No one who serves the Lord serves only after he has learned everything. In our service, we should learn as we do, instead of doing after we have learned. Even though we do not know how to do things, we will learn as we do them. For example, the church in Taipei is a large church with a large number of saints, and there are about fifty full-time serving ones. However, according to our observation, the brothers and sisters are willing to do only what they can do, not what they cannot do. Very few are willing to aggressively study or research. The condition of our service is not ideal and there is only limited improvement because there is not much study and research.
For example, some saints do not preach the gospel because they think that they do not know how to preach the gospel, some do not visit people because they think that they are not good at visiting people, and others do not shepherd people because they think that they are not good at shepherding. Almost everyone is willing to do only what he knows how to do. However, please remember that very few people in the church actually know how to do things. Thus, we should not have the concept that we will do only what we know how to do. Rather, we need to do things precisely because we do not know how to do them. Our doing is our learning; we need to learn as we do things, that is, to learn by doing. In learning to do something, we are forced to study it. We may not know how to take care of a certain person, but we still need to take care of him. We must do this even though we have tried every “possible” way and feel helpless. This will force us to pray to the Lord and ask Him how to take care of this person.
Acts and Paul’s Epistles show that Paul was a person who put his whole being into the work. From God’s point of view, he had a special vision, revelation, and commission. From man’s point of view, he was skilled in his work, he was an “expert.” He was not someone outside his line of work; in every one of his endeavors he became an expert. He was always talking about his own work. Whether he talked about this or that, his whole being was centered on his work. Paul bore all the churches within him when he was working. He said, “The crowd of cares pressing upon me daily, the anxious concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is stumbled, and I myself do not burn?” (2 Cor. 11:28-29). He also said, “For three years, night and day, I did not cease admonishing each one with tears” (Acts 20:31). If each one of us would apply ourselves “night and day” and “with tears” on behalf of the brothers and sisters, there would definitely be a wonderful and great change in our locality.
Our shortage is that even though we do not know how to do things, we still sleep very well at night, we do not shed tears, and we do not study. We often put all the responsibility on God’s grace and mercy. There is no progress in our work, but we can still lie in bed and say that everything depends on God’s mercy and grace. We may say, “What can we do if God does not work? Everything depends on His grace and mercy.” Then we fall into a sound sleep. On the one hand, it is true that everything depends on God’s grace and mercy, but on the other hand, this grace and mercy do not simply come to us.
If a person says, “Lord, here is a family that I do not know how to enliven. What shall I do? Lord, I am going to wrestle with You and negotiate with You.” Some people may say that this person is Jacob; however, we must say that only a person who wrestles with God becomes Israel. Those who do not know how to wrestle with God will never become Israel. Many brothers and sisters often come to us and tell us that they do not know how to do something and that they are not good at something. At such a time we should encourage them to continue, precisely because they do not know how to do it. In any case, we must help the brothers and sisters to see that they need to do things because they do not know how to do them and because they are not good at doing them. In this way, their usefulness will be manifested.
In the Lord’s work, no one comes to work because he knows how to work; God does not desire this kind of person. Everyone who goes to work for God does not even know where he is going. When Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans, he did not know where he was going. The real work is to work even when we do not know how to work and to lead even when we do not know how to lead. We may have failures in our work, but we must continue working; we may have failures in our leading, but we must continue leading. We do not give up and go home simply because we have some failures in our leading others; rather, we should go to the Lord again and have more dealings.
Strictly speaking, nothing in the world demands more of a person than the Lord’s work. No one, not even the apostle Paul, could dare say that he worked for the Lord because he knew how to work. The Lord’s demand in the work is great. No one is qualified, and no one should dare to say that he knows everything. Rather, everyone must continue struggling, pressing forward, and working. We learn by doing, and we do things in the way of learning. We must have this kind of heart. If we do not have this kind of heart in our service, we will not be of much use in spiritual matters.
There was a young brother who was learning to work for the Lord. He did not know how to do a certain thing and was unwilling to do it properly. At the end of the day he went home peacefully as if the task was unrelated to him and not his responsibility. When we asked about the matter, he showed no concern. We should not say that this young brother is useless in everything, but in that particular matter he had become useless. If that matter had been put in his hand, it would definitely have resulted in nothing.
Let us use another example. A person may say that eighty or a hundred people need gospel visitations, even though only fifty-eight actually need to be visited. Although the actual number is fifty-eight, he speaks of eighty or a hundred. By this, we know that this person is not properly burdened; he has not put himself into the work. If he had received a burden and put his whole being into this burden, he would even have a list with the fifty-eight names, and he would have a map showing how to reach each of the fifty-eight people on the list. He would be very clear about the general situation of each of the fifty-eight people, including whether they are students or businessmen, young or old, uneducated or educated. Furthermore, even in his dreams he would be considering who would be the best persons to visit them, what is the best time, and how to lead them. This is what it means to receive a burden.
The apostle Paul said, “Apart from the things which have not been mentioned, there is this: the crowd of cares pressing upon me daily, the anxious concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is stumbled, and I myself do not burn?” (2 Cor. 11:28-29). Some may say that one who serves the Lord needs to pray and pursue. This is correct, but if one who works for the Lord and serves the Lord cannot receive a burden from God and is not interested in man, he will not be very useful in the Lord’s work.
A person who serves the Lord should be very responsive; he should be easily burdened. When he meets people, he should immediately have a response of loving them, caring for them, and being interested in them. This does not mean that he is interested in their affairs but rather that he is interested in them. A person who serves the Lord should easily receive burdens from God and easily be interested in and responsive to people. This kind of person will always put his whole being into his line of work and will always receive burdens and commissions from God. Everyone who serves the Lord should have this kind of character.
We have spoken concerning this point before, but our practice has been too poor, and we have not been well trained. The younger brothers and sisters have not experienced much mercy and grace from the Lord’s hand through His dealings. According to the Lord’s word, the more we use our gifts, the more we will have; “to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from him who does not have, even that which he has shall be taken away” (Luke 19:26). The gift of grace that we have originally is sufficient, but if we are unwilling to use it, it will be nullified in us and become nothing. If we are willing to use it, and to continue to do business (v. 13), we will see the capital of grace in us increase more and more.
If we can care for others and bear their burdens every day, study their problems, and desire to receive grace for others every day, we will be the most blessed people among the brothers and sisters. We should not do things only after we think we have learned, are experienced, and know how to do everything. If we wait for that day, it will never come. We need to realize that we have nothing and that we can do nothing. However, we still need to do things, and we must work from nothing into something. This is a principle in material things; it is also the same in spiritual things. We move forward by faith, and we continue to work by faith.
For example, we may be asked to give a message in our locality. We may say, “Because I do not know how to speak, and I have not prepared anything, I cannot speak today.” If we allow the brothers and sisters to sit there and we insist on not speaking, we are finished. On the contrary, if we are willing to be troubled and pressed before the Lord in order to receive a burden, to look to the Lord in spirit with a strong will, and to stand up and say, “Brothers, I do not know what to say, but I have no choice, so I ask you to stand with me in spirit,” we will experience the word coming to us. Perhaps Genesis 1:2 will come to mind, and we may say, “‘The earth became waste and emptiness, and darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was brooding upon the surface of the waters.’ This is our condition. If there is darkness within us, the word will come, and the Lord will come when we turn to our spirit. The Lord Jesus is the light, and when we touch Him, we have light.” This is a supplying message. After this speaking, everyone will feel satisfied, and we will be satisfied even more. In this way, we will surely progress and become more experienced.
Do not think that this is merely an example. I have experienced this before. When I was twenty-eight years old, I was learning to speak for the Lord. I had to speak because there was a heavy burden within me, not because people invited me to speak in a formal way. I had never studied theology or received any formal training, and I had no idea what it meant to speak or release a message. Nevertheless, at that time a heavy burden weighed on me and forced me to speak. When I stood up to speak, my face was red, I was sweating, and I did not know what to say. However, I received grace because I did not know what to do. The Lord gave me a revelation. This happened time and time again; I received grace and I gave others what I had received. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you.” This can be compared to a water faucet: the amount of water that flows in depends on the amount of water that flows out. If water does not flow out, nothing will flow in.
We need to receive burdens from God all the time, and we always need to be interested in people. We cannot excuse ourselves and shirk our responsibility. If we do not bear responsibility, then who will? This is not to be proud. This is to be willing to learn to receive a burden. In this way, we can become useful persons and channels of blessing in the Lord’s hand to bring in more blessing. This is needed among many brothers and sisters today, especially the young people.