Gospel of John, we must see the building of God. John speaks concerning life and building. In John 1, John the Baptist recommended Christ as the Lamb to take away sin and as the One with the dove to bring God as life (vv. 29, 32-33). This attracted five disciples, among whom was Simon, whose name the Lord changed to Peter, meaning “a stone” (vv. 41-42). Later, when Jesus met Nathanael, He said, “Behold, truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile!” (v. 47). When Nathanael asked how Jesus knew him, the Lord replied, “You shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (v. 51).
The Jews at that time would have realized that Jesus was referring to Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28:11-22. In this dream Jacob saw a ladder set up on the earth, whose top reached to heaven. When he awoke, Jacob poured oil upon the stone on which he had slept, and he called the name of that place Bethel, which means “the house of God.” In mentioning this to Nathanael, the Lord’s intention was to indicate that as the Son of Man He is the ladder that keeps heaven open to earth and joins earth to heaven for the building of the house of God, Bethel. John 1 begins by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...In Him was life” (vv. 1, 4a), and it concludes with the house of God. Thus, in John we have life and building. By all this, Peter received a deep impression. No doubt, he could never forget how his name was changed to “stone.” In eternity we will remember that Peter is “stone,” and he will remind us all that we too are stones. Therefore, when he wrote his first Epistle, he said that the Lord Jesus is the living stone, and we all are living stones coming to Him to be built up as a spiritual house.
We must keep the building of God as our standard. For almost two thousand years the Lord has not gained His building among the believers. Because of this, Satan can challenge Him and say, “Did You not say in Matthew 16:18 that You would build Your church and that the gates of Hades could not prevail against it? Where then is the builded church? I have prevailed to frustrate the building.” It is a shame to the Lord if we do not have the building among us. Therefore, in our church service we must pay our full attention to the priesthood and the building. We must be the priests, and as the priests we must be built up together. If as thousands of persons we are built up as one man, this will be a shame to the enemy. It is against this built-up church that the gates of Hades cannot prevail.
If we mean business to have a proper service group, we should go to the Lord to check whether or not we are priests, separated persons, holy and royal with a high standard. We are still on this earth, and most of us have a job in the secular world, teaching or working in an office. However, we must be holy and royal in order to tell out the virtues of the One who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). To tell out is to proclaim abroad, to declare, the virtues of Christ. If we are not holy and royal, we cannot proclaim abroad the virtues of Christ. We are not the proper priests; rather, we are merely common persons on the earth. In this case, what we do is not a service; it is only a kind of job or business. If we desire what we do in the church to be a service, we must first be priests. Then we must not serve in a separate way. We must be one with others.
If we are not built up, the gates of Hades will prevail against us. If even at this present time there is a lack of building, the enemy will prevail. This is why Satan is subtle to undermine the building through dissent and opinions. When I hear certain dear ones say, “There is no doubt that the Lord is blessing this church,” I am prepared for them to continue by saying, “but...” Then they will itemize all their dissenting opinions. They may say that the elders, the brothers, the sisters, and all the children are not good. The subtle enemy is very clever. He will often point out things that are true. However, something that is true may cheat us the most. The enemy uses these things to undermine the building, and when this happens, he is able to prevail against us.
To be a holy and royal priest is to be fully separated from the world, and to be built up together is to be fully out of our self. Therefore, we must deal with the world, and we must deal with our self. The self includes our disposition, thinking, and ways. If we mean business with the Lord to be in the church service, both the world and our self must go. There is no world and no self in the service. Any element of the world will cause us not to be the priests. In order to be priests, everything worldly must be cleared up. Likewise, in order to be built up, we need to be saved out of our self. The self must go, including our disposition, our likes and dislikes, our way of thinking, and our way of doing things.
We must learn not to be dissenting, but simply not to be dissenting is insufficient. The root of dissent is the self, our disposition. There is always something to criticize about others. Someone may say, “I like this brother. He is a dear saint, but he is a little sloppy. Look at the way he dresses and the way he speaks.” Even the Lord Jesus often suffered people’s criticism. If we were as perfect as the Lord Jesus was, we would still be criticized. Some who are in the service groups may subconsciously hold a criticizing concept, saying, “The church is good, but...” This is according to the fallen disposition. We all are human, and we all have a disposition. Only something that is not living has no disposition. However, our disposition has been poisoned by the old, cunning, subtle serpent. Whenever we say, “But...” in a criticizing way, that is the subtle serpent. We do not mean that the church is perfect or that everything among us is excellent. It is simply that if we are built up together, we will not speak this kind of criticizing or dissenting word.
We may be positive about the church at first, but soon afterward one of the elders may offend us, or we may be offended when we do not receive something we expected to receive. Then if we become negative, everything is wrong. Even the way the chairs are arranged is wrong. We may ask, “Why are the chairs in a square? Why are they not in a circle?” However, even if next time the chairs are arranged in a circle, we may say that the circle is too small or that the seats are too far apart. There will always be something to criticize. This happens simply because we lack the building up. The building does not depend upon things being perfect. Until we are fully glorified, there will always be shortages. As long as we are still in the old creation, we cannot expect everything to be right. We cannot expect the leading ones to be perfect. Neither they nor anyone else has been perfected as precious stones. We are still under the process. We should all be “butterflies,” but we are only halfway out of the cocoon. No one is perfect yet.
The New Testament tells us that there are a few things that we must not tolerate. If anyone worships idols, we should cleanse ourselves of him, and if a brother is in immorality, we must ask him to repent (1 Cor. 5:11; 2 Tim. 2:20-21). To ask a brother to repent is not a criticizing; it is a loving admonition. Likewise, we cannot tolerate division, and we will not receive anyone who denies that Jesus is the Son of God or claims that the Bible is not divinely inspired (Rom. 16:17; Titus 3:10; 1 John 4:2-3; 2 John 7, 10; 2 Tim. 3:16). As to other matters, however, it is better to care for the building up by not speaking a word of criticism. Criticism always comes from a dissenting disposition, and it undermines the building. Whether a brother cuts his hair long or short or whether he has a beard or shaves, we should not say anything. Likewise, whether the sisters wear short skirts or long skirts, we should not speak a word. These matters are up to the Lord’s grace. If someone arranges his home in a nice way or a messy way, we should simply let that go. We must stay away from any kind of criticism, because criticism comes from dissension, which has its source in the fallen disposition, in which Satan, the subtle one, is lodging. This damages the building. Instead, we need to preserve the building.
When we come together in the service groups, we must first keep the oneness. If the leading brothers in the service ask us to arrange the chairs in a peculiar way, we should not speak a dissenting word. We should simply do as they say. Even if arranging the chairs in that way seems foolish, to go along with the brothers is much better than to be dissenting. There is no need to argue with them to show that we know more than they do. To do that would truly be foolish. Since those brothers are taking the lead, we should do as they say. Perhaps after a further time of prayer they will ask us to arrange the chairs in a more appropriate way. In that case, we should not be offended. We can simply say, “Praise the Lord for His wisdom” and do as they ask. Although this is an extreme example, it illustrates the need of oneness in the church life. If there is a situation of oneness among us, people will be impressed. They will say, “Surely this is the church life.” However, we may argue with the brothers and say, “You are foolish. How can we set up the chairs in this way?” In this case, people will say, “This is not the church. It is a place of fighting.” What matters is not the way we do things; what matters is the oneness.
After being in Southern California for over twelve years, the brothers here can testify that I have not dissented from them. Whatever they say, I go along. Some have said that the brothers here only say yes to me. In actuality, it is more often the case that I say yes to them. Quite often they ask me how I feel about something but go on to do it differently from my feeling. I am never unhappy with them. I simply say, “Praise the Lord. Your way is better.” This is the way I served with Brother Watchman Nee in China. After a revival was brought in to the church in Hong Kong through Brother Nee, he cabled me to come and arrange the service of the elders, deacons, and the whole church there. One night after I arrived, he turned the meeting over to me. I told him, “Brother Nee, as long as you are here, I will follow you and not speak anything of my own.” This demonstrates that in the Lord’s work in the church, the first matter is the oneness.
We should not think that we are smart and have a better way. Even if our way is better, we should not make a show of it. If the Lord puts us in the position of “driving the car,” then we should drive it, but if He makes someone else the driver, we should let him drive. No one wants a back-seat driver. I have watched brothers fight about the way to drive somewhere. A ride may take twenty-five minutes, but a smart brother may know a shortcut that saves ten minutes. However, if he fights with the driver about taking the shortcut, the whole ride may take an hour. The driver will insist that he is in control, and the passenger will tell him to humble himself and listen to others. This is foolish. This kind of fighting exhausts the brothers, upsets them, and stirs up their mind. The wise way is to let the driver do his job. The difference between the long way and the shortcut means nothing, but the fighting means very much. We should never fight. If the driver takes the long way, we should praise the Lord and use the extra ten minutes to rest. We must never argue or dissent. Whatever the brothers do, we should simply go along.
Many times I agreed with the leading ones in the church here simply to be one with them. We cannot expect that everyone will be like us. If I expect all the saints in all the churches to whom I minister the word of the Lord to be the same as me, I am the most foolish person. The wisest way is not to expect others to be like ourselves. A husband cannot even expect his wife to be the same as he is. She is a female, and he is a male; how can she be the same? Because they are two different persons, it is impossible to be exactly alike. Therefore, the restful, happy way is to go along with others. A husband may not like to eat something, but the wife will say it is healthy for him. In that case he should praise the Lord, not complain, and simply eat it. We must learn to go along with the dear saints. As long as they are not in idolatry, immorality, division, or blasphemy to the Lord Jesus, we should go along with them in every aspect. What they are doing is not wrong. Whether they desire to read Genesis or Revelation does not matter. Every book of the Bible, even every page, is wonderful. There is no need to argue. To read one book rather than another may be good, but to dissent is poor. We must learn not to be dissenting.
Psalm 133 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is / For brothers to dwell in unity! / ...For there Jehovah commanded the blessing: / Life forever” (vv. 1, 3b). We must believe this short word. The Lord commands His blessing of life where the oneness is. The blessing is not on our being right; it is on our being one. To keep the oneness is not to keep being right. Being right has no clear standard. Our sight in this matter is not trustworthy. Ten years ago a certain tie may have been considered too wide, but today it is too narrow. There is no definite standard as to how wide is wide and how narrow is narrow. Therefore, we should not think that we are right. I say again, there are only a few things that we cannot receive: idolatry, immorality, division, blasphemy, and not believing in the divine Word. Otherwise, whatever the saints do is all right.
No one can have the assurance that his way is right. How can we say what the right way is to arrange the chairs? Right or wrong depends upon our view, understanding, purpose, vision, and background. Therefore, we must not dissent or contradict. We should simply praise the Lord and be one with the dear saints. Because we are in the Lord’s church, His Body, and the way of His recovery, we have no opinion. We are on the way to reach the goal. We may get there in two days, two months, or two years, but Hallelujah, we are on the way! Only the Lord knows when we will reach the goal. If someone insists that his way is the short way to a destination, it will eventually be the long way, because there will be fighting the whole time. We have seen this in the history of Christianity, and we should not repeat it. The oneness is precious; may the Lord Jesus help us to keep it.
We must all be built up as a spiritual house, which is the holy and royal priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices. As long as we are built up in this way, whatever we render to the Lord will be an offering. This is our service to Him, and it will show forth the virtues of Him who has called us. No one can say which way is right or wrong. The only right way is the way of building. As long as we are one, we are right, but if we are not one, regardless of how right we feel that we are, we are wrong. The only right way is to keep the oneness.
We often expect that others will change according to our concept and standard. Rather, we should always go along with others; then there will be no problems. If two brothers live together, one may like to rise early, but the other may rise up later. In this case, the one who rises earlier should sacrifice his way. Then one day the second brother may begin to rise even earlier than the first one. This illustrates that to contend about the right way is not necessary. On the day of resurrection two disciples were going down to Emmaus. When the Lord Jesus joined them, He did not say, “You are going the wrong way. This bothers Me, and I cannot go along with you unless you turn around. Since you are My disciples, you should go along with Me.” In terms of right or wrong, those two disciples were wrong. However, the Lord Jesus did not say anything about it. Instead, as they were going down, He went down also (Luke 24:13-15). Then He acted as one who did not know anything, asking, “What are these words which you are exchanging with one another while you are walking?” (v. 17). One rebuked the Lord Jesus, saying, “Do You alone dwell as a stranger in Jerusalem and not know the things which have taken place in it in these days?” (v. 18). To be sure, Jesus knew much better than they did. If we were the Lord Jesus, we might have said, “Do you not know who I am? I am that person whom you are talking about.” Instead, the Lord Jesus simply went along with them to a certain place, and when they arrived, they stopped to eat. The Bible does not tell us how, but at that time their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. Then the Lord disappeared, and the disciples rose up and returned to Jerusalem (vv. 28-33).
This account of the Lord Jesus in Luke 24 illustrates that we should not make demands on others. The brother who likes to rise early should simply go along with the one who sleeps longer. If the first brother is not already a sloppy person, then sleeping longer for the sake of the other brother will not make him sloppy. Instead, his sleeping later will be for a proper reason. Then there will be no arguing between the brothers. Shallow persons see things only according to their appearance and endlessly fight over them. We should not see things in a shallow, childish way and consider whether someone is right or wrong. Perhaps we are wrong, and perhaps someone else’s way is better than ours. We should be patient for a while and wait to see the real situation. To criticize people is to judge them, but who are we to judge? How do we know that we are right and others are wrong? To judge quickly is superficial, and to say absolutely yes or no is childish. What is right or wrong does not depend upon what is on the surface; it depends upon what is deeper. We must learn to know people according to their deeper condition. If we do this, then by the Lord’s grace there will be no problems among us.
In the church service we do not always need a definite decision about matters. In many matters we may not know what the right decision is. In almost all the Lord’s work concerning the church affairs, we are like Abraham. When he was called, he went out, not knowing where he was going (Heb. 11:8). He did not have a definite decision. Rather, what he had was the Lord’s presence step by step. If we go on step by step without a definite decision but with a praying spirit and a spirit of depending one upon another, the Lord will lead us. This is the best way to go. It is not good always to have a definite way in our service. It is better not to have a way. Then we will pray more, seek the Lord, depend on the Lord, and fellowship with one another.
If someone feels that it is better to serve in a different area than where he is first assigned, it is better to let him make the change. After he makes this move, he will better appreciate where he should be. No one should have too strong an assurance that his feeling is right. Perhaps to move to another service group is right. Only the Lord knows, and even if we do know, we should still not insist that we are right. Eventually, the brother will learn the proper lesson, and if he was wrong, he will come back. It is better to be spontaneous and not insist on anything. Then we will not cause problems. If we insist that the brother remain where he was assigned in order to learn a lesson, it may be we who need to learn a lesson. We should never insist in this way.
We should never participate in criticism, complaining, or arguing. To receive such negative talk is to be a “trash can.” If others criticize or speak in this way, we should excuse ourselves in a nice way. The more we allow ourselves to be involved with complaining, arguing, or vindicating, the more we are contaminated and receive the poison of death. We should stay away from this kind of talk. Then the next time people come to us, they will come without this kind of criticism. They will simply come to fellowship and pray. This is the proper way to shepherd one another.
Our basic need is to learn how to be the priests built up in oneness. The way we do this depends on our spirit. We must have a spirit of not dissenting and not showing that we are smarter than others. Then we must also try not to propose other ways to do things. To propose other ways always sets up a bad example for others. In the church life, the best way is not to propose anything. If the “steering wheel” is under our hand, others should listen to us, but if it is in someone else’s hand, we should not try to drive.
If someone genuinely asks us for a proposal and he truly needs it, and if to make a proposal does not set up an example of dissension, it may be the right time to do something. Whether or not to propose something depends on the situation and on our spirit. However, if someone else is taking the lead, we should listen to him. In this case, even if our proposal is better than his, it is better not to say anything in order to keep the standard of oneness. As long as we keep the oneness, we will save much time and be saved from many things, but if we lose the oneness, we will suffer loss in many ways. We may gain something in one way, but we will lose in many other ways. In general, therefore, it is better not to propose anything. Then we will gain and not lose. Still, if someone does propose something, we should go along with it. In this way everyone will learn. If we never do what someone proposes, he may not learn the lessons, and we ourselves may not learn anything either. When the real nature of the proposal comes out, everyone will learn something.
