People in general consider that to preach is easy, as if anyone can preach simply by speaking. This is a great mistake. Nothing right and proper in the universe is easy, nor can it be accomplished by natural means. Those who have adequate understanding know that nothing is more demanding than serving the Lord, because of the requirements of a high standard, level, and morality. Among the human community, serving the Lord requires the highest standard. However, according to the impression of people in general, serving the Lord is simple. In a certain family, both the parents of three sons had received a high education. They were all Christians, but they had the strange concept that the smartest of the three should study medicine, the one who was not as smart should study business, and the least capable one should study theology. This is a very erroneous concept in people’s mind.
In 1952 and 1953 there was a co-workers’ training in Taipei. In those days education was not universally available, and the standard of education was not high. Because of this, in that training we accepted many brothers and sisters without a high education. They loved the Lord very much and were willing to consecrate themselves to Him. However, now that over thirty years have passed, experience tells us that the inadequate level of education is a great shortcoming and lack among our co-workers.
Therefore, I have a deep realization that our training must have some requirements. The trainees must have completed a college education or at least graduated from a junior college. This is not only a requirement for the trainees, but it should be the minimum educational requirement for all of us. Even if some have already received a degree, even a doctoral degree, they should not stop learning. Serving the Lord requires continual learning. I always keep dictionaries close by, such as Chinese, English, Greek, and other dictionaries. In my collection of books the largest category is Bible expositions, and the second largest is dictionaries. Under the covering of the Lord’s blood, I have to tell you that until this day I have not stopped learning. What is disappointing, saddening, and even shameful, is that not many who received the training here thirty years ago have continued with further learning. Therefore, there is very little manifestation of their function, and their accomplishments are not apparent. The reason for this is that they do not have a spirit of developing new territories, endeavoring to advance, and desiring to learn further. Hence, it is impossible for them to progress.
All of the major American companies employ specialists. Even if the employees have already obtained doctorate degrees, the company will still encourage them to continue learning. If medical doctors do not keep up with further education, they will fall behind after only a few years. Nurses also must take examinations every few years. This is our observation of the world. Therefore, we feel that the educational level of the full-time trainees must be high.
Next, we also encourage those who have already received the training not to consider themselves as already qualified. They must realize that being qualified today does not ensure their qualification tomorrow. We must keep abreast of the times. If we have one day, we need to continue learning for one day, and if we have one year, we need to continue learning for one year. If we stop, we will fall behind immediately. Time and age will eliminate us. We must be warned.
This has been the situation of the service in Taiwan for the past thirty years. The work of a co-worker who received his training over thirty years ago may be considered acceptable, but if he goes to the United States to work, he may not be able to meet the needs and keep up with the times. Once his environment changes, his situation becomes different. If he brings the way of the work in Taiwan to the United States, it will not work, and it will not be suitable. Adjusting to an environment is not easy. In order to adjust to anything, we need a certain ability, but adjusting to a new environment requires a great ability.
I was born in P’englai in Shantung Province. At about nineteen years of age, I moved to Chefoo, a port city with a population of over 200,000. My mother was born into Christianity. She was a third generation in the American Baptist Church and had received some education in Christianity, so her views were rather modern. Even though the family was poor, she endeavored to send me to an English school to receive an education in the modern language. I thank the Lord for this, and I also believe this was the Lord’s sovereign preparation. When I went to the United States at sixty years of age, not only were the Chinese surprised, but even the Americans were amazed at how this co-worker could preach in English. They did not know that I had begun to study English books when I was young. My point is that we all must realize that adjusting to a new environment requires equipping.
After I was called and saved by the Lord in 1925, I began to serve Him with my full time in 1933. Brother Watchman Nee had much to do with this. When I was struggling, not clear whether the Lord wanted me to leave my career, Brother Nee wrote me a letter saying that he felt that I should serve the Lord full-time. This had a very deep influence on me. We had not corresponded for a long time, but he wrote to me at that time from overseas, when I needed it the most. I found this very meaningful. The night after I left my job, I went to Shanghai to see him. He kept me there and asked me to take up the responsibility of giving messages in Shanghai. This was fifty-four years ago. At that time, the common people in the Shanghai area did not understand Mandarin; they all spoke their own dialect. Therefore, I did not know how to give messages. To give messages to a group of people who did not understand Mandarin was truly not easy. However, the Lord was merciful to me to enable me to adjust to the environment. I learned that even though the pronunciation was different, people could still understand me if I spoke carefully. This was a matter of learning. It is always good to learn more skills. There is not one skill that is not useful. All skills are useful when the needs arise.
We all need to learn to keep up with the age. I started writing spiritual materials in 1930. The first item I wrote was “What Is Regeneration?”, which was greatly welcomed. Prior to 1930 there was no literature appropriate for regenerated ones, so I wrote this article according to the best of my understanding. I never thought that it would be so welcomed. The next year the Lord raised up a church in my hometown, Chefoo, where I began to give messages as the mouthpiece of the Word. Until now, over fifty years later, I have never stopped my further study, and I have never stopped learning.
When the Lord raised up the church in Chefoo, I did not know any Greek, but I felt that knowing Greek was very important, and I wanted to learn it. I asked a friend of mine to buy an English-Greek interlinear New Testament in Shanghai. Beginning from December of 1932 I wanted to use the Greek Bible, but I was unable to, never having studied Greek. However, because certain Christians in China had published some books about Greek at that time, I was able to collect them and learn Greek by myself. Gradually, I was able to refer to the Greek Bible. I have given the foregoing testimonies with the hope that all who serve the Lord will continually learn diligently, learn constantly, and learn unceasingly.
The difference between learning and not learning is very great. In ancient China the position of the teacher of the crown prince was a special one. One day a teacher was in the imperial study teaching the prince, and the emperor came to the window to hear how the teacher was teaching and how the prince was learning. Just at that moment, the teacher was strictly reprimanding the prince, urging him to study harder. This did not please the emperor’s ears. Unhappy about the reprimand, he said, “The prince will be a monarch if he studies, but he will still be a monarch if he does not.” This teacher replied, “Studying makes an enlightened monarch, but not studying makes a muddled-headed monarch.” When the emperor heard this, he was embarrassed and left.
Never consider that anyone can preach with or without learning. The difference between learning and not learning is very great. Apparently, we who work for the Lord can do the work whether or not we are willing to learn and use dictionaries, for example. However, history tells us that studying makes “enlightened monarchs,” and not studying makes “muddled-headed monarchs.” If we work without learning, what kind of work are we actually doing? It grieves my heart that even though Taiwan has sent out co-workers to work for the Lord, very few who go abroad have any accomplishments or increase. I began the work in the United States in 1962, over twenty years ago. In these twenty years the Lord has raised up over four hundred churches in North America—in the United States, Canada, and Mexico—and in Europe, Africa, Australia, and South America. This is because I am never self-content. Rather, I continue to learn and improve all the time.