THE PRACTICE HANDBOOK FOR THE DISTRICT SERVING ONES
SERIES ONE
BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR THE DISTRICT SERVING ONES
Message Seven
The One Accord and the Harmonious Coordination
Bringing in the Lord’s Blessing
Matt. 18:19 Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens.
Eph. 4:16 Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.
THE ONENESS AND THE ONE ACCORD
There are two crucial matters in the New Testament that we all need to pay attention to: the oneness and the one accord. In the New Testament the first time that the oneness among the believers is mentioned is in John 17. In that chapter oneness is covered by the Lord Jesus in His prayer. The Lord’s prayer in John 17 followed His discourse in John 14—16, in which He released the mystery of the Divine Trinity. In the entire Bible there is no higher and deeper revelation of the Divine Trinity than the revelation released by the Lord Jesus in those three chapters. After the Lord completed His work on the earth in contacting His disciples, He was ready to die on the cross. It was at that juncture that He prayed to the Father. The prayer that He prayed was very particular. No mere human being could pray such a prayer. In His prayer to the Father, He used the word We (or Us), referring to Himself and the Father, with the Spirit also implied (17:11, 21-22). In verses 20 and 21 He said, “I do not ask concerning these only, but concerning those also who believe into Me through their word, that they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” Here the Lord prayed that all His believers would be one “in Us,” that is, in the Divine Trinity. This is the genuine oneness. The genuine oneness is simply the mingling of the Triune God with His believers. This oneness is also the Body of Christ, for the Body of Christ is the mingling of the processed and consummated Triune God with His believers.
In Matthew 18:19-20 the Lord said, “Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens. For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.” Here the Lord said that if His disciples pray in one accord, their prayer will surely be heard and answered.
Now we need to ask, what is the one accord? One accord appears to be a less significant matter than oneness. Apparently, oneness is a great thing, whereas one accord is a smaller matter. It is easy to define oneness: oneness is the Triune God mingled with all His believers, and this oneness is just the Body of Christ. However, it is difficult to define one accord.
ONE ACCORD BEING THE NUCLEUS OF THE ONENESS
In Matthew 18:19 the Greek word sumphoneo is used for one accord. It means “to be in harmony, or accord” and refers to the harmonious sound of musical instruments or voices. Eventually, the one accord, or the harmony of inward feeling among the believers, becomes like a melody, like music. Every proper melody is harmonious. When we have the one accord, in the eyes of God we become a melody to Him. We become a poem not merely in writing but in sound, in voice, in melody. Our one accord must be like a harmonious melody. Such a one accord is the nucleus of the oneness. In other words, oneness is like a nut, and the one accord is like the kernel of that nut. In Acts 1:14 another Greek word, homothumadon, is used for one accord. This word is from homo, “same,” and thumos, “mind, will, purpose (soul, heart).” The word denotes “a harmony of inward feeling in one’s entire being.”
If among those in a group there is no one accord, what can the Lord do with them? This is why my burden concerning the vital groups is so heavy. I am very clear that we do not have the full and complete one accord among us. Therefore, in a sense it is hard for the Lord to move freely among us. If we are not in one accord, God has no way to answer our prayer. If God does not have a way to answer our prayer, what can He do with us? Without the one accord, it is difficult to get people saved, converted, and regenerated by the dynamic salvation of God. Thus, our inadequacy in the one accord is a sickness that is more than serious. We have been sick for years, yet we might have been unconscious of our sickness. We may come to the meetings, praise the Lord, and prophesy, but we may do all these things without being conscious of the fact that we do not have the adequate one accord.
Although I have studied the Bible for many years, I did not see until recently that oneness is like the body, and one accord is like the heart within the body. Our sickness is not just like a sickness in the outward, physical body; our sickness is like a sickness in the heart within the body. I am speaking the truth frankly and honestly, according to what the Lord has shown me and according to my pure conscience. We need to know what our sickness is. The sickness among us is that we do not have the one accord adequately. Therefore, we maintain only a oneness with a sick “heart.” In these past four or five years even this unhealthy oneness has been broken by the dissenting ones. They would not even care for the oneness. We are still here for the oneness, yet within us there is an inadequacy in the one accord. Because of this, it is hard for the Lord to answer our prayer, especially in the matter of fruit-bearing for the increase of the Lord’s recovery. For this, surely we need to humble ourselves before Him. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups,” msg. 10)
THE HARMONIOUS COORDINATION
BRINGING IN THE LORD’S BLESSING
The Authority in Our Coordination
Not Being a Matter of Position
Although we have paid attention to the matter of coordination and have practiced it for many years, we may still hold a wrong concept concerning coordination. In particular, we may have a wrong understanding concerning authority. In coordination there is the aspect of spiritual authority. However, due to the influence of our background, once we hear the word authority, we may immediately have a mistaken concept. We may think that authority is a matter of position and that anyone who is an authority to us is higher and greater than we are. This is the problem in our coordination in the church today.
Authority in our coordination does not imply that some are in a high position while others are in a low position. The members of our physical body are not like officials working for the government. In government offices, the head of a department may be considered higher than the head of a bureau. However, in the coordination of the body, there is no such thing. We cannot say that our eyes are greater than our nose and that our nose is greater than our lips; it is altogether a matter of coordination. The emphasis of coordination in the body is on cooperation. Without coordination there is no cooperation, and without cooperation there is no function. When our arms, palms, and fingers are coordinated, they are able to function for the body. There is no thought of the arms being greater than the palms and the palms being lower than the arms. Likewise, the Coordination in the church does not mean that one brother is in a high position because he is the authority, whereas another brother in a low position because he submits to authority.
In doing anything, there can be only one headship with one direction. There cannot be multiple headships with multiple directions. An army cannot go out to war under two commanders in chief. If there were two commanders in chief, there would be two sets of commands, and the result would be confusion. An army must have only one commander in chief, and there must be only one direction given to this army. However, man’s nature is fallen, and within this fallen nature is the element of insubordination. We do not like to submit to one another. Therefore, whenever the matter of authority is mentioned, we immediately become rebellious. The service of the church should be one. If it is not one, there will be confusion. When there is confusion, the service collapses, and this collapse issues in the loss of power and the functions of the members. Only when the service of the church is one can there be the expression of a coordinated entity with power and different functions. The service in the church cannot have eight heads or even two heads. It can have only one head.
For many centuries the matter of authority has not been clear to the church. Those who submit to authority and those who serve as an authority sometimes fail to understand that authority is not a matter of position. One who serves as an authority in the church may behave like a government official. He may demand that all the saints obey him. Such a person may consider himself as first and all the other saints as second, and he may insist that those who are second should listen to the one who is first. This is altogether the flavor of a government official. The coordination in the church should not be like this (Matt 20:25-28).
Laying Stress on the Manifesting of Our Functions
and Not on Taking the Lead
What we do in the coordination is up to the Lord’s mercy. When we come into a certain situation, whether in a local church or a region of the work, if the Lord has arranged for us to take the lead there, we should simply take the lead. If the Lord has not arranged for us to take the lead, we should simply accept His arrangement and submit to the leading one there. This does not mean that someone else is our superior and that we become his subordinate. We should not have such a thought. When we go into a region to carry out the Lord’s work, if we are not willing to blend with the leading the work should be one; hence, it is crucial to have one person who takes the lead. We may be more competent than the leading one in a certain region, and our ministry may be weightier than his. Nevertheless, because he is taking the lead there due to the Lord’s environmental arrangement, it is proper that we submit to him.
We should not think that we ought to take the lead in the work because we are competent. This may not necessarily be the Lord’s arrangement in the environment. We must accept the Lord’s environmental arrangement and be willing to coordinate with others. When there is coordination, it is certain that some will be the authorities while others will submit to authority. Suppose you have the gift of gospel preaching. You should not think that because you are competent in preaching the gospel, you have no need for coordination. Although you are well able to preach the gospel, you still need to coordinate with other saints and submit to the one who is taking the lead. You should preach the gospel wherever the leading one tells you to go. Then, as you preach the gospel, you should fully exercise your gift for the preaching of the gospel. No one else is able to replace you in this matter. This is the proper time for you to exercise your gift.
We should not contend with others in order to be the leader. It is more important that we manifest our function. We should not be concerned about who takes the lead. Rather, we should have a receptive attitude toward whoever is in the lead. When the one in the lead tells us to preach the gospel, it is time for us to manifest our function. This is like a corps commander obeying orders from his superior. Such a commander will go wherever he is told to go; he will fully receive any order given to him. The commander will move and fight according to the orders given to him, whether he is given enough troops or not and whether he is furnished with good equipment or not. In our actions for the work, we should have this kind of spirit-a spirit of coordination and a spirit of obedience.
The Blessing on the Work Resting on
Having the Same Mind and Being in Harmony
The most important thing in the work is to be of the same mind (Acts 1:14; Phil. 2:2; 4:2; Rom. 15:5- 6; 1 Cor.1:10). Without being of the same mind, we cannot be coordinated. In the past there was not much blessing on the work in mainland China because the co-workers did not coordinate in the same mind. The Lord has blessed the work in Taiwan because the co-workers are coordinated in the same mind. From 1949 to 1957 there was a great deal of spreading. Afterward, from 1957 to 1968 we encountered some obstacles. Because of these obstacles, during that period there was hardly any spreading, and we were almost at a standstill due to the lack of harmony. Therefore, the co-workers must learn to be in harmony. In the work there is no room for disputes. Whatever the circumstance may be, if there are some who have dissenting opinions, the blessing will be lost. However, if all the co-workers coordinate in one accord, the future of our work will be great.
The Lord’s blessing depends on our coordinating in harmony, not on the number of messages we are able to give. According to my observation, our coordination is still not harmonious enough. In our coordination we still have a little friction. This friction causes us to suffer a great deal of loss. I can testify that the most profitable thing in the work is coordination, which includes the willingness to be assigned anywhere.
Receiving the Leading in the Body
for the Move in the Work
In a sense, we no longer need to pay attention to our personal leading for the work. For our personal living and move, we may seek the Lord’s leading personally, but for the move in the work, we need to put aside our personal leading and receive the Body’s leading instead. We should go wherever we are sent by the brothers and function according to our capacity. If we are sent to Taichung, we need to go there and preach the gospel according to the gift that the Lord has given to us. If we are transferred to Kaohsiung, we need to go there as well and preach the gospel. No matter where we are sent, we still need to go there and preach the gospel. We can function wherever we are sent. Moreover, we need to accept the arrangement of the brothers with regard to the person with whom we are asked to coordinate. Whether we are placed with an older person or a younger person, we should be able to coordinate with whomever we are placed with. If through the coordination the brothers ask us to take the lead, we should accept this arrangement. However, if the brothers ask us to submit to others, this too should be acceptable to us. Our coordination and submission may be compared to that of a basketball team. Although the captain of the team may not be the best player, the top shooter on the team still needs to obey the captain as well as the coach. If the shooter disobeys, the team will lose the game. It is the same with our work today. We need to see that it is not a matter of one person carrying out the work individually. Rather, we should all carry out the work as a coordinated team, a corporate entity.
In the past we were provoked by organized Christianity; hence, we rose up and rejected human organization and human control. We received only the leading of the Holy Spirit. At that time, this was proper. However, we gradually went to another extreme-we claimed that everything was according to “the leading of the Holy Spirit.” Today, we need to return to the proper practice in the Bible. There is no verse in the entire New Testament that says that Timothy or Titus received the Lord’s leading personally. Paul was not as “spiritual” as the leading ones are today. We often say, “Brother, see how the Lord will lead you.” However, Paul never said this. Paul exhorted Timothy to remain in Ephesus, and he said to Titus, “Be diligent to come to me” (1 Tim. 1:3; Titus 3:12). When Paul wanted someone to go to a certain place, this one went; when Paul wanted another one to come to him, this one came; when Paul wanted someone to remain in a certain place, that one remained there. If we read through the New Testament again, we will not find one instance in which Timothy was led directly by the Lord in the work. This is because the work is one entity and can have only one leading. If all the players on a basketball team receive different instructions and have different ways of playing, how do you suppose the game will be played? With a good basketball team, all the players obey the orders from the captain or the coach, and all move in one accord. In this way they play successfully.
The Work Being Altogether
Dependent on Coordination
Today our work does not depend on spiritual giants. Actually spiritual giants among us often bring trouble. When the spiritual giants come, no one else can do any work. We do not care to have spiritual giants; we care only for coordination. Although none of us are giants, as long as we can coordinate in harmony, the Lord will have a way. This coordination will be powerful before Satan and before men. People observing us will say, “No wonder their work is effective. They are joined together in every situation. They are in one accord.” If we give up coordination even a little, we will divide the Lord’s Body. We will lose our function, and we will also damage the entire Body. In this matter we must receive the Lord’s mercy and learn the lesson of coordinating by the Lord’s grace.
We need to remember that none of us can work alone. We are neither Bible expositors nor great evangelists. Our work today is the work of building up the Body. We are related to many people around us; hence, we have no choice but to coordinate. Once we refuse to coordinate with others, we are finished. Whether or not our work can bring in the Lord’s blessing hinges on our coordination. We should be pure and clean in our motive, we should overthrow our old disposition, and we must coordinate with others. In this way our service will be effective, and the work ahead will have the Lord’s blessing. (CWWL, 1968, vol. 2, “The Motive, Coordination, and Function of the Lord’s Serving Ones,” msg. 3)
COORDINATION DEPENDING ON ORDER
The most serious problem in the church is not knowing God’s order and not knowing that coordination depends upon order. When the saints do not function, there is no coordination; when the saints function beyond their limit, there are problems in the coordination. Coordination depends on order. Without order the coordination will collapse; without order the Body will fall apart. The coordination in the Body depends entirely on order. This order is not man’s work nor man’s arrangement; order comes from being fitly joined and knit together (Eph. 4:16; 2:21; Col. 2:19). The saints who are too close and intimate need to maintain some distance from each other. Other brothers and sisters are too distant from others, too polite to others, and never able to connect with others. There is no possibility of coordination with these saints. They are afraid that too much contact with others will give rise to problems, not realizing that maintaining a distance from others does not make them “transcendent” Christians. As a result, they have problems in coordination and have caused the Body to be divided.
Some saints cannot coordinate with others even though they have been saved for many years; they are like outsiders and act as if they are guests in the church. Other saints serve in the church and gradually bear more burdens because they love and pursue the Lord. Although these saints are under the Lord’s arrangement and commission, they still need to learn to coordinate with others and be fitly joined together when all the saints come together to serve.
SUBMITING TO AUTHORITY IN OTHERS
Our ability to be fitly joined with other members is a crucial matter; it is dependent on our submission to authority in others and their submission to authority in us. First of all, we must submit to the authority of the Head. Then we need to know whose authority we should submit to and who is in authority over us. Although we know that we should submit to the authority of the elders and the older saints, sometimes nothing can force us to submit to them. Our ability to submit to authority depends on the lessons we have learned from the Lord’s hand by being torn down by the Lord. If we have not learned many lessons of being broken by the Lord, authority and order are out of the question, and coordination is basically nonexistent. Any “guests” in the church are not in the coordination of the Body. Although our salvation has placed us in the Body, according to our real situation, we live outside of the Body.
NEEDING TO BE DEALT WITH AND BUILT UP BY GOD
A believer who can coordinate with others in the church is one who has been dealt with by the Lord’s hand and has learned many lessons before the Lord. If we desire to coordinate with others in the church and be fitly joined together with the saints in the Body, we need to be built up in the Lord’s hand. Ephesians 2:21-22 says, “In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” These verses indicate that we are a building. All the building being fitted together is the coordination. Pieces of stone need to be hammered and dealt with before they can be joined properly; otherwise, they are merely a pile of stones.
In the local church, are the saints like a pile of stones without the building, or have they been dealt with by God to become stones that can be joined to one another? Without the dealing and the building, coordination is out of the question. If we cannot be fitly joined together, order and authority are out of the question. When a person has been built by God, having been dealt with and broken by God, he will be able to stand in a proper position in the order of the Body to be joined together with the other members. Therefore, genuine coordination is the result of building and breaking; it is the issue of being dealt with by the Lord’s hand.
It is not possible to coordinate with the brothers and sisters in our natural being. Our coordination in the Body is not of ourselves but of God’s hand and of His building. Our natural man is raw and wild; anyone who is raw and wild cannot coordinate with others. Those who can coordinate with others are those who have been tried, subdued, broken, and dealt with by God. They have at least been worked on by God’s hand. Anyone who has not been worked on by God’s hand cannot coordinate with others. It is not that we can fitly join ourselves together with others; rather, when we have been dealt with, broken, and built up by God’s hand, we can be placed together in coordination. This is God’s sovereign authority.
Everyone, even the elders and deacons, needs to be dealt with, torn down, and built up by God’s hand. Only then can we coordinate before God. It seems that in God’s arrangement, He rarely puts two persons with similar dispositions together. On the contrary, He often puts two incompatible people together, letting them rub against and perfect each other. A teacher who is unable to get along with other teachers can transfer to another school, but if we are unable to get along with the other believers, we cannot transfer to another locality. The church is a place where people are dealt with the most; because everything is from God’s hand, we must accept everything whether we can bear it or not.
If we are a human, we must be a Christian, and if we are a Christian, we have no choice but to be in the church. Thus, being a Christian is not without its own difficulties. Consequently, we may desire to be comfortable and seek our own “freedom.” If a local church does not fit our taste, we may think we should simply move to another place. However, even if we move to another locality, we will not feel peaceful in the long run. In the beginning we may feel that everything is fresh and suitable simply because we are in a new place. However, after two or three months we will be unable to endure it, because we have not passed through God’s hand and have not been broken.
THE PROBLEM BEING WITH MAN HIMSELF
We should not expect the church to change; rather, there should be a change in us. Outward changes are useless; we need an inward change in our being. The Head needs to work in us; He desires to deal with us. Without being dealt with, we cannot coordinate with others. Many young saints, thinking that the church in their locality is not good, continually desire to move to another locality. But when they move, they realize that their previous locality was better. The problem is not outside but inside, that is, in themselves.
Although we are saved, we are still intact, whole, and unbroken. If we are “round,” we want our church to be “round” so that we can fit in perfectly; however, this is impossible. If we are “round,” God would put us in a “square” church; if we are “square,” the church will be a “round” church. This is God’s work of breaking and dealing. Therefore, the co-workers and responsible brothers coordinating in a church must pass through the dealing of the cross.
The coordination in the church needs to go through breaking and dealing; only a person who has been broken and dealt with knows his place and order in the Body. He knows what God’s arrangement is in the Body, and he knows that he is under the Head and also under certain members. A person who has learned this lesson is broken by God and knows his place and order in the Body. He would not dare to compete or even have the thought of competing. He would confess as sin any thought to surpass those who are placed before him. He has the Spirit and life, or we may say he has the ruling of authority in him that causes him to know his place and order in the Body. Under God’s arrangement he submits to the members, as a hand submits to the shoulder and the arm.
SUBMITTING TO THE AUTHORITY OF THE MEMBERS
It is very simple to know which brother or sister is in authority; we do not need others to tell us. If, after arguing with a certain brother or sister, you immediately sense that the fellowship in you has stopped, the anointing is gone, and you are unsure of yourself, then that person is your authority. We should never take the authority in the church as something similar to the authority in the world. The authority in the church is spiritual and of life. Some people can criticize and slander the apostles freely and still be at peace and at ease, but those who have received grace, after speaking a few words of criticism or judgment, can no longer pray. Therefore, this is not a matter of man’s work; it is entirely an inward matter. To determine whether a person is the authority placed by God over us, we merely need to disobey or oppose him a little, and we will know. If there is any restlessness and uneasiness in us that frustrates our prayer, we have touched authority—that person is our authority to whom we should submit. We do not submit simply because he is an elder, a co-worker, or because he is older. Rather, our submission is altogether a matter of coordination and a matter of order.
IF WE CANNOT SUBMIT TO THE MEMBER NEXT TO US,
WE CANNOT SUBMIT TO THE HEAD
If we can submit to an older saint, we should also be able to submit to the saints around us. God’s arrangement often places us under the saints around us. We are all happy and willing to be in subjection to the Lord Jesus; however, it is not easy for us to be in subjection to the brothers and sisters around us. We may think that we would fully submit to the brother next to us if he were the apostle Paul, but since he is the same as we are, it is very difficult for us to submit to him. However, as soon as we refuse to submit, our prayer is not sweet, our fellowship is not clear, and everything within us is in a state of confusion. Hence, if we cannot submit to the member next to us, we cannot submit to the Head. Many times, the members placed next to us are the same as we are, yet they often are our authority. This is a real test to us. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 1, “The Church as the Body of Christ,” msg. 16)
PURSUING THE TRUTH, GROWING IN LIFE,
AND DOING THE WORK OF THE BODY
The Lord’s work is altogether of the Body. First, there must be a coordination among the members in the Body. Regardless of where we are, as members, we must be coordinated with other members. Second, there must be coordination among the churches, not only with a church in one locality but with the churches everywhere. Third, there must be coordination among the co-workers. Coordination with co-workers is universal. We should not be in one accord only with the co-workers in our locality but even more with the co-workers in other places. Otherwise, our locality will become a small sect. We must be joined to the co-workers in other places as well as in our own locality. This is not a simple matter, and it requires that we spend time related to training.
Many people have a problem in the Lord’s work: either they do not work, or they want to control the work that they do. Although they do not have an intention or desire to control, as soon as they start to work, they cannot refrain from putting everything into their own pocket. Arrogance and an unwillingness to learn from others is another problem. Arrogance is unacceptable. We must learn to fellowship with others.
The co-workers should recognize that the most fearful thing in our work is a lack of harmony with the saints in a locality, a lack of harmony with the churches, and a lack of harmony with the co-workers everywhere. Without harmony a co-worker will develop a “tumor,” even a malignant tumor. Hence, we need to train the brothers and sisters from their youth to know the truth, to grow in life, and to know that the work is of the Body. None of us is doing the work individually. We all are doing the one work of the Lord’s recovery. We need to cultivate this aspect and plant this concept in the brothers and sisters while they are young.
The work of the Lord’s recovery includes many aspects, and we must learn to coordinate with others. In coordinating with others, we should know ourselves and others, and we should know where we are and where others are; that is, we should know our own place, keep our own position, and carry out our own portion. This does not mean that the older ones have preeminence and that the younger ones must obey; rather, it means that regardless of where we go, we need to learn to respect the church and coordinate with others. We should stand in an appropriate position, we should listen when it is time to listen, and we should take the lead when it is time to take the lead. Otherwise, we will only be polite on the surface but indifferent inwardly. From the beginning we must lead the young brothers and sisters to know the truth, to grow in life, to know the Body, and to do the one work of the Body.
There is a local church where blessings continue to come because of the oneness of the elders, including a severalfold increase in the number of people being saved. The main thing among the elders there is their one accord. It is quite worrisome when elders have personal views and hold on to their own views, considering themselves better than others. Some views may indeed be better, but holding on to them will lead to disharmony and bring in discord; this will be a great loss. Even if something is not done in the “best” way, as long as it is done in one accord, the Lord’s blessing will still come. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 2, “The Propagation of the Gospel and the Administration of the Church,” msg. 13)
