I admit that this lesson is difficult to learn. We are all sons of Adam, and it is difficult for our hearts to be broad. We all have a wicked nature. For us to be human is easy, but for us to deal with others honestly is very difficult. Nevertheless, brothers, since we have received the Lord's mercy to be appointed as elders among His people, we should be honest persons. We are not here to learn some methods of being elders. Rather we are here to be enlightened, to submit to the Lord's hand, and to receive His dealings. It is not a question of picking up some method, but a matter of receiving His dealings. To be an elder is a matter of the person. As soon as we become involved with methods, we fall into pretense.

Brothers, even your politeness and courtesy have to be genuine. For some elders, even their politeness to the brothers and sisters is false. In the world, there may be the need for polite pretense, but in the church, the elders should not have any polite pretense. Furthermore, even your anger has to be genuine. It is true that an elder should restrict his temper, but there should not be any false restriction. False restrictions are but attempts to be human and political. Perhaps you may ask me what is false restriction of temper, and what is its genuine restriction. I can perhaps describe to you a little. For example, I may be a very quick-tempered person, but I have received mercy from the Lord to be an elder in the church. When problems arise among the brothers and sisters, it is true that I can easily lose my temper, but I know that elders are not supposed to lose their temper. If they do, they will ruin things. For that reason I submit myself to the hand of the Lord and receive the Lord's discipline to deal with my temper. Not only do I deal with it before the brothers and sisters, but I deal with it at home before the Lord. I would smite my chest and say to the Lord, "Lord, You know how bad my temper is. I hate myself. Unless You are merciful to me, the church will be ruined under my hands." You have to realize that this kind of restriction of the temper is genuine.

Some elders, however, are not like this. When brothers are involved in troubles and bring complaints to them, they realize that they cannot lose their temper, and that if they do, everything will be lost. As a result, they suffer patiently before the brothers and put on a smiling face. But when they get home, immediately they grumble and complain, saying, "I am not here as an elder for their money. What right do they have to bother me this way!" This restriction of the temper is false. Do not think that I am imagining all these things. They are all actual cases. Sometimes, after an elder complained this way at home, the troubled brother came right afterward to visit his home. The elder would then invite him politely into the living room and would give him a smiling face again, as if all his temper had disappeared. Forty-five minutes later, after the brother has left, the wife may come and ask about the conversation, and he would fill his mouth with complaints again, saying, "I do not live by their wallets. Why should they bother me like that? It is bad enough for them to bother me in the elders' room. They are now even giving me trouble at my home!" Brothers and sisters, this kind of restriction of temper is false. We can never do this. If you are such an elder, the church will surely be corrupted from the inside out. The elders in the church must be genuine and honest. If I am to deal with my temper, I have to deal with it from the inside out. I must deal with it before God and before the brothers. The restriction of temper should not be a matter of a method for me. Rather, it should be a lesson for me as a person.

Brothers, there is a very great difference here. Many times, the humility of the elders is a performance before man; the elders are actually very proud before God. The person is proud, but the method is humble. It is a proud person assuming a humble method. This is possible in human society and organizations, but it cannot be done in the church.

Take another example. The matter of diligence is the same. The elders should be diligent, but it must be the person who is diligent. You must be a diligent person, instead of adopting a diligent method.

The same is true for the daily living. Some elders have one manner of living in private and another manner of living in the church before the brothers and sisters. This is pretense. One should have the same kind of living before the brothers and sisters, and in private as well. We have to be genuine persons. What is needed of an elder is the person, and not a method. It is not a method that manages the church; rather it is the person who manages the church.