Question: Could you comment further on what a husband should do to honor the headship of Christ if his wife asks him to make a decision?
Answer: When a wife comes to her husband regarding anything, the best way and the proper way for the husband to respond is by referring the matter to the Lord by prayer. The same principle applies in the church. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey the ones leading you and submit to them.” The ones leading us are the elders. Nevertheless, when something is referred to the elders, the elders should immediately refer the matter to the Lord by praying to Him in order to respect Him as the Head. This is the proper way. When something is referred to the elders, if they immediately make a decision and give an order, this is an insult to the Head. We all need to honor Christ as the Head by referring all things to Him.
Question: What does Paul mean when he says, “A husband is head of the wife” (Eph. 5:23)? How do we put this into practice?
Answer: The husband being the head of the wife is the reason that the wife needs to refer things to the husband, but the husband in turn needs to respect the headship of Christ. The best husband is one who respects the headship of Christ. The more a brother respects the headship of Christ, the more his wife will respect him.
Question: Should we go to the Lord first regarding any matter and wait for the Lord to direct us to fellowship with another brother if need be?
Answer: It is very good to first refer any matter to the Lord. If we become clear concerning the matter simply by going to the Lord, it is wonderful. However, the Lord will often say, “Go to your brother; then I will make you clear.” In most cases the Lord will direct us to fellowship with another brother, but when we go to the brother, the brother should not replace the Lord by telling us what to do. The brother should say, “Let us fellowship and pray to bring this matter to the Lord.” The Lord may still not make us clear after we fellowship and pray with another brother. This may be the Lord’s way of directing us to go to the elders. If the elders say, “We will tell you what to do,” they are wrong. The elders also should refer the matter to the Lord in fellowship and prayer. Usually, by this point the Lord will tell the brothers what we need to do. In this way, we are safeguarded, and we respect the headship of Christ. I hope that we may all learn to practice in this way.
Question: Churches sometimes come together for a meeting or a conference. Is this wrong?
Answer: The churches should come together as often as possible. This is fellowship, and any kind of fellowship is always beneficial. The fellowship between the saints works well, and the fellowship between the churches also is a benefit. This is a good thing.
Question: In 2 Corinthians 10:14 Paul speaks of “not extending ourselves beyond our bounds.” What does this word mean?
Answer: What Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:13-15 indicates that the Lord gave a certain boundary to Paul for his work and that Paul never overstepped that boundary. Paul always kept himself within God’s limitation.
Question: It seems to me that the word in these chapters is like a biology lesson. If a body is weak and collapsing because of a lack of food, we should not rely on something organizational to prop it up. Is this right?
Answer: This is absolutely right. The church is an organism, and at a time when it is suffering from lack of nourishment, if we do anything in the way of organizing, it will not help the situation. The best way to help an organism is to feed it with nourishing food. This will keep the organism working in an organic way, in the way of life. We need to see that no problem in the church can be solved by organization. Organization will only damage the church. Because a table is an organization, it is easy for a carpenter to repair or improve a table. However, this cannot be done with an organism. All surgeries depend on the organic function of the body. Surgeons must always decide whether someone’s body can sustain a certain surgery. If the organic function of the body is not working well, a good surgeon will not operate. Every surgery depends upon the organic function of the body. Because the church is the Body of Christ, an organism and not an organization, we must not try to arrange or rearrange things in an organizational way. We must deal with the church just as a surgeon deals with the human body—in an organic way.
For a carpenter to replace the top of a desk takes only a short time, but for a body to fully recover from surgery requires a long time. Therefore, we cannot solve any problem of the church in a quick, organizational way. Any problem in the church must be dealt with in an organic way, which takes time. In the church we must not handle matters in the way that a carpenter works on a desk. We need to be like a surgeon dealing with an organic matter, depending upon the organic ability. In most surgeries there is the need of a blood transfusion to support the organic function of the body. There is much for us to learn regarding the church as an organism. Whatever we do with the church must be organic, depending not on our doing but on the organic function of the Body.
Question: We need to realize that we have no head other than Christ, but the tendency among some Christians is to say, “The Bible is my only authority. I do not need to fellowship with anyone.” Where is the middle ground between hierarchy and anarchy?
Answer: On one hand, among the Lord’s people today there should be no head; the headship belongs uniquely to Christ. On the other hand, the Bible says, “Obey the ones leading you” (Heb. 13:17). Although we need to obey our leading ones, the leading ones should not be lords (1 Pet. 5:3). The leading ones should refer all things to the Lord. What the Bible reveals is neither hierarchy nor anarchy but the Body with the Head. Our physical body is a full picture of the Body of Christ. Every part of the body is in a good order, but there is only one head. All the parts respect the head, and the head gives orders directly to each part, not through another member. However, all the members keep a good order. This is very beautiful. We do not follow the way of Christianity or the way of worldly society; we follow only God’s economy. We have only one Head, yet we are submissive to the Body. We keep a good order in the church, but the leading ones are not the lords—they refer all the things to the Lord. This way is absolutely different from human society and from Christianity.
Question: If there is not a clear answer from the Lord when we refer something to Him, should we simply choose as best we can?
Answer: Usually, the Lord will not immediately make us clear concerning what His will is. Rather, He will force us to contact Him more. We should not expect to be clear concerning the Lord’s will right away. We must be prepared to wait on the Lord. It is quite strange that when we want to know the Lord’s will right away, the Lord often will not let us know, but when we say, “Lord, I want to wait to be clear concerning Your will,” the Lord will make us clear right away. In any case, we need to learn to wait until we are clear. However, circumstances sometimes do not allow us to wait. At such times we need to pray, “Lord, I still do not know what Your will is. I simply go forward by faith. If what I do is not Your will, Lord, frustrate it. If You do not frustrate it, I believe that what I am doing is Your will.” This is the proper attitude. If, however, there is nothing forcing us to do something right away, it is better to wait until we are clear concerning the Lord’s will.
Question: In 1 Corinthians 7:25 and 40 Paul’s opinion became the word of God, but many times our opinions are natural. How do we know if our opinions are from the Lord or from a natural source?
Answer: When Paul gave his opinion, he said, “I think that I also have the Spirit of God” (v. 40). If we are a person like Paul, filled with the Spirit, whatever we say will surely be of the Spirit. If we are not filled with the Spirit, we are filled with our natural concepts, and whatever we say will not be of the Lord. Thus, the source of our opinions depends on our state, our condition.
Question: We are all in some ways part of organizations in the world, such as the companies we work for, and we must function as parts of these organizations. In my experience I have trouble because I try to function in the way of life, as I would in the church. What should I do?
Answer: In an organization, trying to do things in an organic way will create trouble. Everything must be after its own kind (Gen. 1:24-25). In the church, which is an organism, we should do things in an organic way. In worldly society, in the companies we work for, we should work in an organizational way. We should not try to apply the way of the church to worldly society. Doing so will damage both. The church and worldly society are two absolutely different things and should not be mixed.