All those who are for the Lord are our co-workers. Brothers, do you see this? This is because our primary office is the same. Before God, all the brothers are for serving the Lord. We can say before the Lord that these are our co-workers, as Paul said in Romans 16:3, “my fellow workers.” All who serve the Lord have become our co-workers. Please remember therefore that the matter of co-workers is not as we previously thought. Someone may give twenty-four hours a day and still not be our co-worker. Then again, a person may work only two hours every night, yet we can say that this brother is our co-worker. Whether or not one is a co-worker does not depend on having a job or on finances. Whether or not one is a co-worker depends on how much the work occupies him. A person may wash laundry or clean floors and still be our co-worker. A person can weave cloth or repair clothes and still be our co-worker. It does not matter what work he does. A person may work on a locomotive or on a ship—water and fire are not the same, and land and sea are not the same—but he is still a co-worker. One brother may go back to his linen business, and another brother may go back to practice medicine. If our purpose of serving God so that He may have a way in China is the same, if you give your all and I also give my all, if you give all your time and I also give my time, if you give all your money and I give all my money, I tell you, we are co-workers. We are not only co-workers with one another; we are co-workers with Peter and Paul as well. We are co-workers with those who have served God for these many years.
Today many people have a mistaken view, paying attention to being the same in work, rather than in purpose. Many do not pay attention to how strong or how critical the purpose is, but rather to whether or not things are the same. Please remember that for things to be the same does not make you co-workers. Perhaps when a brother goes to Tsingtao, he can find five or ten doctors there. They may be working with him in the same clinic, but you cannot say that they are our co-workers. The jobs are the same, but they are not our co-workers. There is only one thing—I live here to help in the gospel, and all my income is for the gospel. I tell you, this settles all the issues.
For example, a doctor, who has a noble occupation, and a sister who washes laundry may still be co-workers. One of them has studied for many years and received years of fine training, whereas the other has little education, but because their purpose is the same, they are co-workers. Another Christian may have received the same education, yet not be a co-worker.
If you endeavor with all that you have, you have a way. Brothers, this is the main, basic, and chief thing. Therefore, brothers and sisters, I often feel that if someone is absolutely for the Lord, gives everything he has, does not care for the world, lives on the earth wholly for the Lord, and uses all his means whatever they may be to serve God, regardless of what job he has and regardless of his position, you will feel that he is a person full of light.
I tell you, there are not many co-workers, and there have never been many. We ask God that He would indeed do the work of recovery in these last days and that many would have such a heart to serve the Lord by all means. For this reason, I appreciate those two hands of Paul. According to the proper way, many things need not have been done. As a rule, the church should be responsible for the entire support of the work and all the needs of the apostles. However, the church did not bear the responsibility. When the church failed to bear the responsibility and only cared for its own needs, when it forgot the support for Paul, and not only did not support him, but even criticized him, he said, “These hands!” Therefore, I hope you can see that all these things did not diminish his apostleship, but they even established, supported, and strengthened his apostleship. His apostleship depended on his two hands. In other words, these two exceptional hands, these hands which should not have worked for support, were not needed when the church was on the proper way. However, Paul was willing. Therefore, I say very frankly, that this is to serve by all means. As long as we can serve, it is good. We must always serve.
Therefore, today I think that we first must settle the issue of who a co-worker is. We naturally have a mistaken thought, thinking that co-workers are those who have given up their occupation and have income other than that which comes from an occupation. This is not so. Co-workers are those who have one heart, one purpose, and one ambition before God and who are serving God to please Him. As long as their purpose is the same, these are all co-workers in the Lord, no matter what jobs their hands are engaged in.