The thing everyone fears the most in the church is fluctuation; it bothers people to see things changing back and forth. Before you are clear about a particular matter, go slowly. Do not be too quick. Once you make a hasty decision, it is difficult to retract it. In a district meeting, the responsible brothers and sisters must hold fast this principle. You must listen quickly, but believe slowly. Whatever may happen, listen quickly, but pass it on slowly. Things may be passed on to me, but it should not be easy for me to pass them on to others. If I am not sure and not clear as to the consequence of a matter, I should not say anything about it. All of this is included in the principle of being stable.

If you lay hold of this principle, you as an elder in the church will not be changing back and forth every time the wind blows. Many people can offer their opinions to you, but you will not lightly express your view. Unless you are very sure, you will not speak. You will not make any judgment on any matter concerning right or wrong—not because the matter is difficult to discern, but because your character is stable.

Brothers, do not consider matters too simply. In the past years, I myself have suffered great loss and great pain through slight negligence in some things. Once there is a change, there is a great loss. When I suffer a loss, the consequences are not that great; but if the church suffers a loss, the consequences are tremendous. Therefore, we must learn to be careful and must study a matter carefully and thoroughly before making a decision. Never change back and forth every time the wind blows.

The same principle also applies to our coordination with the brothers and sisters in the work. Never think that you can coordinate with one person today and change to another person tomorrow. You should never do this. Either we do not coordinate, or if we do, we have to be like Caleb and Joshua, coordinating with each other until death. If a brother who serves in the church becomes very intimate with one brother this month, but dissociates himself from that one the very next month, all the while associating himself intimately with a third brother, such a person is too unstable and is without much use. A stable person will never coordinate with anyone easily, but once he coordinates with someone, he will not change until death.

Sometimes, when words of persecution, opposition, or other kinds of rumors come, you should not accept them too quickly. When an unstable person is blown by the wind from the outside, he falls. In 1943, I was in North China. Part of the work there was greatly blessed by the Lord. At the peak of the blessing, suddenly a wind of rumor blew into our ears. If I had not exercised stability at that time, not only one person, but ten people, would have fainted. Concerning this kind of thing, our attitude must be calm. To panic would not lessen the difficulty; rather, it would only intensify it. The more problems the church has, the more stable we need to be. Whether the problem comes from inside or outside, once it happens, we must learn to be stable. When we are stable, the situation will be cleared up.