We have previously spoken of three directions in the management of the church into which the elders are to lead the brothers and sisters. The first is the gospel. The second is the perfecting, and the third is the service. The more the brothers and sisters are properly led, the more they should know how to preach the gospel, how to grow spiritually, and how to serve in a living and strong way. We can judge whether or not a local church has been properly managed by these three aspects. Suppose the brothers and sisters are properly trained in the gospel preaching, and there are different degrees of spiritual condition among them, some being newly saved and some beginning to be helped along; some are passing through their crisis of consecration, some are quite mature and know the cross and the resurrection, and some know the church and see the Body. You should be very happy if you see something like this. The church in this place has been quite perfected in life already. Moreover, if the service is somewhat living, strong, regulated, and effective, you can be sure that the management in this church is quite strong. If a local church is indifferent to the gospel, not well-defined in its spiritual condition, and mundane in its service, such a church is surely lacking in management. In helping the brothers and sisters, and in managing the church, we have to keep these three directions as our goal all the time.
Of the three directions mentioned, the gospel is the easiest, the perfecting is deeper, and the service is the most troublesome. However, much of the gospel and the perfecting is included in the service. In other words, if the direction in the service is not proper, it will be difficult for the gospel and the perfecting to be carried out properly. The service is the consummation of the other two. Hence, it is the most troublesome item of all. To put it in another way, if we subtract from the gospel the spiritual elements, what is left is the service. The way to pass out the gospel tracts, the arrangement for the place to preach the gospel, the way to make the invitations, to have the ushering, to sit with the new ones, to counsel, and the persons to be responsible for the jobs, are all part of the service. The same is true with the perfecting; there are many elements that are included in the service.
Before 1940, the messages we preached in northern China were quite spiritual. But during that period, not many people were produced, because there was no proper management. From 1940 to 1943, although there was not much preaching, we produced the people. We spent three-quarters of our time on management. Some churches today are strong in the ministry of the Word, yet their church is not proper. It is like having a great soul without a body. In some other churches, the ministry of the Word is not strong. However, its management is very strong. As a result, the church is strong. This does not mean that we do not need the ministry of the Word. It means that it is not enough just to have the soul; we must have the body to match it before the person can be strong. The management of the church is something very important.