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As serving ones, we have a relationship with our community and a relationship with the church. Before we were saved, it was impossible for us to stay away from our community. Now that we are saved and want to serve the Lord, not only is it impossible for us to stay away from our community, but even more we cannot stay away from the church.
Both the community and the church are groups. The community is a group of people, but the church is God’s flock. The daily affairs in the community and in the church are related to people. Therefore, a serving one is intimately related to people. Saints who are beginning to serve the Lord should study the books of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus (see The Proper Aggressiveness of the Lord’s Serving Ones, ch. 1), because these three Epistles speak of the standard of a serving one and the relationships of a serving one.
In 1 Timothy 1:3-4 the apostle Paul says, “I exhorted you...to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things...rather than God’s economy.” In these verses the apostle’s charge is related to not teaching things that are different from God’s economy in the environment of the church. To teach different things rather than God’s economy is to teach myths, unending genealogies (v. 4), and the law (vv. 7-8). Such teachings involve vain talk and differ from the apostles’ teaching, which is centered on Christ and the church, that is, on the economy of God. According to Acts 2:41-42, three thousand new believers “continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles.” At that time the apostles spoke God’s New Testament economy. Hence, to speak differently from the speaking of the apostles, in contradiction to God’s New Testament economy, is to teach different things.
If we desire to serve the Lord, we must be in an environment where there is no different teaching, that is, where there is no speaking in contradiction to God’s economy. This means that we should not teach different things. An environment where someone is speaking things that are different from God’s economy is not healthy. In order to live a long life, we must live in an environment where the air is fresh. We should try our best not to live in a place where the air is polluted. Similarly, a Christian needs to live in a clean environment so that he can grow and have a healthy spiritual life. In 1957 and 1958 the air in the churches in Taiwan was contaminated by different teachings, and as a result, many saints were damaged.
We must always pray. In particular, the young saints should spend much time in prayer every day. Like Solomon, we should pray, “Jehovah God,...give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people” (2 Chron. 1:9-10). God’s people are numerous; hence, we must always pray and ask the Lord to give us wisdom and knowledge so that we may know how to go out and come in before His people, that is, how to conduct ourselves among them.
In the New Testament the apostle Paul says, “These things I write to you...that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God” (1 Tim. 3:14-15). Paul also reminded Timothy how to conduct himself with elderly men and elderly women and how to contact younger women in all purity (5:1-2). In 2 Timothy 2:22 Paul says that we should “flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” To pursue spiritual virtues with those of a pure heart is also an important matter in the church life.
There are four matters that we need to pay particular attention to. First, we must be careful concerning how we live. With regard to single saints, the way they live greatly affects their service to the Lord. The Chinese say that “one who stays near vermillion will be stained red, and one who stays near ink will be stained black.” If those who live with you are “black,” eventually, even if you are “white,” you will become “black” because you are in close contact with them. We become the same as those whom we regularly contact. We are influenced by our environment.
Married saints should also be careful concerning where they live. Every aspect of modern society is contaminated; hence, we should never randomly choose a place to live. Rather, we should always pay attention to where we live and how we live. Our negligence in this matter will give rise to many problems, some of which may even affect our married life, our family life, and our service to the Lord.
Second, we should have a definite goal in pursuing the truth. In order to serve the Lord, we need to know the truth and also to grow in life. We should not seek to be great when we work; we need to properly allocate our time. We should budget our time and prepare a schedule of what to do in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening for each day of the week. Otherwise, it is easy for our time to slip away. A schedule enables us to use our time effectively, and it causes our pursuit of the truth, our service, and our work to be definite. Those who serve on the college campus need to schedule set times to go to the campus with those who coordinate with them in order to contact students. This kind of scheduling is necessary.
Without a schedule to restrict us, it is easy for our time to slip away. When Moses was forty years old, he thought that he could save the children of Israel. However, the Lord sent him to the wilderness and restricted him there for forty years. This was necessary for Moses. We also have the same need. In order to be restricted and not to let ourselves become loose, we must make a schedule. The Bible refers to this as self-control (Gal. 5:23; 2 Pet. 1:6). As serving ones, we must be diligent to exercise in this matter and not let ourselves become loose. In Taiwan most young men must serve in the military. Once they enter the military camp, they have a tight daily schedule; even the time needed for them to make their beds is calculated. This is very strict. A young working saint is restricted by his job. A teacher is also restricted; the school schedules which day of the week, at what time, and in which classroom he teaches. He is restricted by the schedule of the school. We also must have this kind of schedule to restrict us so that we exercise self-control. In this way we will have a definite goal in our pursuit of the truth and in our service.
Third, we need to learn the lesson to not cause friction in any local church or with any saint. This is not easy, but we still need to learn. No matter where we are, we must not be contradicting or confrontational with the saints.
The Lord is wise and sovereign. In every church there are always a few saints who seem to test others. When the Lord chose the twelve disciples, He included Judas, who betrayed Him (Matt. 10:4). In every local church there are always a few saints who seem to test others. However, if there is only friction between us and them, we will lose our qualification to serve the Lord. There is always ground for reasonings that lead to friction. However, once we begin reasoning, we are finished. Hence, we must learn the lesson to not have problems with the saints involving contradiction or friction. This is possible only when we walk according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4).
The spirit will never allow us to touch or meddle in others’ affairs. There is friction when we meddle in others’ affairs. If we would not meddle, there would not be any friction. Some people in northern China wear woolen clothes because of the cold. This material is like a vacuum cleaner and attracts all the hair and dust in a room. There is another kind of material that is smooth and no hair sticks to it. Some people are born with a meddlesome disposition. They are like the woolen fabric that is full of hair and dust. People with this kind of disposition always have problems, because they provoke others. There are also those whose disposition is pure and simple; they do not get involved, even if they encounter “hair and dust.” These people are not meddlesome. We should learn to not be meddlesome but to walk according to the spirit. The spirit will never lead us into something with which we should not be involved. Young people like to take a stand for justice. However, in the church there is no such thing as taking a stand for justice. The only thing we walk by in the church is the spirit. The only way to avoid friction and confrontation with the saints is to walk according to the spirit.
Fourth, a serving one must have companions. Caleb and Joshua and Daniel with his three friends are examples of companions in the Old Testament. They were good companions. In the New Testament the Lord sent His disciples out in twos (Mark 6:7). In Acts the Lord sent Paul and Barnabas out (13:2). This does not mean that companionship involves only two. The Bible speaks of “two or three witnesses” (Matt. 18:16). When the Lord was transfigured on the mountain, He took three persons with Him: Peter, James, and John (17:1-2). Hence, three is better than two. When two people are together, they can help each other. However, when an argument arises between them, they need a third person to mediate and serve as a buffer. Hence, in serving the Lord it is best to have three in company together, but at least there should be two.
As we look for companions, we should guard against natural affection and the flesh. Leviticus 2:11 says that the meal offering should not contain leaven or honey. Honey is purer than leaven, but it still ferments. According to typology, honey denotes our natural affection. We need to have companions, but our natural affection should not be involved. The sisters should pay particular attention to this point. They should guard against the development of natural affection, or friendships.
There is no spiritual companionship that is lifelong. We should not expect our companions to go wherever we go simply because they are our companions. When I was in mainland China, I had a group of companions. When I went to Taiwan, I had another group of companions. Later I went to America, and I had yet another group of companions. Christ has only one Body. Wherever we go, we should live in the Body. Hence, for the sake of our protection and benefit, we need to have two or three companions to support and help us and whom we support and help. This is especially true for single sisters. It is very dangerous for them to serve alone. They need companions even more in order to be balanced and protected.
