Message Nine:
Question and Answer Session - Concerning the Church Life

Question: During the sisters' meetings, the sisters often become critical of each other and other saints. They sometimes express this through their prayer, or their talk about each other after the meetings. This has caused me to avoid the meetings. What should I do?

Answer: When the sisters come together and are critical of one another, it is actually somewhat typical. It is not unusual, so we should try not to be too bothered. Actually, we are all like this. Sometimes in our prayer we may have the realization, "I'm not really praying. I'm actually accusing someone because I'm bothered by them." As we are telling the Lord about it in prayer, we may not have enough love to match our concern, and so it becomes an accusation. Many times in our prayer, when we are praying, we are actually accusing other saints. We have to realize that in the church life, although this is unhealthy, it is typical. It is also typical when we are praying together to be bothered by the prayers of other saints, because their prayers do not seem to be so pure. Not many of us can get away from this. One of the hardest lessons for us to learn is not to make an issue about other people. What is the secret of dealing with such a situation? Firstly, we have to realize that it is typical.

We could even say that in the church life, unhealthiness is typical. For example, in the entire Bible, which church is healthy? Was Jerusalem healthy? The situation there was a mess. Eventually the Lord had to come in and clear up that situation. When Paul wrote his epistle to the Ephesians, the church seemed to be quite healthy. But in the book of Revelation the church in Ephesus had lost their first love. Of the seven churches in Revelation, which church is entirely healthy? In a sense, we have to realize that when we step into the church life, we are stepping into something that is not completely healthy. This may be quite different from our expectations. It seems that in the church life there are all kinds of problems. If we have been in the church life many years, how many things are truly encouraging? Not only the prayers of the saints, but many things that we exercise in the church life may not be so proper. As long as we are human beings, everything will have its problems. When we see saints accusing other saints in their prayers, or when some sisters criticize each other after the meetings, we should treat that as something typical. We may be concerned about it, but we should not be overly bothered. We should realize that in the church life it is typical for things to be unhealthy.

While we are treating these situations as typical, we must also pay attention to our stand. Our stand is crucial. Our stand should not be, "Because this is unhealthy, I will try to get away from this situation. I will try to get away from the saints who have this problem." Such a stand will cause us to miss the Body life. In the Body life we should not escape from the weaker ones. Instead, we should spend more time with the weaker ones. This is to have the proper and healthy stand.

For instance, suppose a mother and father have several children, and one of their children has a medical condition. In that case, which child will the parents love the most? Their love for all their children will be the same. But who will the parents care for the most? The child with the medical problem will receive the most care, and not the children who are healthy. The parents love all of their kids, but they will care the most for the weaker one. Because one child has a certain limitation, that child will occupy more of the parents' care and concern.

In the same manner, when we see some saints with problems, we should not try to get away from them. Instead, we should go to them. Our stand should be, "There is something lacking with them, so therefore I want to spend more time with them." This stand is a blessing. We should go to the saints who are in need. We should go to the saints who are "headaches." We should go to the saints who do not have the adequate spiritual understanding. That is where we will learn how to serve the Lord and strengthen the church.

When there is a lack of Christ, how can a situation be healthy? When saints do not have the adequate experience and maturity of life, what else can they do but fight and struggle with one another? Yet what should be our stand? Our stand is that we go where the problems are. We should remember that it is typical for saints to accuse one another in their prayer. It is typical for saints to refuse to speak to one another. It is typical for saints to not make the meetings. These are not great problems. Then what is our stand? We are those who desire to love the Lord and love the church. Because we are learning to serve the Lord, our stand is to go directly into the unhealthy situations. For example, the more someone prays without being in spirit, the more we will pray with them until they learn how to pray in their spirit. Then the accusations in their prayers will not last. The more someone is a problem, the more we want to spend our time with them. That is our proper and healthy stand.

As we are taking this proper stand, we do need wisdom. To handle all of the matters in the church requires wisdom. We need wisdom to know when we should fellowship, when we should wait for awhile, when we should talk about something, and when we should not make something an issue. We need this wisdom from the Lord. As we take the proper stand, we need wisdom in our exercise. Wisdom is generally related to our experience. When we first begin to help the saints our wisdom could be quite shallow. Eventually we will learn that in caring for one person we have to be firm and direct, and with another person we just have to let their situation go. With some, we have to confront their situation. With others, we need to be blind to their situation. We need wisdom to handle all of the different situations.

This wisdom in caring for people requires us to be in the Lord's presence. No one has wisdom expect the Lord. Wisdom is actually a virtue that comes out of the life of Christ. A person who is in the life of Christ is a person who is in the wisdom of Christ. We need to be very wise. How should we help one sister? How should we fellowship with another sister? We need wisdom in our exercise. We don't need to treat a particular situation as a problem. We should treat it as something typical. Then we should step into the situation and begin to be with the sisters. We will not give them up. Therefore we need the proper stand, and we need wisdom.

There is one further item that we need. We need trust. We must trust in the Lord, and we must trust that the Lord is working and operating in every saint. We can never serve effectively if we don't trust that the Lord is working in the saints we are with. We have to trust that the Lord is able to do whatever He needs to do in them. When we look at the sisters with us, we should be full of hope. We should even see them as transformed and glorious sisters. This means that we don't just see today, but we look forward to the result of the Lord's work. This is something more than hope. This is trust. We should trust in the marvelous work that the Lord is doing in the saints we serve. In the church life, we need to practice this. We should have trust in our brothers and sisters, because we trust that the Lord is doing something in them. We know that no matter what situation they are in, they can be helped, rescued, and restored. We are willing to pay the price for them, because we know that in the long run they will be useful to the Lord and His recovery.

To summarize, as long as there is a church life, there will be all kinds of problems. We should realize that this is typical. When the problems do come, we should have a proper stand. We should not avoid the problems, but enter into the situation so that the saints can be helped. With that proper stand, we need wisdom. This means that we must spend time in the Lord's presence. And as we exercise according to our wisdom from the Lord, we should trust in what the Lord is doing. We should refuse to give up on anyone. We must learn to trust the Lord's work. We should have the view that every sister we are with can become the most useful sister in the Lord's recovery. This should be our practice with all the saints.

Question: How should sisters who are students function properly in the church life?

Answer: Sisters who are students should just function normally. One helpful thing to realize, however, is that as a student you have more time and flexibility. You may feel that you are busy, but you actually have more time than you ever will. How should you function in the church life? Just function normally, but treasure your time. Also, treasure where the Lord put you. Use your time to labor wherever the Lord put you on campus.

Question: There are some young sisters in my locality that I'm very burdened for. Lately I've been somewhat discouraged, because it seems they are still attracted by so many things in the world, and they don't have much of a heart to love the Lord and go on in the church life. How can I help them practically without judging or condemning them?

Answer: To bring a person to love the Lord and give themselves to the church life, the price is very high. To get a person to become a member of a denomination or a Christian group requires no price. This is the difference between the church and a denomination. Both the church and the denominations are trying their best to help people. But the principle the denominations use is, "What can we give you so that you will become a member of our group?" A pastor's job is to do his best to please his members. He has to generate all sorts of programs to satisfy their needs. He learns never to give a message on Sunday morning that is longer than fifteen minutes. People are not there for truth. They don't care so much about Christ. They only care about the program that fits them.

In a sense, you can even say that a denomination purchases its members. There is a mutual profit involved between the pastor and the members of his congregation. A pastor could say, "I will give something to you, and you will give something to me. In eternity, I will give you heaven. Today, I will give you a social life, entertainment, and consolation. In return, you will become my members, and you must also occasionally offer your money." This is a mutual exchange.

In contrast to a denomination, the church life doesn't give you anything, but asks you to give everything. Once you are in the church life, you do not get anything, but everything goes to the Lord. This is a big difference between us and the denominations. But many times in the church life, we practice what the denominations practice. We care for people and try to gain members in a similar way. We don't purposely do this, but we do it unconsciously.

For example, we invite people for dinner to spend time with them, which is right. But then we assume they will give themselves to the church life. No one is going to give their whole life to the Lord because our food tastes good. We should invite people to our home, but not in the way of bribing them. We must realize that a dinner alone will not work. Why? Because we are not a denomination. A denomination has something mutual. "I fit you, and you fit me. I will work out a program for you, and you will come to my service." But when you come to the church life, you realize, "This is God's divine economy! This is God's eternal purpose!" All of a sudden, everything becomes so high. You realize this demands your whole life. This demands all your time, this demands all your being, and this demands all your person. You have no more future, no more world, and no more entertainment. You only have Christ.

Of course, we would all say, "Amen! This is so good!" But those who haven't really touched life will not know what we are talking about. For a sister to say, "I have a burden for young people," is very healthy. But sister, you must realize that these young people will not necessarily give themselves to the Lord just because you are burdened for them and take good care of them. They know that to be in the church life is not a small thing.

Many who were in Christianity and came into the church life had to decide, "Should we go this way or not? Once we go this way, everything is over. Once we come here, we are not going to have anything left for ourselves. Everything belongs to the Lord." Many people see this before they come into the church. In this modern age, if a young woman comes to our meetings just a few times, she knows what will happen if she goes this way. All she has to do is look at the sisters and she knows that she will have to pay a price. If she goes the way of the church, her life will be simple. No one has to explain to her, "Once you come to the church life, everything else is over." She knows that just by looking at the sisters' faces. Then no matter how much she may enjoy your love and care, and no matter how many times you may have her over for dinner, she still has to consider: "Is this worth it? Is this worth my whole life?" She knows that for her to be in the church life requires a great price.

Since this is the actual situation, how should we help the ones we are burdened for? We must help them know the enjoyment of the Lord in their spirit. For us to be fruitful, whether with our neighbors, our colleagues, or the young people in the church, we must realize, "If I cannot help them to have the inward enjoyment of Christ, they are not going to come this way." They may try to be your good friends, but they know that you are for the Lord. After they have been your friends for awhile, they will realize that even friendship with you is not so easy. Even without making any issues, your person convicts them. This is why we must learn to help people enjoy the Lord. If you have a burden for some young sisters then you must help them touch their spirit. The reason people give themselves to the Lord is because they have touched the Lord in their spirit. They have "tasted" something so good and so divine. They have tasted God Himself. This will cause them to be willing to give up the world and come into the church life. They need an enjoyment that is higher than all the enjoyments in the world. Then they will give up everything.

If we desire to be fruitful, it is not a matter of inviting people over and having a good time with them. We need to help people touch the highest enjoyment in their spirit. From that enjoyment they are willing to pay any price. For this labor with people, we must have consistency. The sister who asked this question should realize, "I am with these young sisters because I am burdened for them. They still love the world, but I'm not discouraged. As long as I'm with them, I will help them have the highest enjoyment. Maybe they are not ready now, but sooner or later I will pray with them. I will enjoy the Bible with them. In the Lord's timing, I will help them touch the highest enjoyment in the universe. Then they will love the Lord and be willing to pay any price for the Lord's sake."

When we love the Lord, we don't feel that we are actually paying a price. We feel that to love and serve the Lord is so glorious. We don't feel that we are sacrificing anything because we are enjoying something so high. We are with the brothers and sisters living the highest life God has given to human beings. In our caring for people, we should bring them to the same enjoyment. Good relationships with them are needed, but that alone will not work. Good relationships are a means to know people so that they are open to us and can be brought into this enjoyment. Eventually what brings people to follow the Lord and give up the world is the enjoyment in their spirit. We should not trust in other things. We must bring them to this enjoyment.

When some new ones come to a meeting, we should not be too excited. Meetings alone do not mean so much. What matters is that outside of the meetings, someone is able to help bring these new ones into the experience of Christ. If no one can do that, then these new ones will eventually look for a place that fits them. We must help the ones we are burdened for know the highest enjoyment in their spirit. This will cause them to drop everything for the church life.

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