A subjective person likes to take over and make proposals. If a person is subjective, he creates problems in God's work. Not only is he dull to learning and unfit for God's commissioning; his total energy is spent on his own subjectivity. As a result, he has no energy for God's work. When a man interferes with others' affairs, he becomes negligent of his own work, because other things fully occupy him. If a man keeps an eye on others' vineyards, his own vineyard surely will be neglected. Brothers and sisters, we do not have the time to indulge in subjectivity. God has entrusted enough ministry, responsibility, and work to us. We do not have the time to meddle with others' affairs. We have to focus our time and energy on the works that we should do. We are busy enough. Only those who are negligent in God's work and who give up their own responsibility before God have the energy to deal with the miscellaneous affairs of the other brothers and sisters. It is clear that all subjective persons have abandoned the work that God has assigned to them. They have allowed their own work to go unattended while busying themselves with others' business. If a worker always gives up his own work to take care of others' work, his own work will surely be poor. A subjective person can never be effective in the Lord's work. God cannot trust him, and even if He entrusts anything to him, it will not be properly carried out. It is difficult to remove a person's subjectivity, because his subjectivity is a matter of disposition. He is subjective in everything, not only in God's work, but in his personal life as well. He is subjective towards others' affairs. A subjective person is a very busy person in this world. He wants to be involved in everything. As a result, he cannot run a straight course before the Lord. He has his opinion, view, and way for everything. This presents a real spiritual problem and a real spiritual barrier. We have to pray, "Lord, be gracious to me. Make me a pliable person before You. I want to be pliable and soft, not only before You, but before all the brothers and sisters." Paul was such a person. His letters were "weighty and strong." When it came to the matter of his testimony before God, he was weighty and strong. But when he came face to face with the Corinthians he was "weak and his speech contemptible" (2 Cor. 10:10). Paul was uncompromising in the testimony he bore. This is the reason his words were "weighty and strong." But when he talked with others, he was meek, not harsh. Brothers and sisters, we have to learn to differentiate between the two. In our ministry we have to be strong and weighty, but in ourselves we should not be subjective. "Some preach Christ even because of envy and strife, and some also because of good will, these out of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. But the others announce Christ out of selfish ambition, not purely, thinking to raise up affliction in my bonds. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truthfulness, Christ is announced; and in this I rejoice; yes, and I will rejoice" (Phil. 1:15-18). Do you see the balance here? When others take the same way as we do, we thank the Lord for it. If others will not take the same way, but take a different way, we are still their brothers and sisters. We are not bothered by it. We have to maintain this balance. On the one hand, we have to be faithful to our testimony. On the other hand, we should not be subjective in ourselves. A faithful man is never subjective, and a subjective man is not necessarily faithful. We have to draw the line clearly between the two.

In summary, subjectivity is simply an unbroken self. Brothers and sisters, we have to pray for God's breaking work, praying that we will not be subjective in any way, whether towards others or towards our own affairs. The Lord has to crush us completely before we will be soft and meek. Without such a crushing, we will always be somewhat subjective. Some people may be sharper than others, but a subjective person is always opinionated, full of methods, and ready to take control of others. We have to allow the Lord to deal with us in a severe way at least once so that we can be crushed to the ground and never rise again. When a test comes again, we then will be faithful to our testimony. We will allow others the freedom to choose to follow or to not follow us. We will not have the compulsion to speak. We are not here to be a teacher to many. We should not be so eager to speak, propose, make decisions, teach, or control the work. Brothers and sisters, we should be strong in our ministry, but at the same time, we should learn to be meek and not subjective before the Lord.