Outline

«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　1 Cor. 1:1 Paul, a called apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother.

　　Matt. 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.

　　Another problem among us is that although the serving ones are capable, they do not have a feeling for coordination in their spirit when they come together to serve. It seems as if everyone is able to serve without others. Consequently, few among us have the spirit of a learner and the spirit of needing help. Those who truly coordinate in spirit should have a strong feeling that they cannot do anything without the help and coordination of others. Our present coordination is one of formality. We do our part without needing anyone else. We may not argue, but there is not much interdependence in spirit. This shows that our spirit of service is improper.

　　This is the situation of those who work with the young people and the children. The coordination is formal; everyone does what he should do when it is his turn. This is cooperation, not coordination. Coordination means that we cannot do anything without one another. There is a sense that we need others and that others need us. Those who work with young people should be like this; all the service of the church should also be like this. It is normal when the deacons and elders mutually need one another, and the saints feel that they cannot do anything without the elders and deacons. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” p. 240)

　　We lack the fellowship of the Body. When we come together, we seldom have thorough fellowship. For example, when saints from other cities visit,… we sit together for a meeting. After the meeting, however, we all go our separate ways without fellowshipping. This was not our situation during our first six years in Taiwan. In those years, whenever we had a conference, we came together and had much fellowship. Now we are all capable, brilliant, and knowledgeable. We do not need one another; we do not need to fellowship. This is the greatest form of pride. It is the most offensive thing to the Lord and to the Body…

　　If we lose the principle of coordination and dependence in the Body, we will not be strong in our administration of the church and ministry of the word. Once we lose this principle, we will not have much blessing. Our coordination should not become mechanical, and we should not work only when it is our turn. We should have the feeling that we cannot do anything without others, that we truly need one another. If we come together and assign work, with each doing only his own work, our situation is similar to the division of labor in a civic organization or a large institution.

　　What does it mean to see the Body? The greatest indication that we see the Body is that we cannot be independent. We feel that we need the Body, that we need the brothers and sisters. Presently, however, our coordination can be compared to work in an organization. It seems that we are moving like a machine and that we lack the sense of the fellowship of life.

　　Because we lack coordination in our service and do not rely and mutually depend on one another, we often step on others…We either do not work, or we do the job of others…When a certain matter is in others’ hands, we are not able to do anything, but when an opportunity comes to us, we do it according to our way and discard the help of others…This is a foolish way.

　　If we have grown in life, been broken, and learned some lessons, we will be saved in all these matters. In the coordination of the Body, everyone needs to function and respect what others do. We should not criticize others but should join their labor so that the Body of Christ can be supplied, not damaged. In this way the feeling of coordination in the Body will be sweet, and the building up of the Body will be strong. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” pp. 241-242, 246)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” chs. 2—3, 5