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Scripture Reading: John 15:9-10, 12, 16-17; 1 Cor. 8:1-3; 12:31—13:10, 13; Eph. 4:15-16
In this chapter we will consider how the Body of Christ builds itself up in love (Eph. 4:16). Every member in the Body of Christ has a function. Being properly joined with other members is the condition necessary for a member to manifest his function. This means that the function of a member depends on being joined. Any member who is individualistic or detached from other members will not be able to manifest his function. Therefore, the most accurate way to determine whether there is a problem with our function is to measure our function against our being joined to others and built up. If there is a problem with our function, it must be because we have a problem with being joined or with being built up with other members in the Body of Christ.
It is possible for a Christian to seemingly be spiritual, full of light, or spend much time in prayer yet not have much function. The primary cause for such situations is a lack of joining and building. Spirituality, enlightenment, and prayer need to be measured against being built up. The properness of a person’s spirituality depends on how much he is joined with other saints. If a person seems spiritual but is individualistic and cannot be joined with other believers, his spirituality must be improper. Proper and normal spirituality causes a person to be joined with other saints. Nothing places a stronger demand on our spirituality, on our being dealt with by the Lord, and on our living before Him than being joined together with other saints. We can never have genuine spirituality without being joined and built up together with all the saints.
A saint may have proper conduct, be pious, fear the Lord, and not do anything inappropriate, yet he may be individualistic before the Lord and unable to be joined together with other believers. Such a saint seems to be spiritual, but he has never been broken; his self is still strong. No one can find fault with him because he seems to be perfect. Although he has no conflicts with other saints, he cannot be joined with them. This indicates that he is not broken and that his spirituality is not proper. Because of his eccentric spirituality, he does not bear fruit before the Lord. When such a saint is broken by the Lord, he will be able to be joined with other saints and built up together with them. Then he will no longer be individualistic. He will also bear fruit and manifest his function.
We do not want the saints to be fruitless and barren even if their condition before the Lord is good. Such saints neither bring people to salvation nor help others pursue the Lord. Instead of taking care of younger believers, they care only about their welfare and integrity before God. There also are saints who do not seem to be outstanding, spiritual, or perfect, nor do they seem to have learned many lessons, but they bear much fruit and take care of new believers and of those who seek to serve the Lord. These saints are like begetting and nurturing parents; they have many children and are full of function. If we evaluate these examples before the Lord, we must say that the first category of saints does not have genuine spirituality, but the second category of saints bears much spiritual weight, because they bear fruit, and their functions are manifested.
In John 15:5 the Lord said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit.” If anyone abides in the Lord, he will bear much fruit. Bearing much fruit is the manifestation of the function of a branch. The branches of a vine have only one function, which is to bear fruit. They cannot be used as building material, nor are they suitable for fuel. Therefore, the branches of a vine that do not bear fruit are useless. Only when they bear fruit is their function manifested. The more fruit they bear, the more their function is manifested.
Every believer is a member of the Body of Christ and a branch of the Lord, the vine. As branches, our function is to bear fruit. To bear fruit is to bear clusters of grapes, that is, many saints. The elders, deacons, and responsible ones should all bear a few saints. The saints whom they bear are their fruit. Such fruit is the manifestation of our function in the church.
Regrettably, we do not have the situation of bearing much fruit. The spiritual condition of many serving ones is good, but they do not bear any saints. Such serving ones can be compared to good-looking but fruitless branches. Their function is not manifested practically in the church. This situation is the result of being individualistic, isolated, and not built up with other believers.
If we want to be fitly joined with the saints as members of the Body of Christ and be built up together, we need to see that we have many peculiarities that keep us from bearing with one another. There is no building up if we draw near to those who suit our taste but stay away from those who do not suit our taste. However, the Lord has put us together with other saints, without regard to their origin, and He requires that we be joined and built up together with them as members of His Body. For this reason we need to learn the lesson of dealing with our peculiarities.
I have had much contact with the children of God; hence, like a doctor who has much clinical experience, I know the symptoms of many spiritual peculiarities among God’s children. Doctors know that a fever can have various causes, such as a cold, scarlet fever, or tuberculosis. Likewise, there are also many different problems that can keep those who serve the Lord from being joined and knit together with others. These problems are our peculiarities.
In order to be coordinated with the saints in the church, we first need to deal with our inclination to be with our fellow countrymen. The prominent characteristic of this inclination is language, which is a problem to building up. A brother from Shantung Province is drawn closer to another brother who speaks the same dialect. Suppose there are four elders in a locality, and three are from Foochow. During the elders’ meeting the three from Foochow might speak in their dialect at a crucial juncture in their fellowship, leaving the other elder out of the fellowship. After the three discuss the issue in their dialect, they might use Mandarin to summarize their conclusion with the elder who does not understand their dialect. In this situation there is no way for these elders to be built up. The inclination to be with one’s fellow countrymen is an indication that a person has not been dealt with and has not learned the lesson. The Body of Christ is the new man, where there cannot be Jew nor Greek (Gal. 3:28). We must see that human distinctions must be eliminated in order to have the building up of the Body.
A brother who has learned the lesson will avoid speaking the Foochow dialect when he is in a meeting with saints who do not understand it. In the same way, a Taiwanese saint will avoid speaking Taiwanese when he is in a meeting with saints who do not understand Taiwanese. The use of dialects is to meet a need rather than to satisfy our particular taste and preference.
An inclination to be with fellow countrymen that cannot be broken will become an obstacle that prevents the church from being built up. Although a sister may know how to pray and read the Bible, her inclination to be with her fellow countrymen makes it hard for her to be built up with other saints. We are all brothers and sisters, but when we exhibit an affinity for our fellow countrymen, we are tearing down instead of building up. We should not have any distinctions in the house of God or in the Body of Christ. If we have learned the lesson in this matter, we would rather be slightly cold toward those who are our fellow countrymen and warm toward those who are not. Our relationship with the saints is not based on compatriotism; it is in the Lord.
The Lord brought us from mainland China to Taiwan with the purpose of spreading the gospel, the truth, and His testimony among the local people. We earnestly desire that they would grow strong and eventually take this commission that we have received from the Lord so that if one day He leads us to leave here, the gospel, the truth, and His testimony will be able to go on. For this reason we increased the gospel work among the local people and established more Taiwanese-speaking meetings in Taipei and Kaohsiung. However, I am concerned that this practice can give rise to problems, even though it does have benefits. In the church there cannot be Jew nor Greek, but for practical needs we have a Mandarin-speaking meeting and a Taiwanese-speaking meeting. Hence, the meeting of the local saints can bear a local flavor. However, such a practice might actually damage the practical building up of the church. Our meetings are divided by language for the convenience of communication. However, while we are taking advantage of this convenience, we should never approve of the distinction of languages. In the church there cannot be Jew nor Greek, that is, there cannot be Mandarin, Taiwanese, the Foochow dialect, or the Shantung dialect. Although we speak a certain language for the convenience of communication, we are not building up the testimony of a particular language; we are building up the testimony of the Body of Christ.
In order to be coordinated and joined together with the saints in the church, we also need to learn to deal with the inclination to be spiritual. Some serving ones enjoy being around spiritual persons but show no interest in immature or fleshly saints. Although being fleshly is indeed hateful, the fleshly saints are still members of the Body of Christ; hence, we need to love them. A person’s spirituality is a test to us that proves whether we have learned the lesson of building up. The spiritual brothers are lovable, but the weaker brothers deserve more of our love. A parent’s heart often goes first to the children with shortcomings or problems. The more problems a child has, the more his parents care for him. The more rebellious a child is, the more his parents care for him. This is the heart of a parent. In 1 Corinthians 12:24 Paul says, “Our comely members have no need. But God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked.” This verse shows that the Lord cares for the immature, weak, and uncomely members more than for the comely ones.
A person’s spirituality and ability to fellowship and pray with us are a serious test. If we can love only spiritual believers, our joining with the members of the Body of Christ is problematic, and it will be hard for our function to be manifested. Proper spirituality does not cause a person to be more individualistic or isolated, nor does it cause him to compare himself with Moses on Mount Sinai or the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane. Proper spirituality will not cause a person to think that he is higher than everyone else and, hence, has no choice but to live alone before God.
On the contrary, proper spirituality prevents a person from living in isolation and from caring only for himself. It causes him to willingly contact the weak, care for the stumbled, seek the backslidden, carry the immobile, and love the unlovable and those with problems. If we are truly broken, the inclination toward spirituality will be discharged from our being, and we will be able to love those who do not live before God. We will be able to set our mind on the spirit and walk according to the spirit and still be able to love those who set their mind on the flesh. If we have learned such a lesson, we will be a fruitful branch that bears clusters of fruit.
We need to learn to deal with the inclination only to read the Bible. Some serving ones are so passionate about reading and studying the Bible that they do not need to eat or sleep. They can drop everything else for the Bible. They do not care whether others love the Lord, are saved, fall, or stand. They care only to read the Bible. When such believers meet people, they can talk only about the Bible. When they read the Bible, they forget about heaven and earth. Although reading the Bible is a spiritual matter, this kind of Bible reading is a problem, a peculiarity. It shows that such believers are not yet broken and cannot be built up with other saints.
We need to deal with an inclination only to pray. Believers with this obsession cannot do anything without prayer. The Bible tells us to “unceasingly pray” (1 Thes. 5:17), but we cannot drop everything else and focus only on prayer if we want to be built up with others in the church life. Suppose a saint is gravely ill in the hospital, and his family asks us to visit him. Should we say, “Let us pray first to see if the Lord wants us to go”? It might already be too late by the time we finish praying. If there are people in difficulty who need our support, it is not right for us to insist on praying before assisting them. This is an example of turning prayer into an obsession.
A farmer who prays throughout the year but does not sow, cultivate and fertilize the land, or water the plants cannot reap a harvest. It is God who causes the growth of the harvest, but He requires people to carry out outward activities such as cultivating and fertilizing. In the church some saints focus only on prayer and despise other services as being the work of Martha. When such saints visit the needy or fellowship, they will encourage others only to pray and trust in the Lord. It seems as though they do not live on earth. They are fully ignorant of the needs of the saints. Hence, they cannot be joined or built up with others. This indicates that they have not been adequately broken.
A broken person can easily be built up with others. Even though two disciples went down to Emmaus after the Lord was crucified and resurrected, the Lord Jesus still walked with them (Luke 24:13-15). It was wrong for them to go down to Emmaus, but the Lord Jesus walked with them. The ability to love people with different origins, languages, and accents, people who are not spiritual, who rarely read the Bible or pray, who are worldly, and who do not know how to trust in God requires that we be broken. We love them because they are children of God. A broken person can be joined with the saints who are weak or strong, inexperienced or experienced, and falling or standing. This is not socializing but being joined in life. When we love others in such a way and are joined with them, we will immediately manifest our function, and we will also bear clusters of fruit and take care of many saints. This is the love spoken of in the Bible. This love is out from God, and it is the love of God.
God not only loves those who are like Him; He also loves those who are not like Him, those who are far below the standard. He loves those who fail, fall, are backslidden, are weak, and even commit sins. The Bible charges us to love one another even as the Lord has loved us (John 15:12). The Lord loves us, not because we are like Him; He loves us even though we are absolutely not like Him. He wants us to love others with His love, to love those who are worse than us and who are backslidden or weak.
Therefore, we should not fellowship merely with those who suit our taste and ignore those who do not. Frankly speaking, those who need the most fellowship are the ones who are fallen, backslidden, and stumbled. If we do not fellowship with those who need fellowship, there is something wrong with our love. This means that our love is a human love that will not bear fruit; our love is not the divine love. If we can love those who are unlovable, who are worse than us, and who are stumbled, we will bear many saints, and there will be clusters of fruit hanging on us. This is our function.
In John 15 the Lord said, “I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit...These things I command you that you may love one another” (vv. 16-17). We must remember that bearing fruit is based on loving one another. If we do not love others, we will never bear fruit. The Lord’s command to love one another does not apply only to those who are equal to us but even more to those who are weaker and backslidden. We love them because God loves them and because they are members of the Body of Christ. If we love one another, we will bear fruit.
True joining is true love for one another and true building up, which issue in bearing fruit. The apostle Paul says, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1). A building that is built of concrete and steel is sturdy and firm, because the concrete joins the stones, steel, and other materials together. The joining force in the Body of Christ is the love of Christ. Without the joining force of concrete, the materials in a building cannot be sturdy and firm. Likewise, if there are only knowledge and doctrine in the church but not the love of Christ, people will be scattered. The more doctrine we have, the more scattered the believers will be. Knowledge cannot build up; only love builds up. Love can pull together those who are falling away, unite the scattered ones, and cause the backslidden to move forward and the stumbled to stand. Love can join people together.
The church in Corinth was full of knowledge; hence, the apostle Paul says, “In everything you were enriched in Him, in all utterance and all knowledge” (1:5). However, the church in Corinth did not have the building up. On the contrary, there were divisions, strifes, criticisms, and judgments among them (vv. 11-12). The apostle seems to say that they were not short in knowledge or gifts but in love (13:2, 8). First Corinthians 13 is the only chapter in the whole Bible that speaks so specifically about love. The apostle speaks about all kinds of gifts in chapter 12, but in verse 31 he says, “Earnestly desire the greater gifts. And moreover I show to you a most excellent way.” Every gift requires a proper way in order for it to be used. Hence, we not only need the gifts, but we also need the way to use the gifts. The apostle presents love as the most excellent way to use the gifts.
For this reason he speaks specifically about love in chapter 13, saying, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (vv. 1-2). No matter what kind of gift we have, apart from love it will be rendered useless. The apostle also speaks concerning the true meaning and significance of love. If we read these verses carefully, we will see that every item is a lesson to us. Suffering long and covering all things are lessons that require us to be broken (vv. 4, 7).
Gifts are not foremost. Rather, love is foremost. If in any church there is a group of saints who genuinely love one another, cover one another, endure, care for, and support one another, that church will still be living even if no one has a gift of giving a message. In some places there are several believers who have the gift of giving messages, but the more they speak, the colder and drier the meeting becomes, the number of saints in the meetings gets smaller, and the saints become detached and scattered. This is because knowledge does not build up. Only love builds up.
May the Lord show us that if we want to afford Him a resting place, a dwelling place, and to allow Him to carry out His will in this age, we must prostrate ourselves before Him and be broken. We need to let Him remove many problems from within us, and we need to learn to be persons who can be joined together and built up with others. The problems in us must be removed so that we may love every brother and sister, regardless of their condition. We love all men because our love is of the Lord. This is the way for us to be joined with the saints as members of the Body and to be built up together. This is the way for us to be fruitful and full of function and to cause the Body of Christ, the church, to build itself up in love.
