The church is a great matter. If we are clear about this matter, the next matter, which concerns the attitude we should have toward Christians outside our testimony, can be resolved easily. As long as a person is saved and has no apparent sins that should not be tolerated, such as idolatry, fornication, or teaching heresies, we must endeavor to help him. However, if he is in a denomination or a sect, we absolutely cannot acknowledge the ground on which he stands. He is truly a child of God and our brother, but he is standing on the wrong ground, which we can neither acknowledge nor participate in. If we were to stand on that ground, we would be violating the oneness of the church. However, we should not reject the person himself.
Question: We have the heart to serve God, but our condition and qualifications are insufficient; what should we do? Please give us an honest word so that we will not waste our time.
Answer: First, we must see that for all of us who are saved, the time from our being saved to our going to meet the Lord is the time for us to learn to serve Him. Our real and eternal service will be in the new heaven and new earth in the future. As an illustration, your education today is your learning; it is only after you have worked a few years that you will have truly entered your profession. Likewise, today is the time for us to learn to serve God. However, this does not mean that a person can serve only after he has finished learning. Time is for our learning; we learn to serve by learning and serving at the same time. No one should say that he will wait to finish learning before he begins to serve.
Second, since the time between our salvation and our meeting the Lord is for our learning to serve Him, our primary concern should be serving the Lord, not eating, exercising, or being entertained. Of course, as we serve the Lord today, we still need to eat and survive, and we should therefore take a job. However, as long as we can earn enough for our living, that is sufficient. We are different from the people in the world. They want to maintain their daily living, but they also want something more. They want fame and fortune, and they want to be great. We Christians are different; we have left Egypt and have come out of the world.
We know that Paul was a very talented leader who could have done something great in the world, yet he worked with his own hands to make tents (Acts 18:3). According to our way of thinking, tentmaking was a suffering to Paul because his gift was spiritual. When the Lord made provision for him, he did not need to make tents, but when there was no provision, he humbly made tents as his livelihood. I must speak a frank word: no one who desires to follow the Lord can be a great success in his career. In order to follow the Lord, you must give up everything. But thank and praise the Lord that this way is restful and the burden is light. Thus, in our living we need to earn only enough for our needs. Our primary concern must be to serve God.
Third, although we do not have the call of Saul of Tarsus or Peter, please realize that God calls us in the same way that He called Saul and Peter. Have we not sensed the Lord’s call at least once? Apparently, the Lord’s calling of us might not have been in the same way as His calling of Saul or Peter, but we have sensed the Lord’s call. I deeply believe that among us there are quite a few brothers and sisters who have sensed the Lord’s call within. For now, it does not matter whether it was great or small and whether this call was strong or weak; what matters is only that it was clear. The Bible says that as long as we have faith, it is sufficient, even if it is as small as a mustard seed (Matt. 17:20). God does not require our faith to be great. It is the same with our calling—simply to have it is enough. Can you honestly say that you have never had a feeling of being called by the Lord? Since you have had such a feeling, you must answer it. The more you answer this feeling, the clearer it will become. If you do not answer it, you will remain wavering.
Fourth, we must see that everything today is temporary. If the Lord arranges the environment for me to have something, I thank the Lord; if the Lord does not arrange the environment for me to have something, I also praise Him. I often ask myself, if the Lord wanted me to die, how could I not die? If I wanted to graduate from college, but He did not allow me, what could I do? Many things are not in our hands. The Lord can raise up all kinds of circumstances around us to reach His goal. Regardless of whether we answer Him quickly and generously or whether we refuse to answer Him, answer Him stingily, or give Him some trouble, the result will still be that He will effortlessly do what He desires to do. We are the ones who suffer, who are dealt with a little more, beaten a little more, and put under pressure a little more. Hence, nothing that relates to man is within man’s own control; no one can choose his own way.
Every step we take is determined by God. Can we really be the kind of person we want to be? Because our destiny is in God’s hands, we might as well count the cost and answer the Lord’s call generously. I have been taking this way for twenty-five years, and I have never regretted it. Do not think that I am taking this way blindly. No, I have certainly counted the cost, but I have never regretted it. Every instance of looking back and considering causes me to bow my head and say, “O God, the way on which You lead me is the way You have destined for me. When all things are manifested in the future, I will know that choosing Your way was not only better but also the best.” In that day we will all say that the cost that we paid was only dung.
It is clear that in the two thousand years of church history, those who have followed the Lord have all bowed their heads, especially in their old age, and said, “Lord, it was You who led me to take this way.” All those who did not take this way regretted it in the end. Some regretted that they were touched once but did not answer the Lord’s call, and others regretted that because they were greedy in the matter of their livelihood, they did not take the Lord’s way. In the past two thousand years there have been many people with this kind of regret. Conversely, everyone who was pure in heart in following the Lord bowed his head at the end of his course and thanked and praised the Lord. I hope that the young people here will count the cost. Thousands have gone before us, and their footsteps are truly a testimony.
Every one of us should consider what kind of person we want to be. Do we want to be a half-saved person, a “gray” Christian, or a Christian who loves the Lord absolutely? Everyone in the world knows that the most absolute ones are the most profitable ones. We cannot be both stone and wood, nor can we be both male and female. If we desire to be worldly people, we should be worldly people absolutely; if we desire to be Christians, we should be Christians absolutely. Those who are wishy-washy are the least profitable and the lowest. No matter what we do, we must be absolute in doing it. The only requirement for a Christian is absoluteness. We should either not follow the Lord or follow Him absolutely. To be a Christian we must be absolute.