Now we must see what God’s economy is. The word economy in 1 Timothy 1:4 denotes an arrangement or an administration for dispensing. God’s economy is God’s arrangement, God’s administration, to dispense Himself into His chosen people. When we drink a certain beverage, it is dispensed into us and eventually becomes a part of our being. This illustrates how God dispenses Himself into all His chosen people so that He may become their very being. This dispensing is what is meant by the word economy. The New Testament ministry, the ministry, always ministers God’s economy, which is God dispensing Himself into His believers to be their life, nature, and being to produce the church, the Body of Christ.
We must speak concerning only this one thing. We should avoid speaking about anything that distracts God’s people from His economy. For this reason, we need to be careful not to bring in any kind of concept. In recent years there have been many “flows” among us. A different flow comes from every different concept. Thus, in order to avoid trouble and confusion, we should not use the word flow in this way. These different “flows” are simply concepts that stir up many opinions. There are many different concepts, but there is only one economy of God. We should speak only of God’s economy.
In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul says that the church is the pillar and base of the truth. He does not say that the apostles or the great teachers are the pillar and base of the truth. The church is composed of all the believers in Christ. The problem is that not all the believers know the truth. I am concerned that even in the Lord’s recovery not all the saints know the truth. I believe that without reading the previous chapter in this book, most saints would not have a clear vision concerning the headship of Christ. This indicates that they do not know the truth. Because most Christians do not know the truth concerning the headship of Christ, every part of Christianity is an insult to the headship of Christ. Both the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches reject the headship of Christ. In his article “The Waning Authority of Christ in the Churches,” A. W. Tozer asks, “What foreign mission board actually seeks to follow the guidance of the Lord?” Tozer concludes that although many are working for Christ, the headship of Christ is entirely set aside and denied in all of Christianity. This regrettable situation exists because Christians do not know the truth.
Because many brothers and sisters in the Lord’s recovery do not know the truth, things have happened in recent years that were very much contrary to the truth. Some things that have happened among us violated the truth to the uttermost. For instance, there is an undercurrent to organize all the churches together—not only the churches in the United States but also all the churches in the Lord’s recovery throughout the whole earth. International coordination is a term that has been used in the attempt to bring the elders of all the churches in the Lord’s recovery into one coordination. It seems wonderful to have such a oneness, but this kind of coordination will subtly lead to hierarchy. The brother who formed this coordination surely will eventually become a head, insulting the headship of Christ. Moreover, by producing distracting questionings, this kind of coordination robs the saints of their moment-by-moment contact with the Lord in prayer. Such serious consequences reveal why it is crucial that all the saints know the truth.
As we saw in the previous chapter, if a younger brother comes to us for fellowship, we need to be careful not to insult the headship of Christ. If we tell the brother what to do, we become the lord. We may have a good intention and a good heart to help the brother, but our good intention insults the headship of Christ. We need to honor the headship of Christ and respect Christ as the unique Lord by telling the brother, “Brother, I dare not tell you what you need to do, even if I know, because I am not your lord. Your Lord, who is my Lord and the Lord of all of us, is the Lord Jesus Christ. I can pray with you and help you to pray, but you need to ask the Lord concerning this matter.” There is a great difference between giving an answer and leading someone to seek the Lord. To give an answer is to assume that we have the lordship and the position to tell people what to do. Some brothers may defend themselves in this matter, saying, “I do not have the intention to be the lord. My heart is good. I am simply teaching the younger brothers.” We should not trust in our good heart. Regardless of whether our heart is good, we insult the headship of Christ if we act in this way. If someone is careless and accidentally injures another person, that person will be held responsible regardless of his or her intention or heart toward the injured person. A “good heart” does much damage in the church life. The church is not a matter of our good heart; it is a matter of the truth. We all need to know the truth.