In the New Testament there is only one ministry and only one leadership in the ministry. Although there is the truth of the leadership in the New Testament ministry, the Lord did not officially appoint someone to be the leader. The early part of Acts shows us that Peter was taking the lead among the apostles (cf. Acts 1:15; 2:14). However, the Lord Jesus did not appoint Peter to be an official leader. The leadership was something spontaneous according to life, according to the real need, and according to the situation. A leadership is shaped by the growth in life and is an issue of the need. If there is no need, no leadership can be manifested. The environment forms and constitutes the leadership.
There is one unique leadership since the ministry is one (Acts 1:17, 25). Because the ministry is one, there should never be more than one leadership. There is also one unique leadership since God, the Lord, and the Spirit all are one (Eph. 4:4-6). Since there is one God, one Lord, and one Spirit, how could there be more than one leadership? The one unique leadership is for keeping the oneness of the Spirit for the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:3). Today’s Christianity is divided because there are too many leaderships. Every leader has a group which is the sphere of his leadership, and that sphere becomes a division. Thus, if the matter of leadership is not applied or viewed properly, it will create division.
The leadership is produced, strengthened, and also limited, restricted, in the apostles’ teaching. In 1 Timothy 1:3-4 Paul charged Timothy to remain in Ephesus to do one thing with a definite purpose. He was there to charge the dissenting ones not to teach the things different from the economy of God in faith. He had to charge these ones not to teach things that were different from the apostles’ teaching, which is concerning God’s New Testament economy to dispense the processed Triune God into His chosen and redeemed people that Christ might have a Body to express Himself and that the Triune God might have a complete, eternal expression in the New Jerusalem. Any minister who preaches or teaches should carry out such a ministry. Otherwise, this preacher or this minister should be limited. Paul had the authority to charge people not to teach differently from God’s economy. Timothy was to tell these dissenting ones that their way of teaching had to be restricted and corrected. First Timothy shows us that there was some leadership that charged people to teach the right thing.
We can also see the leadership in the apostles’ teaching in 2 John 9-11 where John charges the believers not to receive those who go beyond the teaching of Christ. To go beyond the teaching of Christ is to go beyond the teaching of the apostles. Second John 10-11 says, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not say to him, Rejoice! For he who says to him, Rejoice, shares in his evil works.” John’s charge prohibits the believers from receiving these kinds of ministers. To say “Rejoice” to someone was used for greeting. The believers were not even to greet those who came to them and did not bring the teaching of Christ. Such a strong charge indicates the leadership in the New Testament ministry.
Paul, in his work in the New Testament ministry, exercised leadership to correct those who taught wrongly, and John exercised his leadership to charge the believers not to receive those who taught heresy, which was not according to the teaching of the apostles. The apostles who participated in the ministry of the New Testament economy did exercise some leadership.
Such a leadership as exercised by Paul and by John was not the leadership in organization. The first twelve apostles were appointed by the Lord Jesus, but they were not organized. The Lord Jesus’ appointment was equal among the twelve. In the New Testament we cannot see an organization with board members, a chairman, a secretary, or other officers. All the major denominations have board members and a chairman. The Catholic Church has the pope as the head of their hierarchical organization. But the leadership in the New Testament ministry is not the leadership in the worldly sense to control others. In the Lord’s recovery we do not have board members with a chairman or president.
Furthermore, this leadership is not the leadership in the ministers’ acts, but in their teaching to restrict them from being divisive. Sometimes in the New Testament Paul told some of his co-workers to go to certain places (1 Cor. 4:17) or to remain in other places (Titus 1:5). But basically speaking, the leadership is not exercised over the ministers’ acts. No one should exercise any control over the work for the Lord. If one has the burden to go to Alaska, he must be clear that this is of the Lord. No one controls his going or not going, but he needs to be clear that his decision is of the Lord through fellowship with the Lord and the Body. There is no restriction exercised in the movements of the workers, but if someone rises up to teach something beyond the teaching of the apostles, the leadership may rise up to tell this one not to teach differently. The leadership which is shown in the New Testament is mainly in the teachings of the ministers, not in the acts of co-workers.
As the Lord’s recovery is spreading throughout the entire world, who can direct the acts of so many co-workers and serving ones? We do not have a board or a mission to direct the acts of the co-workers. No one is in a position to direct the ministers’ acts. They must pray and seek the Lord’s leading and fellowship with the dear saints who are so concerned for the Lord’s move on this earth today. Through fellowship and prayer with the saints, they will be clear whether they should stay where they are or go to another place. They will be clear whether they should go by themselves or go with some others. What is taught or preached by the workers, however, should be restricted. The leadership is very much needed in this area.
In the recovery in God’s ministry, there is no freedom to preach whatever we like to preach or to teach whatever we like to teach. Our preaching and our teaching have to be restricted under the leadership by the revelation of God’s New Testament economy. If someone in the Lord’s recovery began to teach, stress, or promote something contrary to or different from God’s New Testament economy, there would be the need of some leadership to restrict this. Then there would be no confusion. There would never be confusion in the Lord’s recovery if all of us had a clear revelation of the ministry in God’s New Testament economy.
In the past, the Lord’s recovery was disturbed by some who stressed the matter of tongue-speaking. The majority of Christians have still not accepted the matter of speaking in tongues, and in actuality this matter has done much damage to the Lord’s move on this earth. With the matter of speaking in tongues, the debit is much bigger than the credit. In the early years of the Lord’s recovery on mainland China we suffered a great loss when we tried to practice speaking in tongues. Eventually the co-workers there spontaneously concluded that tongue-speaking was not a profit to the Lord’s move on this earth.
A certain charismatic magazine printed an article in which the writer said that he had contacted two hundred people who claimed to speak in tongues. Without exception, all of these two hundred doubted that the tongue spoken was genuine. However, the writer encouraged them all to go on speaking in tongues regardless of their doubts about the genuineness of what they were uttering. We read this article publicly in the training in 1963. Then I asked the trainees if Peter and the others on the day of Pentecost had any doubt whether the tongues spoken by them were genuine. Certainly Peter and the others had no such doubts. However, these two hundred tongue-speakers had doubts because the tongues they spoke were not genuine.
Furthermore, in 1963 and 1964 there were newspaper reports about some Pentecostal prophecies that an earthquake would strike the city of Los Angeles and that the city would fall into the ocean. However, the date of the predicted earthquake passed, and nothing happened. Certainly this lack of fulfillment is sufficient to prove that this prophecy was a falsehood. For a number of years, we in the Lord’s recovery in China were under the influence of the Pentecostal things. Through our experience we can testify that our involvement with Pentecostalism was more of a loss than a gain. The greatest damage of Pentecostalism is that it makes it difficult for believers to appreciate the inward organic union with the Triune God. Many believers are interested in speaking in tongues, healing, and miracles, but not in the development and cultivation of the organic union with the Triune God.
From the very beginning of the Lord’s recovery in the United States, I told the saints that I believed there was the matter of speaking in tongues in the Bible, but according to our observation and experience, the speaking in tongues in today’s charismatic movement is not genuine but humanly manufactured. Some say that they can teach others to speak in tongues. They do this by encouraging others to speak in nonsense syllables. Obviously, this “speaking in tongues” is not a genuine dialect. To speak in tongues in this way does not minister life and does not build up the believers. When some were stressing speaking in tongues in the Lord’s recovery, this created a problem. I did not give any orders to prohibit this, but I did my best to have a thorough fellowship with the saints to tell them that speaking in tongues does not minister life or help the Lord’s recovery at all.
There is the danger of teachings coming in among us that stress things other than God’s New Testament economy. We do not need to exercise too much leadership over these kinds of things, but we need to teach the saints in the Lord’s recovery to learn the New Testament economy. By learning God’s economy, the saints will have the ability to discern what is needed and what is not needed. The saints who have a vision of God’s New Testament economy would not care for teachings that stress and emphasize other things. Because of the Lord’s new way, the door is wide open for everyone to speak and to act. Therefore, we must be restricted by the heavenly vision, by the revelation of the New Testament economy.
The leadership in the New Testament ministry in actuality is not the leadership of one controlling person. In the Lord’s recovery we reject the notion of one person controlling persons and matters. We do have some leadership but not the leadership of one controlling person. Instead, we have the leadership of one controlling revelation in the one ministry through those who bring in the revelation of the ministry. The revelation controls, and it controls through those who bring in the revelation. The revelation in the Lord’s recovery controls us and restricts us.
The ministry among us is not the ministry of a single person but the unique New Testament ministry, the ministry of the Lord’s move on this earth in the dispensation of the church. The Lord’s move on this earth is through His unique ministry, and we are all participating in this unique ministry. Even our going out to visit people by knocking on their doors is a part of this unique ministry. The leadership is not the leadership of any single person who is controlling people in the Lord’s recovery. The leadership in the Lord’s recovery is the leadership of the God-given revelation that restricts us, directs us, and controls us so that confusion and division can be avoided.
Thank the Lord for the unique ministry and for the unique leadership in this ministry. I am so happy that we all receive one revelation under one leadership, taking one way and reaching one goal. If all of the saints in the Lord’s recovery would rise up to take the God-ordained way to practice the New Testament economy, what an impact we would have! In the Lord’s new way, all the saints have many opportunities to serve the Lord by knocking on doors, baptizing people, setting up home meetings, teaching the truth, and helping people to grow in life. We must cooperate with the Lord to pick up the new way, the God-ordained way, to practice the New Testament economy. I do believe that this will bring back the Lord Jesus.