Rom. 12:5 So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
The Administration of the Elders
It is the most central lesson in the elders’ overseeing of the church. This lesson is the administration of the church. The administration of the elders is the overseeing, the management, the building, and the leadership of the elders. The elders’ oversight, administration, building, leadership, and management of the church all refer to the same thing. However, in this lesson we prefer to use the word administration.
There is one goal in the elders’ administration, with three areas of service. There are also various matters of coordination that have to be considered.
The One Goal—Being a Testimony of Christ
and Expressing Christ among Humanity
Regardless where the church appears on this earth, it has only one goal: to be a testimony of Christ and to express Christ among humanity. When Christ is lived out and expressed through His people, there is the testimony of the church. This is the goal for which the church exists on earth today. The reason God wants to have a church in the universe is for it to express Christ in this way. The reason God establishes churches in all the localities is that Christ may be expressed by the saints in these localities. This is the goal of the church. It is also the goal of the elders’ administration of the church.
The Three Areas of Service—Preaching of the gospel,
Perfecting the Saints, and Service
From our past experiences and our knowledge concerning the truth in the Scripture, we have found clearly through our practice that the practical service in the church is in three areas:
The first is the zealous preaching of the gospel. In order for the church on earth to express the Son of God, it cannot neglect the preaching of the gospel. The church must preach the gospel of the Son of God to the sinners in darkness. The second thing is to perfect the saints. When people are saved and are brought into the church, they must begin to be perfected right away. Of course, perfecting includes many things. It includes such things as helping them to love the Lord, to deal with their past, to consecrate themselves before the Lord, to learn to study the Bible, to pray, to contact the Lord, and to pursue in life. These are the four levels of spiritual life in which we have been trained in the past. The third thing is service. Not only do we have to perfect the saved ones; we have to lead these saved and perfected ones into the church and have them serve in a practical way. These three items combined together produce the building, the attainment of which accomplishes God’s goal.
Coordination in Service
The oversight and administration of the elders must be carried out in coordination. If they cannot be carried out in coordination, the elders’ administration will surely be weak. We have to realize that if the Lord is to gain the goal in the church in this age, the saints must be built up together. This building up is the coordination. The gospel brings in the saved sinners. When a person is saved, he needs to be perfected. After being perfected, he needs to serve. However, he must not serve individually but must serve in coordination. This is the coordination in service. It is the building up of the church.
The Aspects of Coordination
Romans 12:5 says, “We who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Being members one of another to become one Body is a matter of coordination. Now let us consider the various aspects of coordination.
Having Life and Being Living
The elders have to consider seriously everyone who wants to come into the coordination to see if each one has life. In order to administrate the church, you must take life as the foundation. The first consideration is that you must have life.
It is one thing to have life; it is another thing to be living. You have to realize that this is hard work for you. The elders should never say that there is nothing to do. There are so many brothers here. How many of them are living? Those who are not living are the ones you have to work with. You have to enliven them. This is the administration of the elders. All those who are not living need you to work with them.
Bringing Others into the Service and Perfecting the Functions
In order to bring people into the service, from the spiritual point of view, you still have to look to God very much to inquire concerning His will and to consider how matters should be handled. You have to consider what needs to be done first, what kind of arrangements you need to make, and what kind of people you should bring in. You must not only look to the Lord yourself but must fellowship with those who are serving together with you. There are many things that you cannot see through by yourself.
Not only do you have to bring someone in, but you must observe him while you are bringing him in. You must find out what kind of function he has and through which kind of service he should be perfected. This is the perfecting of the saints spoken of in Ephesians 4. The perfecting there emphasizes the perfecting of the function. We have to spend time to perfect others.
Encouraging the Gifts and Supplying Christ
They have been brought into the service, and their function is somewhat manifest. Their gift is more or less evident. But somehow, something is missing. It seems that their gift has taken form, yet it is not mature. After probing here and there, you finally discover that this brother still has a hidden sin. If you help him to take care of this, you will be encouraging his gift to be realized. If you can help him solve the problem of his sin, you will see that his gift will immediately take shape. Perhaps by next week his preaching may become more powerful than that of anyone else.
But they have not passed the hurdle of experiencing Christ as life and as their inward fullness. The elders must spend time again to fellowship, pray, and talk with them. They must study the Bible with them. You have to show them that the content of the gift must be Christ. You have to help them to go over the hurdle and to know the meaning of Christ as life so that they can enjoy the riches of Christ. (The Elders’ Management of the Church, msg. 11)
