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In this chapter we will fellowship concerning several matters related to the co-workers. God’s work in us cannot go beyond our limitations. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament show that God encounters limitations and difficulties in every person.
There are two situations that cause us to limit God. In the first situation the serving ones have the feeling that they cannot find the Lord and that they do not see results in their service. In other words, it seems that others are enlightened and know how to work, but they do not receive light, and their work does not have results. Thus, they become discouraged. Many years ago this situation was not common among us, but it has become rather obvious in recent years. In the second situation the serving ones know how to read the Bible. The Bible is open to them, and they always receive light. However, they often become puffed up and proud when they receive revelation and light from God.
The same principle applies to other spiritual matters. When some saints seek a spiritual experience, they gain it and immediately testify concerning the revelation they received or their experience. Other saints, however, do not have such experiences, no matter how much they pursue. It seems as though these saints do not know how to pursue or how to work. Hence, there are two groups of serving ones. This can be compared to people who study or play sports. Some people seem to have no problem understanding a subject or playing a sport well, while others struggle.
Some co-workers do not have a sense of accomplishment in the gospel, in ministering the word, or in visiting the saints. The more they look at themselves, the more it seems as if they have no progress in their spiritual pursuit or in the work. Hence, they are utterly discouraged. They want to continue serving, but they feel incompetent. It is not easy for them to withdraw, because they have paid a price to serve the Lord. Consequently, these ones feel miserable. This is one situation.
In another situation the co-workers gain what they seek in the Lord and in the work. The way is open to them, and it is easy for them to get results. The former group of co-workers tends to be discouraged, but the latter group tends to be arrogant. Both conditions are inevitable. We cannot say that one group is deep and that the other group is shallow. In truth, both kinds of co-workers are in the self.
Some co-workers are disheartened and discouraged because they think that they do not know how to pursue the Lord, they do not know how to work, their gifts are not manifested, and they do not see results. These co-workers are ashamed, embarrassed, and discouraged when they see other co-workers who flourish in the work. Such feelings of embarrassment show that they are in themselves. As a result, they have an inferiority complex and think that they are hopeless. It is right not to regard oneself as being capable, but it is not right to be self-abasing. A person who is self-abasing loses his courage, is not able to contact others, and cannot pray. A person who has an inferiority complex is buried in himself.
In the other situation a co-worker can be haughty. This is an expression of pride. When a serving one becomes filled with pride, he becomes shallow. Those with an inferiority complex seemingly sink to the bottom of the sea, but those who are proud seemingly float like a thin sheet of paper in the air.
A serving one who is overcome with a sense of inferiority harms only himself, not others. When he realizes that he is incapable in the work and that he cannot pray, read the Bible, or give messages, he is unwilling to preach the gospel, to visit the saints, or to speak for the Lord. Such a person is buried in his self-abasement. But this problem is limited to himself. However, a serving one who is proud does not receive the restriction of the Lord. This is a greater problem. Such a serving one can affect others because he thinks that he has something. This is the other side of the self.
Since not many serving ones are growing in life, can render a supply, or are effective in the work, our work and service have become stagnant. Some of our co-workers are trapped in self-abasement. Other co-workers, who are blinded by a shallow view of themselves, think that they are capable, but they have very little result due to their shallowness.
A person who is narrow and shallow is proud. It is easy for a narrow person to be proud, and it is easy for a shallow person to be proud. Actually, being narrow is the same as being shallow. A brother who is broad is like a large cup with a great capacity. Regardless of how many things he does, he does not feel full or proud. However, a narrow brother is like a small cup that is filled with water. If one drop of water is added to the cup, it will overflow. A person who is a large vessel with a large capacity receives more grace, but he never feels that he is someone special. In contrast, a person who is a small vessel with a small capacity is easily filled with a little grace, and he feels that he is something special. This is an indication of his smallness, and this smallness is related to his shallowness. A deep person has a large capacity, but a shallow person has a small capacity.
A proud person feels self-contented and satisfied and is shallow and small. Being shallow is the same as being small. Some who are shallow become proud very easily. Others may not become proud, but it is easy for them to feel self-contented. A person who becomes proud or self-contented is not effective in the work, and because he is shallow and superficial, he is unable to do a weighty and deep work. Only a person who has passed through frustrations, sufferings, and termination and who is broken can do a weighty and deep work. Such a person does not have much feeling of self-satisfaction or self-sufficiency. He continually presses forward and works steadfastly. Such a person is not a problem to the work and is effective.
Both self-abasement and pride stop our spiritual pursuit. Those who have an inferiority complex will not pursue the Lord, nor will those who are shallow and self-contented. It is difficult for those with an inferiority complex and for those who are shallow and self-contented to learn anything. Our spiritual pursuit is affected by self-abasement. Furthermore, we should not be proud, because pride prevents us from pursuing. Those who are proud are full. Since it is easy for them to obtain spiritual matters, they do not pursue aggressively. Both self-abasement and pride distract us and stop our genuine spiritual pursuit.
Although we serve regularly and coordinate, we have only an outward form. Our personal spiritual life might also be merely an outward form. Our experiences of fellowshipping with the Lord and touching Him through pray-reading and prayer can become an outward form. This outward form is an empty shell because we have lost our living pursuit of the Lord. The Bible shows that we cannot stop pursuing the Lord, because the Lord is inexhaustible (Deut. 8:7-9; Eph. 3:8). His riches are boundless and unlimited, and His breadth, length, height, and depth, like the dimensions of the universe, are unsearchable (v. 18).
When the apostle Paul was in prison, he said, “Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue” (Phil. 3:12). In verse 13 he said, “I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before.” His fresh and unlimited spiritual pursuit caused him to forsake all that he had gained in the past, all that was old, so that he could gain Christ to the fullest extent. Paul not only forsook his past experiences in Judaism; he also did not linger in his past experiences of Christ. As one who ran the race, Paul knew only to run forward. He did not look back.
Our problem is that we linger in what we gain, and we treasure our experiences. For example, a brother who gains some knowledge concerning the cross lingers in that knowledge. However, genuine spiritual experiences include leaving behind what we have gained. When we pass through something, we must put it aside. This is to run the race. If we do not run in this way, we will run in circles and will not advance. The apostle ran the race; he pursued by forgetting what was behind and stretching forward to what was before.
Some saints have seen and gained something, but their tone is different from that of the apostle Paul. Paul said, “Not that I have already obtained,” but some of the serving ones boldly claim to have gained something, as if they have reached the ultimate destination, and they do not have any more goals. In Ephesians Paul saw a very high vision, but after that, he still said, “Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue.” Even though Christ and the power of His resurrection are both familiar topics in our messages, we need to endeavor to pursue and to experience these boundless riches.
We must see the enemy’s twofold scheme. On the one hand, he uses discouragement to destroy our appetite to pursue, and on the other hand, he uses self-conceit and self-contentment to stop us from being desperate. In the end there is no genuine pursuing. The main symptom of our problem is that we lack an earnest pursuit because we are either self-abased or self-contented.
Song of Songs is a book in the Bible that focuses on pursuing. From the first chapter Song of Songs speaks of pursuing. It says, “Draw me; we will run after you— / The king has brought me into his chambers— / We will be glad and rejoice in you; / We will extol your love more than wine. / Rightly do they love you” (1:4). In verse 7 the seeker cries out from the depths of her being, and says, “Tell me, you whom my soul loves, Where do you pasture your flock?” Within the seeker there is a longing to pursue. Debates and research cannot help us to pursue. The elders need to lead the saints to have a living pursuit. We must genuinely pursue the Lord. Discouragement causes us to stop pursuing, and self-satisfaction also causes us to stop pursuing. Our urgent need is to pursue the Lord. If we do not pursue the Lord, we cannot give messages concerning pursuing the Lord.
Undoubtedly, we need to know how to work; that is, we need the skills to work. Some saints work diligently, but there is no result. They can be compared to a hen that lays eggs that do not hatch. However, when a different co-worker joins them, there are results. This is a matter of knowing how to work. Caring for flowers and plants is an example. When Brother A cares for a plant, it withers and dies in a couple of months, but when Brother B cares for the same plant, it blooms and bears fruit. This is a matter of skill. In spiritual service, however, the primary matter is not skill but whether or not we are living. The key to being living lies in our enjoying the Lord, having fresh fellowship with Him, entering into His presence, and pursuing Him daily.
Some co-workers are eloquent when they preach the gospel, but not many people are touched. When Brother James M’Kendrick, who wrote Seen and Heard, gave his first message, he could not utter one word, but he had a fervent heart to save sinners. He stood at the podium and could not stop his tears. This touched the audience. He did not know how to give a message, but he had a burden for the gospel. We should not rely on our gift. Gifts are superficial. Our gift should be developed from life, but many saints treat gifts as an outward matter. We should not overvalue a gift.
Those who have a genuine spiritual pursuit are beside themselves. On the morning of the Lord’s resurrection Mary went to the tomb to find the Lord. She was not as clearheaded as Peter and John. When Peter and John went to the tomb and saw that the tomb was empty, they became clear that Jesus had resurrected, and they went away to their own home. Mary, however, knew only to seek the Lord; she did not care for the empty tomb or the handkerchief. She knew that the Lord was not there, and she wanted to see Him (John 20:1-13). This seems to have been a foolish pursuit. Nevertheless, genuine pursuit is foolish. To have a genuine pursuit is to be desperate before the Lord to the extent that we care for nothing but meeting the Lord.
A brother who genuinely pursues the Lord might stand up in a meeting and say that the other saints are able to gain something when they pursue the Lord, but he does not seem to gain anything. This word is weighty. Or he may say that he has been pursuing the Lord but cannot touch Him and that he cannot give a good message, but he can testify of the Lord’s love. Such a word brings in an atmosphere of spiritual pursuit and a sense of the Lord’s love. I once heard a brother give a message in which he arrogantly told the congregation that they were not spiritual. When we speak concerning the spiritual condition of others, we should be desperate. It is not right to merely shake one’s head and say, “We are not doing well; we are not doing well.”
Our speaking should bring the saints to tears so that they can touch the Lord. Do not think that declaring “I have seen Christ!” will cause the saints to touch Him. We should be able to lead the saints to touch the Lord even without mentioning Christ. If we see that our prayer is powerless, that we do not know how to lead the meetings, and that our spiritual pursuit seems futile, we will have a heavy burden when we speak concerning our condition. This is the way to lead the saints to touch Christ.
If we truly want others to touch the Lord, there is no need to shout that we have seen Christ. Similarly, declaring that we need to live in Christ will not cause others to live in Christ. It is not a matter of shouting slogans or making declarations. Even if a brother does not feel that he has seen much, if he has a heart to pursue and is not self-abased or proud, when he tells the saints that he still does not know our glorious Lord, the saints will meet Christ and touch something spiritual.
It is not necessarily our testimony that will touch others. Rather, our words will indicate that there is something within us. Our words will show that we have the desire to forget that which is behind and stretch forward to that which is ahead so that we may know Christ. This principle can be applied to all our service.
In the past after a person responded to the gospel, we would speak to him concerning baptism, but there was a lack of spiritual pursuit. The brothers who would do the baptizing need to pursue the Lord concerning baptism. They should seek how to bring the new believers into the experience of dying together with the Lord. This requires the leading brothers and those responsible for baptizing to pray together and pursue the Lord. Then the brief word that they speak to the new ones before the baptisms will be weighty.
We have not had such a practice. Rather, we give the new ones a message in the baptismal meeting. For example, we read Romans 6:3-5: “Are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death...For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.” We speak to those who are being baptized concerning being baptized into the Lord’s death, being buried, and being raised up together with the Lord. We also say that after they are buried in the water, they will come out of the water in resurrection. Then we baptize them one by one. This kind of ritual may be scriptural, but it lacks spiritual reality. The responsible brothers and those who baptize must have some reality. If they are in the reality, their service will bring the new ones into the reality.
Although our services are established and are properly carried out, they lack something spiritual. I hope that the serving ones will receive a burden concerning our lack of spiritual pursuit. The services have become routine, and they lack spiritual reality; therefore, there is neither vitality nor power. As co-workers, we must rise up to deal with this situation. We should not think that we are incapable of doing certain things, nor should we be self-abased and buried by an inferiority complex. We need to overcome in this matter. Even if we are incapable, we can still pursue the Lord. We need a fresh love and a genuine pursuit of the Lord. If we gain something in our spiritual pursuit, we should not become stagnant or stop. We must be those who are running the race, forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, because there is no limit in Christ.
In addition to our personal pursuit we should pursue with our companions. We often fall into a situation that we cannot handle by ourselves. For this reason we need spiritual companions. The situation that is emerging among us indicates that we are individualistic and do not have companions. Hence, we must look for companions to pursue with. Second Timothy 2:22 says, “Pursue...with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” This is the way that we must take. Very few co-workers are willing to pursue the Lord with two or three others. In other words, few co-workers have companions; most pursue on their own. We cannot escape the fact that we need companions. Two or three should come together a few times per week to pursue the Lord together. There is a need for a fresh atmosphere of spiritual pursuit among us.
By the Lord’s mercy the co-workers need to have a fresh pursuing. No matter how many messages we have heard or how many lessons we have learned, we must realize that Christ and His Body are the way we are taking. Hence, we must rise up and pursue the Lord in a fresh way. This is the key. Everything we do depends on this. Perhaps some of us have a weak will or do not have a proper character. Whatever our problem may be, there is a remedy, which is to have a fresh, living, deep, and serious pursuit of the Lord. Not everyone’s function has been manifested, but if we have companions, everyone will have a deep pursuit of the Lord.
Galatians 6:7 says, “Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” Second Corinthians 9:6 says, “He who sows sparingly shall also sparingly reap; and he who sows with blessings shall also with blessings reap.” This is a principle. The amount of effort we spend determines the benefit we reap. We should not think that the co-workers who are intelligent or who have a strong will have an advantage. What matters is the effort we put into pursuing the Lord. An intelligent brother who has a strong will should not think that he can be enlightened quickly. Even if he has an advantage, it is temporary, because haste makes waste. The faster we are able to enter into something, the faster we will withdraw from it. The fact that we have gained something should not stop us from going on. That is too shallow.
A musician once said that if he skipped one day of practice, only he would notice it. If he skipped two days of practice, his family would notice it. If he skipped three days of practice, his friends would notice it, and if he skipped one week of practice, he would not be able to perform. This shows that the extent of our influence on others depends on our pursuit of the Lord.
The serving ones who regard themselves as incapable do not need to feel inferior or discouraged. Such feelings are meaningless. We need to understand that we are unable and incapable, but there are some things that we can do: we can pursue the Lord, be drawn by Him, and have a fresh love for Him. This is precious in the sight of God. If we do not have love, He can stir up our love. We can pray because we have a pursuing heart, not because we know the right words or have the right tone. This pursuing has no end and will always be fresh. This is what Paul says in Philippians 3:12 and 13: he forgot the things which were behind and stretched forward to the things which were before so that he could lay hold of the Lord. This can be compared to the words of the lover in Song of Songs 1:2 and 4: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!... / Draw me; we will run after you.” Our service is not a matter of gift, knowledge, or ability. It is entirely a matter of our pursuit. If we are such persons, we will always be effective, no matter what the situation is. Then our service and work will not be merely a shell or an outward form. There will be reality, content, vitality, and power within our service. Moreover, our service and work will be fresh. This kind of pursuit needs to be raised up among us.
