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Those who bear responsibility in the churches need to share in the stewardship of God—Titus 1:7, 9:
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The elders should take the lead to dispense the riches of Christ into others.
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All those who take the lead in the Lord's recovery and bear the responsibility for the care of the churches need to realize that they have a part in such a divine stewardship.
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Because Paul, a faithful steward in God's economy, was conscious of the one new man, what was in his heart was not simply a particular local church or a certain saint but the universal one new man—1 Cor. 4:1-2; 9:16-17; Col. 3:10-11; 4:7-17:
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“If we are conscious of the one new man, we should no longer think that the churches in our country have nothing to do with the churches in other nations. Instead, we shall realize that all the churches are the one new man today. May we look to the Lord that we may not be sectarian in any way. We would not be sectarian either individually as believers or corporately as local churches. On the contrary, all of us, all the saints in all the churches, are just one new man” (Life-study of Colossians, p. 262).
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“We also should rejoice that on earth today there is another man, the new man, that includes all the believers. This new man, who is born through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is now spreading and growing throughout the earth. Praise the Lord that we are part of this new man!” (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” p. 444).
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 1:10 Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him.2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The [Greek] word for stewardship in Ephesians 3:2 and for economy in 1:10 is oikonomia, [which] was first God's plan, God's economy. Then this economy of God became the stewardship that God gave to the apostle Paul. The economy and the stewardship are actually one. This means that what the apostles were doing is what God is doing in His economy. What we are doing should be exactly what God is doing today. We should be those who are carrying out God's economy. The carrying out of God's economy is the stewardship of God's grace. Such a stewardship is for the dispensing of God Himself as grace to all His chosen people. Out of this stewardship comes the ministry of the apostles, and this ministry corresponds with God's economy. The ministry we have must correspond with God's dispensing of Himself into His chosen people for the producing of the Body of Christ. This is God's ministry given to us as our stewardship. The ministry revealed in the New Testament is unique. God does not have two economies or two stewardships. God has only one divine economy and one divine stewardship. Out of this stewardship is the one, unique ministry of the apostles to dispense Christ as God's grace into His chosen people for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ to be the organism of the processed Triune God for His full and eternal expression. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” p. 288)
Today's Reading
Those who bear responsibility in the local churches need to share in the stewardship of God. This means that the elders should be those who take the lead to dispense the riches of Christ into others. Although Christ is all-inclusive and preeminent, there is still the need for Him to be dispensed into the members of God's family. This dispensation takes place through the stewardship. Hence, between the unsearchably rich Christ and the members of His Body, there is the need of the stewardship. All those who take the lead in the Lord's recovery and have responsibility for the care of the churches need to realize that they have a part in such a divine stewardship. We are not here to carry on an ordinary Christian work. For instance, we are not concerned merely with teaching the Bible in an outward way. Rather, we desire to serve the riches of Christ to all the members of God's family. In our conversation with one another, we need to minister the riches of Christ. Even when we are invited to the homes of the saints for dinner, we need to dispense the riches of Christ. This is the stewardship of God.Every member of the Body of Christ has a part in this stewardship. In Ephesians 3:8 Paul refers to himself as “less than the least of all saints.” This indicates that Paul was even smaller than we are. If Paul could be a steward, then we also can be stewards and dispense the riches of Christ into others. We have many opportunities to minister the riches of Christ to the saints. Suppose we are helping a family to move. We should not simply move the furniture, but we should supply the riches of Christ to the members of the family…. All our activity with respect to such a service should be with Christ. Another opportunity to minister the riches of Christ to others is in giving or receiving hospitality. Both the hosts and the guests should minister the riches of Christ. May the Lord open our eyes to see that we all have part in the stewardship of God. In every aspect of the practical church life, even in such things as ushering and cleaning the meeting hall, we need to dispense Christ into others. First, we need to be filled with Christ and then minister the riches of Christ to others. This is our stewardship. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 91-92)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” ch. 2