We have seen in previous meetings that our opinion is simply the embodiment of self. We have also seen that opinion is a great hindrance to the growth in life and also to the proper functioning in the church life. The real experience of dealing with opinion is to be in the spirit. Doctrinally speaking we may say that we need the light and that we also need a kind of surgery. But according to our experience, light and surgery do not help much with our opinion. The only way to deal with our opinion is to be in the spirit. Every time that we are in the spirit, the self, or we may say the embodiment of the self, our opinion, is peeled off. Whenever we remain in our spirit, there is always a peeling off of our opinion.
We need an illustration showing that when we remain in our spirit, our opinion is peeled off. Suppose I am a person so easy to have opinion. Of course, everyone among us is easy to have opinion. The only things that do not have opinion are inanimate objects such as chairs. A chair has no opinion. But a living person with a living, physical body always has an opinion. Actually, the fallen being is just an embodiment of opinion. Not one person is without opinion. Some are quick to express opinion, and some are slow to express opinion. Some always express opinion, and others have a lot of opinion but do not express it. They may not express it due to their experience or their disposition, but it does not mean that they have no opinion. They have a lot of opinion, but they are just not so expressive. They keep their opinions hidden, but the opinions are still there. When opinion comes out, it causes damage to others, but when opinion does not come out and remains concealed in you, it damages you. Many good brothers and sisters among us have been killed by their concealed opinion. We may consider those who express their opinion so easily as somewhat bothersome, while we may consider those who never express any opinion as good brothers and good sisters. Yes, they are good brothers and good sisters, but all the time they are committing a kind of spiritual suicide. The only good point is that they do not kill others. But in their goodness they kill themselves. The point is that no one is without opinion.
In the past fifty years I have experienced being enlightened, and also I have experienced a lot of surgery. But according to my experience, the only effective way to deal with our opinion is to remain in the spirit. Even when we remain in our spirit, it does not mean that our opinion would be thoroughly rooted out or cut off. I do not have that experience. But when we remain in the spirit, some of our opinion would be spontaneously peeled off. Not only would I not express my opinion; I would even let that opinion go. This is the peeling off of opinion.
We have to realize that nearly all the problems among Christians are due to this one thing—opinion. The problems, the confusion, the divisions, the fightings, are due to opinion. Recently, I received two pieces of mail from one person. These two writings were full of opinion. This person had recently received a booklet or leaflet briefly describing our belief. In his writing to me he pointed out that our way of salvation presented in the booklet is right but that in The Stream magazine we had said there was no need to believe, but just to call, O Lord Jesus! three times and you could be saved. His comment was that what we had spoken in The Stream was not right, but now in this leaflet we were right. What is this? It is just opinion. He had many comparisons, all of which were nothing but opinion. In Romans 10, which he also referred to, you have the belief and you also have the practice. The belief is to believe in your heart and to confess. Then there is the practice, that of calling on the name of the Lord. Both are right. In belief, you have to believe in the Lord, and you have to confess your sins and also confess His name; then you will be saved. The following verses also say that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. These are not contradictions. You should not have a comparison of these two items. These are two aspects of one way to be saved. This one way of being saved has two aspects: first you must believe and confess; then you practice to call on the Lord’s name. We have seen some in the past who were not clear about how to believe and were not clear how to confess, but they did have the heart to call on the name of the Lord. They simply called, “O Lord Jesus!” After calling two or three times they really got saved.
When I am invited to any dinner, I only know how to eat; I do not know how to investigate. Sometimes, however, I noticed that when a poor eater was invited to dinner, he did not eat. Rather, he tried his best to find bones in the chicken. He was not a chicken eater; he was a chicken-bone finder. It seems that his job was to find the bones. We have put out many issues of The Stream magazine and many Life-study messages for people to eat. What a shame that this poor man was only looking for bones. We put out these messages only for the eaters; we never put them out for people to find bones. There may be some bones in every message. The American way of cooking fish is to have just the fillet, but the Chinese way is to cook the whole fish. They serve the tail, the bones, the fins—everything—on the table. If you like to find fault, you can find all the faults in the Chinese cooking. But the Chinese cooking is not to afford you a way to find fault; it is to afford you the whole fish for your eating. What you eat and what you taste is the meat of the fish. Forget about the bones. You have to realize that without the bones the fish could not grow. I used to receive many letters and phone calls. Of all the letters I received, some of them were from mental cases. And mental cases always include a strong opinion. Whoever writes me a letter with a strong opinion I always consider that to be somewhat a mental case. This is really true. When you are so opinionated, you are mentally ill. We invite people to our dinner to eat. The Life-studies of Genesis, of Revelation, of Matthew, and of John are all for you to eat. We do not present these things for people to study to find the bones.
In 1936 Brother Watchman Nee and I were in Tientsin, the northern port that is quite close to the old capital of Peking. He was very much sorrowful about one thing. He had put out a booklet concerning how to be comforted. This was a good booklet to comfort some suffering ones. Then a man who was so opinionated criticized Brother Nee, saying that the translation of one of the verses cited in the booklet was not accurate. Brother Nee came to me pointing out that he had published that little booklet to comfort people. But that person did not get one bit of comfort; he was only bothered. Brother Nee had invited people to eat the chicken, but there was an eater who would not eat the chicken. Rather, he was bothered by the chicken bones.
This is a real picture of today’s Christians. We all have to learn one lesson: in the church life we only know how to eat the chicken; we do not know how to count how many pieces of bones there are. Learn to get nourishment, forgetting all the faults. If you can do this, it is a strong sign that you have been delivered from the custom, the habit, of being opinionated. How could we be such? There is only one way—remain in the spirit. Whenever you get out of your spirit, right away you have your opinion concerning everything. If four brothers come together not in the spirit, they will be full of opinions. Without the Lord’s salvation in our spirit, our daily life is just a life of opinion. Consider your talk at the dining table with your wife. You talk about this person; you talk about that person; you talk about that thing. All this talk is opinion. If this word concerning opinion would impress you, tomorrow morning you will have nothing to say. Whenever you open your mouth, there is nothing but opinion. Opinion is a strong sign that you are out of the spirit. When you remain in the spirit, the opinion is peeled off.
Five weeks have passed since the last meeting we had concerning the peeling off of opinion. I would like to ask how many of your opinions have been peeled off. This tells us how much you have remained in the spirit. If you say that in these past five weeks no opinion has been peeled off, that is a poor sign. That signifies that you have not been remaining in the spirit.
My experience of the past few weeks has been that mostly I am much more aware of how little I am in the spirit because my opinion is a strong indication that I am not one spirit with the Lord at that moment. I really appreciate what was said the last time we were together: it is at the very moment that we prayed the prayer that brings us into the spirit that we are one spirit with the Lord. I must admit and speak fairly that a good portion of time the opinion is there, and it is so easy to express something with my wife about someone or about something. This has been a real exposure to show me how little time I spend in the spirit.
Very good! Now I feel that we have to go on a little deeper and a little further to touch a subtle thing that is within nearly all of us. I do not believe that any among us could guess what it is. In the Colossians training we saw that the subtle thing that frustrates us from experiencing Christ is our culture, but you have to realize that culture is too general. Since the Colossians training we have dealt mainly with two things: culture and opinion. These two things frustrate us from experiencing Christ. Our opinion is more subjective to us than our culture. Now we have to consider another thing that is even more subjective than our opinion. What is this hidden thing that is a great frustration to our experiencing Christ? In Hymns, #840 there is a phrase that says, “From peculiar traits deliver.” This hidden matter within us that frustrates us so greatly is our peculiarity. What is peculiarity? It is our biased and warped characteristics. It does not mean crooked or perverted but biased and warped. The New Testament tells us that we have to live Christ. “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Although these two verses are in the Bible, we do not realize how much these three things—culture, opinion, and peculiarity—frustrate us from actually living Christ. I have never read a book telling us that culture, opinion, and peculiarity are great frustrations to the experience of Christ. But today we must see this very matter. What is your peculiarity? Brother, please tell us what your peculiarity is.
I do think about this a lot, and this song touches me more than any other song in the hymnal. And the line concerning the peculiar traits I can never forget. I well realize that I am a peculiar person. I know also that I appear that way to others. Recently, I was considering another brother who is very different from myself. I considered how normal this brother is, how mild he is in his temperament, and I was considering that I simply was not born that way. Knowing that I have certain peculiarities has given me a kind of longing over the years to be free from the peculiarity. I realize that the way I do things is peculiar, and the way I think is peculiar. Even everything I do is peculiar. Everything I am is peculiar. I am longing to get some help on this.
You have to realize that we all are peculiar. We all are biased and warped. These kinds of things could never be touched by the regular teachings. You may hear message after message, but none would touch you. We need another brother to tell us what his peculiarities are. Brother, what are your peculiarities?
Do I have peculiarities?
Let me help a little. You see that all the saints have laughed at your question. This indicates that no doubt through the years in all the meetings you have impressed them with something. I do believe that what is within their understanding must be this thing—peculiarity. Would you please tell us what your peculiarity is. Then I would ask the others who have laughed at you to tell us what is your peculiarity. Do not think, however, that only this brother has some peculiarity and you do not. It is simply that his peculiarity has been all the time coming out, and yours has been all the time concealed. We all have peculiarity. Please go on to tell us, brother, what your peculiarity is.
I have been very concerned with this one point over the years, and I do not know if others have had the same kind of thought or not. For a long time I have considered this matter of peculiarity and that others must think that I am peculiar because of the typical response that the saints give me in meetings and in just about any situation. In my consideration I have felt that what comes out of me is not the Lord Jesus Christ. It is just me by birth, and this bothers me a lot. I have realized that we should live Christ, yet I am living by my peculiarities day after day, and this really bothers me. I have been condemned, concerned, and worried about this for years. I believe at least in part it has to do with the matter of joking. Deep-seated in my being is a kind of characteristic to slant something toward the humorous side. However, if I felt like being humorous, I would, but if not, I would turn it off like a faucet. Many times when I shut this off, I sensed Christ and not myself. But when I turned it on, I sensed myself and not Christ. This has bothered me for years. Perhaps at least part of my problem is just the tendency to slant something toward a joke. But it may be that that is rather superficial, and there is some root that produces this kind of fruit.
Yes, this is right. I first met you in the Bay Area more than eleven years ago. So for many years we have known each other. I am especially used to paying much attention to the young seeking saints including yourself. I have noticed that you surely love the Lord. You have been much graced by the Lord, and you do have a heart to go on with Him. But there is a big factor, a negative factor, within you that has been frustrating you all the time from the richer experiences of Christ. And this factor is your peculiarity. You do not love the world, and you are not so much in yourself or in your flesh. But the growth in life and the function in the Body have not come up to the standard. I have realized that sometimes you are struggling to grow, to gain more of Christ, to experience more of Christ, and to be more useful in the functioning in the Body. Yet something is there frustrating, and that something is peculiarity. You have realized some aspects of your peculiarity, but now we need some others who know you quite well to help you realize something more concerning your peculiarity.
I do not really know whether I can tell you exactly what our brother’s peculiarity is. I have noticed over the years that there is a kind of peculiarity, but I would say it is not just a matter of lightness or of having a kind of joking personality. It comes out that way, but actually something is there that I cannot explain. It is simply there. It sticks out, and when you think of this brother, that is what you think of. I do not have a definition for it.
We need someone else to help us, perhaps someone who knows the brother better. Please be bold to tell us something, to tell us your impression about this brother.
Our brother seems to be a humorous person, but actually I believe he is a very detailed person. From knowing him in the past, I know he likes to do things in a very fine and detailed way. Because he is such a fine and detailed person, I believe a lot of things bother him.
Before we continue, let me add a word. To have a characteristic is not wrong. Everyone among us is a character, and as a character, we surely have some characteristic or characteristics. In the Bible you can see that all the apostles had characters, especially the apostle Paul. He had a real character, and Peter and John also had real characters. They all had their own characteristics, but they were not peculiar. They had characteristics, but their characteristics were not biased, nor were they warped. So in their character there was no peculiarity. They had characteristics but no peculiarity. Why? We have to realize that especially Paul and John had been quite transformed. Transformation actually takes away our peculiar traits. It takes away our peculiarities. Our natural man is biased and warped and is expressed mainly in our peculiarities. Do not consider that it is sinful doings and low behavior that is expressed in our peculiarity. No. A piece of paper may not be dirty or torn, but it may be warped. To be biased means not to be so straight or so right. But even this is not the full definition of being biased. We may have a lot of sins or no sins; we may have bad habits or good habits, but these are not the expressions of peculiarity. Peculiarity stands within our being alone, by itself. A very righteous man may be quite peculiar. A very “holy” man, a very “spiritual” man, may be very peculiar. In the New Testament you can see that Paul is so strong, but you cannot find that with him there is something peculiar. According to his writings, there is no peculiarity. It is the same with Peter and John. With these New Testament characters you cannot find any peculiar traits. Their characters were different with different characteristics, but it is hard to find any peculiarity. But with us, nearly everyone has some peculiarities. The church life is full of peculiarities. You have a peculiarity, and I have a peculiarity. We all have some peculiarity.
I feel that our brother’s joking is actually a kind of covering for something that is inward. Apparently he likes to joke, but actually I have a sense that it comes out that way because there is a real desire in him to do things right. It may be that this desire bothers him very much and that the only way to relieve this desire is to be humorous. Our brother apparently is not a detailed person, but I know from experience that actually he is super detailed. I never had this impression until I coordinated with him on cleaning and arranging the meeting hall. To my surprise when we came together to pray, it was not unusual for him to have many, many points to cover. I do not believe that the humor that is expressed is the real brother. I believe there is something else within him that is related to his being too fine and caring to be so right and wanting to go on.
We need another brother also to help us.
Since I have known this brother, I have noticed that as he functions in the meetings, he has a strong tendency to present something in a joking way. And no doubt all of us have picked this up. But I would say in personal fellowship with him he is generally very serious with hardly any trace of joking. He is very serious and very detailed and very intent on sharing what he really feels. He will not let you go until he shares fully what is in him. I have known few brothers in the church life who can talk as long as he can and never seem to run out of something to say. It seems as if there is a kind of fountain within him that never runs dry. I realize, though, that deeper within him there is something intangible and indefinable. It may be that we still are touching only the outward things and have not yet hit the mark.
Perhaps another brother could add something.
My personal times with this brother are quite different from the times in the meetings. His concern for what I consider as small things gets to the point of being picky. He is very concerned about details and small things and why things are a certain way. This makes me wonder how he can be so funny in the meetings. Furthermore, he cares for people. He likes people a lot, but I think sometimes when he contacts people, they do not know when he is being serious and when he is not. Every time that I have fellowshipped with him, the fellowship has been even quite heavy. It is very serious, very detailed, and he analyzes everything very thoroughly. I am not sure what this has to do with the humorous side that comes out in the meetings.
I would ask another brother also to say something.
The last time I talked at any length with this brother was about six months ago here at the hall. It is true that I definitely get an impression there are two different things going on. The person we see in the meetings and the person whom we meet personally and particularly in a one-to-one relationship are very different. It seems to me that all the weeks of perfecting have been leading up to this very point so that the Lord can touch this matter. Although I can recognize that this brother has a certain peculiarity, I cannot identify it. I am afraid that many of us have even the same or other peculiarities also. It seems that our brother expresses himself in at least two different ways. I remember that in the book The Experience of Life Brother Lee points out that the spirit is the genuine part of your being. I believe that how much a person is really in the spirit or not depends on what you can see as a constant or level impression. If a person is not that much in the spirit, it is quite easy to see something of his old man or his natural man. It is easy to see a kind of desire the person has that is somewhat short of the spirit or to see a kind of insecurity expressing itself. I do believe that if this brother and all of us were more in the spirit, we would see something far more constant and normal. It may be that what we see are the symptoms that this brother is not that much transformed and not that much saturated with the Spirit.
We have previously pointed out that opinion is the embodiment of the self. But we have to realize that this matter of peculiarity is much deeper than opinion. In principle, our peculiarity is the expression of the natural self or the natural life. We may even say that peculiarity is the last or the final expression of the natural life. To be peculiar is not to be sinful or to be bad or to be evil. But it is to be biased; it is to be warped. Let me also diagnose our brother’s problem. I do not believe that humor or being humorous is his problem. According to his peculiarity, deep within him there is a factor. I would say that the factor within our brother may be that he always wants to not be common but to be different from all others. This is the hidden factor that causes him to have the humorous, outward manifestation. Actually, everyone’s peculiarity is caused by a certain factor within. Just to deal with the brother’s jokes or humor is simply to cut off some branches. The root within him is not the joking; the root within him is the desire to be different from others and not common. In principle, we all have such a factor within us that causes us to be peculiar. You have to realize that to be peculiar is not wrong; it is not evil; it is not sinful; it is not bad. It is not hating people or damaging anything, but it is the ultimate expression of our natural being. This is the most hidden factor that frustrates all of us from experiencing Christ. I believe that for many years this factor within our brother has been frustrating him very much from the enjoyment of Christ.
I would encourage all of you to fellowship and to pray about these three things: culture, opinion, and peculiarity. Just to speak of our culture is too general, and opinion is also something on the surface. The subtle, hidden thing that most of us would not condemn is our peculiarity. I do believe that many of us have condemned our opinion again and again, but not many of us have condemned our peculiarity. If these three things could be thoroughly dealt with in the church life—culture, opinion, and peculiarity—I do believe that Christ would have no frustration to be our enjoyment. These are the basic problems among us. We do not need to talk that much about worldliness, about sin, or about evil things. But these things—culture, opinion, and peculiarity—are here frustrating us.
