We should not go at length into the subject of virginity. We know that Paul was a virgin. Yet he told Timothy that in later times teachings of deceiving spirits would come and forbid marriage. He said that this is a teaching of demons (1 Tim. 4:1, 3). On the one hand, we believe that it is a good thing to remain single. On the other hand, we have to maintain the balance in God's Word; we cannot say that marriage is something unclean. We must be clear that marriage is holy; it is something that God has ordained in His creation. The forbidding of marriage is a teaching of demons.

If a worker of the Lord is married, he should do his best to settle his family matters in such a way that he will have the least distraction. In this way he will be able to better give himself to the Lord's work. But he must take note of the clear separating line between his work and his family. He should never allow members of his family to touch his work. Of course, if some of them are also co-workers, that is a different story. He should never bring home the things pertaining to the work. A worker cannot be influenced by his family members concerning the work that he is doing. A brother once said that he went to a certain place to work because his wife had promised that he would go. This is astounding! How can a wife promise something for her husband, and how can the husband go because of the wife's promise? We cannot act on our family members' promise, and actually, we cannot even act on our co-workers' promise. Our family must be clearly separated from our work. A worker of the Lord cannot lightly pass on the spiritual problems of other brothers and sisters to his family. If his family members want to know anything, they should find out the same way that all the other brothers and sisters find out. Many problems in the work arise through the loose talk of workers within their family.

Another point we should take note of is to maintain a proper relationship in our contact between the brothers and the sisters. If a brother has a preference to work among the sisters, he should be kept away from the work. Likewise, if a young sister has a preference to work among the brothers, she should also be kept away from the work. We have to be very strict with this principle. Under ordinary circumstances, brothers should work mostly with brothers and sisters with sisters. The Son of God left us such a pattern when He worked on earth. John 3—4 shows us a clear separating line in this matter. In chapter three the Lord received Nicodemus at night, while in chapter four He met the Samaritan woman during the day. In chapter three the Lord received Nicodemus in a house, and in chapter four He met the woman at the public well. If the settings of chapters three and four were switched, we would have very inappropriate settings. It is clear that the Lord spoke with Nicodemus under very different circumstances than those under which He spoke to the Samaritan woman. This leaves us with a good pattern.

We are not saying that brothers and sisters should not contact each other or have fellowship with one another. We are saying that a brother or a sister who has a preference and desire to be among the opposite sex should be discouraged from making such contact. Of course, in Christ there is no difference between male and female, and there is no separating wall between the brothers and the sisters among God's children. Between the two there should be good fellowship. But if a brother has a habit or preference to talk to sisters, or vice versa, we should deal with this situation immediately. I hope that the brothers and sisters will exercise a spontaneous restriction and limitation when they contact each other. If anyone goes beyond the proper boundary and engages in abnormal fellowship, we should deal with the situation in a strict way. May the Lord be gracious to us so that we will maintain a good testimony in this matter.