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The principle for the practical building up of the church is revealed mainly in Ephesians 4:11-16: “He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ, until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error, but holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.”
The wind of teaching in verse 14 should not be understood as a wind of heresy. In this verse the word teaching is used according to its common meaning in the New Testament. It does not imply heresy. A teaching may be scriptural but still distract the believers and carry them away from God’s central purpose, which is to build up the church as the Body of Christ. Such a teaching is a “wind of teaching” sent by Satan to entice the believers.
In this portion of Ephesians the phrase building up is used twice. It is first used in verse 12 and then in verse 16. In verse 16 building up refers to the Body itself; that is, the Body builds itself up directly. If we have only verse 12 but not verse 16, we will not be clear whether the building up in verse 12 is by the gifted persons spoken of in verse 11 or by the Body itself. Without verse 16, verse 12 is not clear.
There are many debates among Bible translators concerning how to punctuate Ephesians 4:12. Translators of the Bible differ in their views concerning how to punctuate this verse. One view is that verse 12 should be punctuated with semicolons: “For the perfecting of the saints; unto the work of the ministry; unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” Another view is that commas should be used instead of semicolons. The Chinese Union Version uses commas.
The original text of the Bible does not have any punctuation. Therefore, the way a verse is punctuated depends on how the Bible translators understand the text. We should not think that the punctuation used in a verse is an insignificant matter. When semicolons are used to punctuate verse 12, the three things listed are carried out by the gifted persons referred to in verse 11. The gifted persons perfect the saints, they do the work of the ministry, and they build up the Body of Christ. The punctuation of the Chinese Union Version gives a different understanding: The gifted persons perfect the saints, and the perfected saints do the work of the ministry. As the perfected saints do the work of the ministry, they build up the Body of Christ. There is a significant difference in meaning.
If verse 12 is punctuated with semicolons, the gifted persons build up the church directly. But if this verse is punctuated with commas, the gifted persons do not build up the church directly. Instead, the saints who are perfected by the gifted persons build up the church. Therefore, the punctuation is an important factor in determining the meaning of this verse. Because of the strong arguments concerning the use of both punctuation marks, I have spent much time considering how to punctuate this verse.
A careful study of Ephesians 4:12 shows that it is more accurate to punctuate this verse with commas than with semicolons. We need to consider the goal of perfecting the saints, the function of the saints after they are perfected, and whether the perfected saints have a function. Is it possible for the gifted persons to continue to do the work of the ministry and build up the Body of Christ while the perfected saints are idle? Are the perfected saints unable to do the work of the ministry and build up the Body of Christ? The gifted persons perfect the saints. Then the perfected saints take part in the work of the ministry because they are perfected. Since the perfected saints are members of the Body of Christ, the result of their participating in the work of the ministry is the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. This explanation is according to the truth, and it is logical. Otherwise, the perfected saints do not function, and the gifted persons continue to do the work of the ministry and build up the church as the Body of Christ. This explanation is not logical.
Another reason for using commas is in verse 16, which states clearly that every member of the Body operates and functions. This function corresponds to the work of the ministry in verse 12 and issues in the Body building itself up. Therefore, according to verse 16, the building up of the church in verse 12 should be directly by the perfected saints and not by the gifted persons. These two reasons are based on the text of Ephesians 4.
A third reason is found in the teaching of the New Testament. The apostles, including Paul, rarely stayed in one place for a long time to build up the church in that place (Acts 8:25; 14:20-26). Most of the time there were no apostles in a local church. Some may wonder how a local church can be built up if the gifted persons spoken of in Ephesians 4:11 are not present. The church must be built up, but how is the church built up, and who builds it up? The local church is built up through the operation in the measure of each one part. This is the way the local church builds itself up. The teaching of the New Testament also proves that the building up in verse 12 is not only by the gifted persons; it is by the saints whom the gifted persons perfect.
Many portions in the Bible show that the church must be built up. However, no portion speaks of the building up of the church as clearly as Ephesians 4. If Matthew 16 was the only portion that spoke of the building up of the church, we would think that the church is built directly by the Lord Jesus, because in verse 18 the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” This verse says that the Lord builds up the church.
Someone who opposed the Lord’s recovery said, “Some people claim that they will go and build the church in every place. Can human beings build the church? Of course not, the church is built by the Lord Jesus. The Lord explicitly said that He will build His church upon the rock.” This is what the Gospel of Matthew says. However, the facts and the truth further revealed in the Bible prove that the Lord Jesus does not build the church directly.
The New Testament contains Matthew 16 and also Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4 reveals that after the Lord ascended to the height, He gave gifts to the Body. These gifts are the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. Therefore, the Lord does not build the church directly; rather, He builds the church in and through these gifts. There is not one local church that is built directly by the Lord Himself. For the past two thousand years every local church has been built by the Lord through men.
Verses 8, 11, and 12 in Ephesians 4 reveal how the church is built. The Lord ascended to the height and received gifts. Then He gave these gifts to His Body, and finally the gifts work to perfect the saints. The word perfect implies taking material that has no function and making it into something useful. Therefore, to perfect the saints means to make the saints useful vessels. The apostles and the other gifts perfect the saints and thereby make them functioning members. The saints who formerly could not function as elders can function as elders after they are perfected by the gifts. Similarly, saints who could not function as deacons can be deacons after they are perfected by the gifts. The saints, who formerly did not manifest their ministry, their function, or their gift, are able to manifest their function after they are perfected. This is the work carried out by the apostles and other gifts in various places. The perfected saints become proper, useful material; hence, they can participate in the work of the ministry. The result is that the church is built up. This is how the church builds itself up.
Three persons participate in the work of building up the church: the Lord Jesus, the gifts, and the perfected saints. The Lord does not build up the church directly; neither does He want the gifts, such as the apostles, to build directly. The Lord gave the gifts to the church for the perfecting of the saints. Then the saints who do not function can be perfected to become functioning vessels. When the perfected saints fulfill their function, the church is spontaneously built up. The church is built up directly by the perfected saints.
Let us consider the building up of the church as presented in the entire divine revelation. According to God’s ordination, the believers in the early church practiced the universal priesthood (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9). In other words, all the believers served God as priests. However, the church deviated from this practice, and the service of God fell into the hands of a small number of believers known as the clergy. Thus, the priestly system of the Old Testament was brought into the church. From that time onward, only a few saints in the church served God; most of the saints did not serve God. This resulted in the formation of two classes—the clergy and the laity. This was also the beginning of the priestly system in the Catholic Church. The Protestant churches may be reformed in name, but they have retained the same system of service adopted by the Catholic Church. The state churches call it the clerical system, and the independent churches call it the pastoral system. Some people even say that we have a “system of co-workers.” Any such system is according to one principle; that is, only a small number of believers serve, while the majority of the believers do not serve.
The Bible says that all believers should serve God as priests, but the church has practiced two kinds of service. In the service practiced by the initial church, all believers were priests. This kind of service is according to God’s original intention (Exo. 19:6), the “pattern, which was shown to you in the mountain” (25:40; Heb. 8:5). In the other kind of service a small number of believers serve, and the majority do not serve. This is the deviated way, not the original way. This way is derived from man’s ideas; it is not according to God’s original intention. Hence, if we want to serve according to God’s original pattern, the building up of the church must involve all the saints. If we serve according to the deviated way found in Christianity, only a few believers can participate in the building, whereas the majority of the believers cannot participate in the building.
The service in Christianity has deviated because one or two pastors are in charge of a congregation, or one or two preachers are assigned to give sermons. The saints in these congregations only attend the services. When the pastor or the preacher leaves, all activities stop. This situation proves that the service is carried out by a few believers, not by all the believers. This also proves that the building is in the hands of a few believers. In other words, a few saints replace the rest of the saints in the building work. As a result, when the small group of believers leave, the building stops, and the service to God also stops. This is a great mistake.
In every locality we must pay attention to the building up of the church. The churches need to be built up by the growth of life. However, as we pay attention to the building up of the church, we must understand that no worker can build up the church directly. Every worker builds up the church indirectly by perfecting the saints. When we work in a place, our primary work should not be to build up the church directly. Our primary work should be to perfect the saints. The direct building up of the church should be by the perfected saints, not by us. After we labor in a place, we should be able to say that instead of building up the church directly, we have perfected a group of saints who can now fulfill their responsibility and manifest their function. When we leave, the saints we have perfected will manifest their function in a stronger way. This is the way to build up the church. This is entirely different from what is practiced in Christianity.
In Christianity there must be a pastor or a preacher in order to have Christian activities. As soon as the pastor or the preacher leaves, the activities stop, because no one can give the sermon. If the co-workers work according to this principle, we have made a serious mistake. It is wrong for us to build up a church directly, because the building will stop when we leave. The proper situation is for us to perfect the saints. The longer we stay in one place, the more we should be able to perfect others. Eventually, the saints are perfected. After they are perfected, the saints who were idle and did not function much become useful. Formerly, these saints could not manifest their gift and their function. But after they are perfected, they manifest and exercise their function. The saints who could not supply others in the meetings are able to function and supply others after they are perfected.
After we labor in a place, there should be a number of perfected saints. Then the building up of the church will not stop when we leave; instead, it will be more active. This is the proper service, and this is the way that the Lord builds up the church.
There are three steps in the building up of the church. The Lord first gives gifts to the church, and the gifts perfect the saints in different places. Then the perfected saints are able to function according to their measure because their organic function has been activated through the perfecting. As a result, the perfected saints are the ones who build up the church directly. To perfect means to make a person useful. Hence, to perfect a saint is to make him useful in the building up of the church.
Does a co-worker build up the church in a locality directly, or does he perfect others? The direct building up of the church should be carried out by the perfected saints, not by the co-workers. A co-worker perfects the saints; he does not build up the church directly. If we labor in a locality, but the building of the church stops after we leave, our work is wrong. What kind of work are we doing? Are we building up the church directly? Of course, there is a portion of the building up that we do directly according to our function, but our primary work is to perfect the saints. Otherwise, what will happen if we, like Philip, are suddenly caught away (Acts 8:26, 39)? What will the churches do if we are suddenly raptured? Whether we are raptured will not matter if the saints are perfected and can build up the church directly.
If we, the co-workers, build up the church directly, we are replacing the saints in the building up of the church. However, the fact that we perfect the saints to build up the church does not mean that we absolutely do not build up the church directly. Rather, it means that we perfect the saints instead of replacing them. Some saints do not know how to build up the church, so we teach them. Other saints are not able to build up the church, so we perfect them and make them able. We do not replace the saints, but we perfect them and let them do the building work directly. This needs our consideration.
The ability to accomplish a task by yourself is not necessarily an indication of great capacity. However, a co-worker who can teach the saints to do something better than he can, truly has great ability. The co-workers should perfect the saints. Then the saints will be as capable or even more capable than the co-workers.
We should not replace the saints in the building up of the church; rather, we should perfect the saints. We should make the saints useful and let them build up the church directly. We may think that we are very clear about this principle, but we may be clear only while we listen to a message. We may not be clear when we serve in our localities. Our work proves that we are still not clear concerning this principle. Some co-workers say that since they are neither an apostle nor a prophet, they cannot perfect anyone. In their display of humility, they even ask whom they should perfect. Although this sounds right, their words are used to enable them to continue to replace the saints. This is not right. Under no circumstance should we replace the saints. It is not a matter of whether we are gifted but of whether we can perfect others.
The elders and the saints responsible for the group meetings must remember this principle. When they labor, they must perfect the saints. Otherwise, their work replaces the saints. For example, the elders know how to administrate the church. When an elder labors, he should have some saints with him in order to perfect the saints. The saints responsible for the meetings must also labor by this principle. A brother may work in such a way that the more he works, the more responsibility he bears; however, the other saints participate less, and he is unable to perfect the saints. In this situation his work is not proper.
The apostles, prophets, and even the saints responsible for the meetings must work according to this principle. Initially, the elders bear the responsibilities in a church. The saints who are raised up to share the responsibilities tend to do everything themselves because few saints are perfected to serve. However, after the responsible saints serve for a few months, they should bring other saints into bearing responsibilities. This does not mean that the responsible saints lightly relinquish their responsibilities. The responsible saints perfect the saints by serving the saints. They should teach the saints according to the ability of the saints. A saint can be taught to bear responsibility, and if he makes a mistake, he can be corrected. Soon he will be able to bear responsibility by himself.
Then another saint can be taught to bear responsibility. In two or three years all the saints will be able to do what you are able to do. In addition, when the number of saints in a meeting increases to a hundred saints, the meeting should split into two meetings. Then there will be many saints who can bear responsibility in the new meeting, because they were perfected by the leading of the responsible brothers.
In the building up of the church, it is crucial for the saints who know how to build to perfect the other saints to build. In principle, the gifts know how to build up the church. We may say that there is no prophet or apostle in our locality, but we must admit that we can build up the church a little; we do have a little gift. A brother who has a desire to serve in a locality for five years must have a “five-year plan.” What will happen to the saints when he leaves? Will the church become weak and “close its doors,” or will it continue to function with a stronger service? Whether a local church will be able to continue after we leave is what matters.
A person who knows how to work will always seek to perfect others. This does not mean that he does less work. Rather, he works more than the rest of the saints, because most of his work is to perfect the saints. After he has served for three to five years, the saints can do and are doing whatever he can do. This requires a great deal of consideration. This is the way for us to build up the church. Leading others to be spiritual does not mean that we are building up the church, because to be spiritual is not the same as to be useful. We may lead others to be spiritual without leading them to exercise their function according to their measure. Hence, there are many spiritual saints in the church, but there is not much building.
Please forgive me for this frank word. I serve and work with you, and I am responsible before the Lord to observe the condition of the localities. Perhaps you feel that I cannot understand your situation because I am not in your locality, and I did not fellowship with you. However, there may not be another person who is as concerned for your situation as I am.
Some of the co-workers lack spiritual weight in their work, and therefore there is no result. Some co-workers render spiritual help to the saints, but they do not perfect the saints to be useful. The saints whom they serve do not become useful. A good carpenter can use wood of any quality to make something useful. However, even though some of our co-workers render the saints spiritual help, the saints are still not useful vessels. This can be compared to a carpenter who works on different pieces of wood until the pieces are smooth and have nice colors but are not useful. They are just pieces of wood; nothing useful, like a desk or chair, has been produced.
We need to see our lack and be humbled. It is foolish for us to be proud. If a local church has been in our hands for many years, what is the result? We should not be proud. Our condition should humble us. Many saints have passed through our hands; we contacted and led them. How many of these saints did we perfect to become useful? We should not say that we have poor quality material. Some of the material may be poor, but not all the material is poor. The problem is not the quality of the material; it is whether we can make useful vessels out of the material that we have. It may be a waste to make a chair out of top quality wood, but the chair is useful. It may be an even greater waste to make a chair out of pure gold or diamond, but the chair can still be used. Even if we use wood of the poorest quality, the chair will be useful. Hence, it does not depend on the kind of material that we have but on whether we have perfected the material. The saints in our locality may be “poor quality wood.” They might not be good material, much less gold or diamond, but we still must make them into something useful.
The building up of the church is not done directly by the gifts but by the gifts perfecting the saints. The perfected saints then build up the church directly. In principle, the gifts are the saints who know how to do things. A believer who receives the Lord’s grace is able to do things. However, the Lord does not want us to do things by ourselves. He wants other saints to accompany us when we do things so that they can be perfected to do what we do. We must learn how to perfect the saints; otherwise, the church will not be built up.
This problem is not obvious in smaller churches. In the larger churches, however, it is visible. This problem is the reason that the church in Taipei is not built up. The saints who met in the six or seven district meetings were not built up. Even after we formed twenty smaller meetings, the saints were still not built up, because few saints know how to perfect others. There are many saints who know how to do things, but they do not know how to perfect others. The church needs a group of saints who not only know how to do things but also know how to teach others to do the same things and thereby perfect them.
It is difficult to give examples of spiritual matters because they are abstract. Business affairs, however, are concrete and clear. Some saints are very good at doing things in the large meetings, but they do not know how to perfect others. As a result, there were not enough saints who could handle the church affairs when we formed smaller districts and needed more responsible saints. Hence, the church affairs suffered. This shows that our urgent need is to learn to perfect others. If there are not enough perfected saints, the church cannot be built up, and our numbers will not increase. Moreover, when there are not enough perfected saints, any increase makes the meetings chaotic. If we have only three or four stones, they do not need to be built. But thousands of stones must be built; otherwise, there will be chaos. Even if the stones are polished and look nice, they are of no use because they are not built; they are a pile of stones. For the sake of the building up of the church, we must have a plan to perfect the saints.
The material in the church is for building; it is not for display. Construction workers build with materials; they do not beautify materials. However, some co-workers only beautify the building materials. They do not know how to perfect others, which is the real building. The saints who know how to perfect others are genuine co-workers of God.
What does it mean to be perfected? Suppose we need a table, and we have a pile of wood. We should not merely beautify a piece of wood by sanding and polishing it, we should also determine what type of furniture we can make with the wood. If it can be made into a leg for the table, we should “perfect” it into a leg. We should repeat this procedure until we make the table. We may need to cut a piece shorter, or we may need to sand a piece. This is what it means to perfect; we make the material useful and buildable. Eventually, the pieces of wood not only look nice; they are also useful.
When the table is built, the pieces of wood are no longer in a pile; they are arranged in an orderly manner and have a function. The principle is the same with making a desk or a chair. When pieces of wood are built into furniture, each piece has a place and a function. This is building. If the pieces of wood are not built up, they are useless. Regardless of how nice they look, they are useless.
In order for the church to advance, we must not be stubborn and think that it is good enough to help the saints to be spiritual. The Bible says clearly that the church needs to be built up. First Corinthians 12:14-27 says that the members need to be blended. Yes, we need to lead the saints to be spiritual; this is a basic need. It is like sanding a rough and uneven surface of a piece of wood before using it. However, it is not enough to make it smooth; it also needs to be cut to the right shape. Therefore, we need an eye to see how we can best use the piece, and then we must know how to cut the wood. This is an example of perfecting the saints.
If all the co-workers serve in this way, eventually all the saints will be perfected. For instance, if the ushering in the six large meetings was done in a proper way, there would be no problem with the ushering in the smaller district meetings, because it is easier to maintain order with fewer saints.
The visitation service is another example. Only a small number of saints take care of the visitation. They visit people year after year, but there is no result. This means that even though they visit, they do not know how to perfect others to visit. One out of every five saints should be able to serve in this way. The church has increased to two thousand saints; therefore, we need three to four hundred saints on the visitation service. These saints should be perfected by the one hundred who are presently serving. In other words, while we serve on visitation, we should perfect some saints to serve with us. If every one of the one hundred saints perfects three or four saints, we will have three to four hundred saints who can serve. Therefore, for the churches to go on, we must humble ourselves and be willing to learn; we cannot be indifferent. Even if we know how to do certain things, we must admit that there are other things that we do not know how to do.
To be proud is foolish. We need to learn to be humble and be apt to learn. Even if we can lead others to have some measure of spiritual growth and to have a greater measure of the stature of Christ, we must confess that we are limited in what we can do. There are many things that we need to learn. We need to learn how to perfect the saints. Regardless of whether we are a brother or a sister, as co-workers, we need to ask ourselves whether the saints become useful after we are with them for a time. We can do certain things because we have been shown mercy, but have we perfected others to do the same things?
I gave a sober word in one elders’ meeting. I said that if the ushering in the large meetings was proper, it would also be proper in the district meetings. A problem with the ushering indicates that the ushers in the large meetings did not perfect other saints to usher. If the initial ushers perfected other saints to usher, there would be saints in the district meetings to take care of the ushering. This also applies to the business affairs of the church and to the spiritual matters in the church. When there are few perfected saints, everyone is content to merely have a meeting, even if there is not much supply in the meeting.
We need to humble ourselves and learn to do the work of the Lord. The church in Taipei has thirty-nine full-time serving ones and twelve elders. If these brothers and sisters are willing to change their concept and learn that the best way to labor is to perfect others to serve with them, the district meetings will not be weak and poor. However, if these co-workers are not willing to change their concept, the church in Taipei will not be built up.
Hence, every co-worker must learn many things. There are always things that we need to endeavor to learn. Regardless of how much we can supply the saints with Christ and help them gain a measure of the stature of Christ, this is only one aspect of our work. We always need to learn how to perfect the saints so that they may be useful vessels. We must perfect the saints to be useful. Our ability to perfect the saints determines how much the church can be built. If we do not perfect the saints, they will not be useful material, and as our numbers increase, the amount of material that is not useful will also increase.
We need to perfect the saints and build them into the church according to their measure so that every saint is perfected to stand in his place and fulfill his function. Then regardless of how large a church is, it will not lack order. It is only when we are perfected that we are genuinely built up. This can be compared to the wood in the meeting hall. It does not cause confusion, because it is built up and has a function.
Suppose that we have material to make some benches, but instead of building the benches, we leave the material scattered in a room. No one will be able to use the room. The church in Taipei is large, but we must be careful. More believers are being added, but we cannot do anything with them, because there are few perfected saints. We have formed more meetings, but we do not have perfected saints in all the meetings. The co-workers and the elders bear this responsibility. We need to be humbled and confess that we still have many lessons to learn. We do not know how to perfect the saints. We must learn to perfect the saints in order for the church to be built up.
In a normal situation, after a co-worker labors in a locality, there should be a strong service when he leaves. If the service collapses after the co-worker leaves, there was a problem with his work; that is, a large portion of his work replaced the saints instead of perfecting them.
May our eyes be opened to the revelation in Ephesians 4:11-12. These two verses say that Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers as gifts for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry and unto the building up of the Body of Christ. The building up of the Body is not carried out directly by the gifts; rather, the gifts perfect the saints, and the perfected saints exercise their function to build up the Body of Christ. This is the real building up of the church. How much we perfect the saints is how much we build them up. If we labor in a city without perfecting any saints, we are not building up the church in that city, and the church will remain desolate. After we leave, the church will suffer and have no way to go on. This means that our work was a failure.
We need to consider this matter and be willing to change and to learn something new. We must see that the first step of the building up of the church, the primary step, is that we learn to perfect others. It is good that we can do things, that we are willing to do things, and that we are actually doing things. However, it is a shortcoming if we cannot lead, teach, and perfect other saints to do what we can do. We need to learn and to endeavor not only to do things ourselves but also lead, teach, and perfect others to do the things that we do. In this way the church will be built up.
This is the urgent need in all the local churches. It is especially the need in the large churches, such as the church in Taipei and in Kaohsiung. Since new ones are constantly being gained, if we do not learn how to perfect the saints, it will be difficult to continue the work in a good way. This is the result of increase with little perfecting. We cannot rely on splitting the large meetings into smaller district meetings. The district meetings in the church in Taipei prove this. There is the need to raise up more saints by perfecting them. If there are few perfected saints and we continue to split into smaller meetings, the church will eventually be desolate.
Since there are few perfected saints, we should be aggressive and learn to perfect the saints. Even the co-workers in the smaller localities should be aggressive to perfect the saints. We need to perfect the saints to be useful. While we work, we perfect others to do what we are doing. We should not be idle and direct others to do things. Rather, we should work diligently. The most important thing, however, is that we learn to perfect the saints. We should not perform a task by ourselves. Even if a saint seems unable to perform a task, we should let him do it to perfect him. After some time there will be a result.
Moreover, there are many lessons for us to learn while we perfect the saints. Many circumstances will force us to go to the Lord. For example, in order to perfect the saints to contact and enjoy the Lord, we must contact and enjoy the Lord. Hence, perfecting the saints will also benefit us.
