Christ is also the Head of every man under the headship of God (1 Cor. 11:3). Christ is the Head of the church corporately and the Head of every man individually. Still He Himself is under the headship of God. What a marvelous order there is in the universe. God is over Christ, and Christ is over all things. As the Head of all things, He is the Head of the church and the Head of every man.
The New Testament leadership comprises the elders in the church and those who take the lead in the ministry. It is not right to say that there is no leadership in the church. Even in the proper family life there is a leadership. When the parents are away from home, the oldest brother or sister is left as a leader for the other children. If both the parents and the older children are away, a baby-sitter is left with the remaining children to be a leader for them. In every situation there is the need for a leader. In the church life the elders take the lead diligently (Heb. 13:24; Rom. 12:8). All the elders are the leading ones in the church. Without leaders we could not have an orderly church life with so many arrangements. Rather, we would have confusion in the church life.
The leadership in the church life is carried out by the elders’ laboring in teaching the saints (1 Tim. 5:17; 3:2) and their shepherding the church as the flock of God, overseeing it according to God, and becoming patterns of the flock, not lording it over the flock (1 Pet. 5:2-3). The leaders in the church must take the lead in all things. They must be the leading sheep, the head sheep, in the flock. When the sheep at the head of the flock move, the rest of the sheep follow. However, when the sheep in the front do nothing, the whole flock stops. If the restrooms in the meeting hall need to be cleaned, the elders should take the lead to clean them. The elders should also be the first ones to go out to visit people for the gospel by knocking on their doors. If the elders go out to preach the gospel, many in the church will follow them. If, on the other hand, the elders do not take the lead to go out, but simply exhort the other saints to do it, not many of the saints will go. The way to be an elder is not to command others but to take the lead. If the elders labor in teaching and if they shepherd, oversee, and are patterns of the flock, all the saints will respect and obey them as leaders.
The elders should be regarded, obeyed, and honored by the saints (1 Thes. 5:12-13; Heb. 13:17; 1 Tim. 5:17). The honor given to the elders may include material supply. Some elders do not take a job for their living because they are too busy in the matters of the church. They do not have an income; they live by faith. The saints should honor them by giving them some material supply. This is the proper order with a proper, beautiful situation in the church life.
The New Testament leadership also comprises the leadership in the ministry. Peter took the lead in the New Testament ministry among the Jews (Gal. 2:7b). We can see Peter’s lead in the ministry in the first twelve chapters of Acts. Paul took the lead in the New Testament ministry among the Gentiles (Gal. 2:7a) in the last sixteen chapters of Acts.
The leadership in the New Testament ministry is in the New Testament teaching more than in the leading ones of the New Testament ministry. In America the leadership of the country is in the constitution more than in the presidency. The critical factor in the government is the constitution. Likewise, the New Testament leadership was not in Peter or in Paul as much as it was in their teaching. If Peter or Paul would have turned from their teaching, the saints would not have followed them. The churches followed the apostles’ teaching, and they followed the apostles because the apostles had the New Testament teaching. The apostles kept their teaching, they were in their teaching, and they were one with it.
In 1934 there was a turmoil in the church in Shanghai, mainly directed against Brother Nee. At that time I assured him that I completely followed him, not because of who he was, but because of the teaching and revelation he brought into the Lord’s recovery. Brother Nee and I had not known each other formerly; we had no personal affection. He took the lead, and I followed him because he had the revelation in his teaching and he kept the revelation. I also told him that if one day he would deviate from the revelation he had passed on to us, I would still follow the revelation, but I would no longer follow him.
Today, because of the present rebellion in the Lord’s recovery, some saints are trying to vindicate me. However, I do not care to be vindicated. Rather, it is the teaching in the Lord’s recovery which should be vindicated. The churches in the Lord’s recovery do not follow a man, but they follow the teaching of this ministry. However, following the teaching and not the minister does not mean that we should reject the minister. Some have twisted my word concerning not following a man but following his teaching and claim to be following my teaching while rejecting me. Even the students in a school cannot receive teaching while rejecting the teacher. What the ministry in the Lord’s recovery has brought to the churches is according to the New Testament teaching of the apostles. For this reason I am at peace. I do not care about the turmoils in the church. The turmoils cannot overthrow the New Testament ministry.
Some have wrongly taught that the local churches are autonomous, that once an apostle establishes a local church and appoints the elders, he is through with that church and should stay away. This is not according to the Bible. The Apostle Paul established churches, and he appointed the elders in the churches (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). After this, however, he did not stay away from the churches. He visited the church in Ephesus after it was established and once stayed there for three years. Later, while he was returning to Jerusalem, he could not forget the church in Ephesus. Acts 20 tells us that from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church (v. 17). They came to him, and he spoke a long word, warning, instructing, and even charging them. Acts 20:31 says, “Wherefore watch, remembering that for three years, night and day, I did not cease admonishing each one with tears.” Verse 20 says, “How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and to teach you publicly and from house to house.” No doubt, he taught the saints in Ephesus concerning God’s economy and concerning their daily life, declaring to them anything that was profitable. He told the elders in verses 29 and 30, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among you yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.” This shows how concerned Paul was for the future of the church in Ephesus. Paul also wrote an Epistle to the church there. This illustrates that the apostles never stayed away from the churches which they had established.
The leading ones in the ministry were not strict in directing the move of their co-workers. First Corinthians 16:12 says, “Now concerning our brother Apollos, I urged him much that he would come to you with the brothers; and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come whenever he has opportunity.” The leading ones were strict, however, in the teaching of the New Testament (1 Tim. 1:3-4; 2 John 9-11). First Timothy 1:3 says, “Even as I urged you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach differently.” Second John 9-10 says, “Everyone who goes beyond and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God....If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not say to him, Rejoice!” The apostles were not strict in directing a co-worker such as Apollos to go to a certain place. However, they were very strict concerning the New Testament teaching. This proves that the real leadership in the ministry is in the apostles’ teaching.