Although there is a work that involves the co-workers going out to labor, there is no such thing as the work being an organization. For the work to be an organization is degradation. Once there is organization, the work becomes the missions of Protestantism. In Protestantism there are not only missionaries but also missions. A mission is a work that is an organization; such organizations are unscriptural. In the Bible there are apostles, but there is no organization of the apostles. There are workers and there are local churches, but there is no such thing as the work being an organization. Perhaps some might ask, “Since there is no such thing as the work being an organization, why do we still say that there is a difference between the work and the church?” The answer depends upon our understanding. If our understanding is that the work refers to an organization, it is wrong to say that they are different; however, if we are speaking simply of the work, it is correct to say that there is a difference between the church and the work. There is no organization; there is only the work. This is the correct understanding.
This shows that the local churches, the workers, and the work are one. The work refers to what the workers do, not to an organization. The work is in the hands and on the shoulders of the workers; it is entirely borne by the workers. For instance, two workers may preach the gospel among some people and begin to labor in a certain place. Hence, they are workers, and what they do is the work. When some are saved, the workers will produce and establish a local church. Later, they may go to another place to preach the gospel. The two brothers are workers, whereas the churches that they raise up are local churches. These brothers are responsible only to carry out the work. Hence, in this example there are workers, churches, and the work. We should never forget that when we speak of the work, we are not referring to an organization but to the work itself. The relationship among these three things is that the workers carry out a work to establish local churches.
For example, a certain brother, after being saved, may meet in the church in Manila. He regularly preaches the gospel, and sometimes he stands up to prophesy and teach. He is in the church, but he is not a worker, because the Lord has not sent him out. However, one day he may sense that the Lord is calling him and sending him to Zamboanga to preach the gospel and establish a church there. At the same time, he may receive confirmation from a group of co-workers that this is the Lord’s commission for him, that he needs to undertake this commission, and that he has this gift. The co-workers may also send another brother to go and labor with him. As a result, they go to Zamboanga. At this point these brothers do not belong to a local church; they have become workers in the work. After a period of time they may establish the church in Zamboanga with over one thousand saints meeting together. Because of the need, one of the brothers may not be able to leave but may need to stay in the church in Zamboanga in order to serve together with the brothers. He may eventually become one of the elders and responsible ones there. At such a time, he is again part of a local church.
We also would like to bring up the matter of financial support. First, there are no headquarters among the churches, nor is there an organization of the work. Hence, there is no financial center or financial control among us. If there were a headquarters, there would be a financial center; if there were an organization of the work, there would also be financial control. However, since there are no headquarters or organization of the work, we have no financial control and no financial center. Every believer is free to be led by the Lord in the matter of giving material supply to the local churches. For example, the saints in the church in Manila have absolute liberty to be led by the Lord to give material supply to meet the local need. At the same time, every brother and sister in the church in Manila also has absolute liberty to give material supply to any local church. They do not need to ask the elders or the workers for permission, nor should anyone interfere or intervene in regard to their giving. Hence, if a brother in the church in Manila has the Lord’s leading to supply the church in either Hong Kong, Taipei, New York, or London, he has absolute liberty to do so, and no one should exercise control over this matter. We have neither a headquarters nor an organization; rather, there is absolute liberty. All the saints are absolutely free to supply any local church.
Second, all the saints are absolutely free to supply the workers. Suppose there are more than ten co-workers in a certain region in the Philippines. The brothers and sisters have the absolute liberty to support them. No local church is responsible for their support, nor is there an organization of the work that is responsible for their support. The workers look to God directly, just as the local churches also look to God directly. Hence, the saints may follow the Lord’s leading to support the workers and do not need to be limited to any region. There may be two or three co-workers who, because of the Lord’s arrangement, live and serve full time in Manila, yet when the brothers in the church in Iloilo open the offering box, there are a few envelopes designated for these co-workers. Likewise, by the Lord’s arrangement there may be several co-workers serving in Iloilo; however, the brothers and sisters in Manila may give an offering to take care of these ones. This would be a beautiful thing. We have neither a center nor an organization to control or manage the matter; rather, it is the saints who manage the matter before the Lord directly.
Perhaps some brothers and sisters may ask, “Since the local churches support the co-workers financially, why is there still a need to give financial support to the work?” The significance of this question has two aspects. First, some brothers and sisters may pray and develop a feeling for certain co-workers and sense that they have a need; as a result, they may make an offering and clearly designate it for these co-workers. This is how the saints, under the Lord’s leading, directly care for the needs of the workers. Second, some brothers and sisters may not be clear regarding the needs of the work or know which co-worker has a need. They may not even know the names of the co-workers; hence, they may designate an offering only as being for the work. When a church receives such an offering, it will be given to the senior co-workers because they know the condition of the co-workers in various places and can distribute it on behalf of the brothers and sisters. This does not mean that there is an organization of the work that collects offerings; it simply means that there is a service related to offerings. This is the second aspect.
It is best if the brothers and sisters pay regular and close attention to the co-workers among the churches, especially in regard to where they go, how much burden they bear, and how much need they have. It is pleasing to the Lord if every brother and sister takes care of the co-workers in such a way. Out of their care for the co-workers, the brothers and sisters should follow the Lord’s leading to give to certain ones, and thus there is no need to designate that the offering is for the work. This practice would save the senior co-workers the trouble of distributing the offerings. However, although we care for the workers who go out and for their work, sometimes we may have the capacity to offer a sum of money yet not know where it should be used practically. For this situation, we can take a simple way; that is, we can put money in an envelope and designate it for the work. This sum of money will then be handed to the senior co-workers after the brothers take it from the offering box of the church. These co-workers will not keep the money for their own use; rather, they will distribute it to the workers according to the need in the work. At the same time, if we have the intention to give an offering for the work, we should indicate clearly for which work the offering should be used. For example, two brothers may want to give particularly for the work in a certain local church. Hence, they should indicate clearly that it is for the work in that specific locality. Suppose a saint has a burden for Cebu; he should then write on the envelope, “For the work in Cebu.” If his concern is for the work in Iloilo, he can write, “For the work in Iloilo.” Then when the senior co-workers receive the money, they will distribute it according to the designation.
There is one final matter. A local church may decide to give one thousand dollars each month for the work. This sum is what the church has decided to give; it is not something that the church owes the work, nor is it a salary that the church gives to the workers. The elders should be very clear that they are setting aside one thousand dollars each month from the offerings of the church to support the work of propagation and the workers who go forth. However, the workers and the work they support are matters that require much prayer before the Lord. Although a church has decided to designate one thousand dollars each month for the work, if the church does not give this amount to the work, it does not owe the work. There is no such thing as a church owing the work. Even though a decision was made, if the church never gives the work anything, it still does not owe anything to the work. This is because there is no organization among us. When saints who love the Lord see some brothers and sisters being called by the Lord to spread the Lord’s work in a distant place, they may personally want to express their desire before the Lord by having fellowship with these brothers and sisters through the giving of material supply. This applies to an individual as well as to a local church. Either an individual saint or a local church can give money each month in order to fellowship with the workers in the matter of material supply; however, there is no obligation as in an organization.
If the Lord does not give the church the capacity, it should not give even one dollar, much less one thousand. If the brothers and sisters disagree with and disapprove of the co-workers and their work of propagation and are not inwardly moved to give, they can look on without rendering any help. They may do this, and they are not wrong. We are not in an organization; rather, we are before the Lord. The local churches, the co-workers, and the work are absolutely before the Lord and are not part of any organization; therefore, they have complete liberty in the matter of taking care of one another.
Individual saints can supply the local churches, and the local churches can supply individual believers who are in need. Likewise, both the local churches and the individual believers can supply the workers, and when the workers see that the churches or the believers are in need, they can also supply the churches and take care of the brothers and sisters. Individual saints, the churches, and the workers in every place can take care of other workers and the propagation work in other places. There is no authority or restriction as in an organization; everyone has absolute freedom to live before the Lord.
Perhaps some may think, “What if the workers fail to receive material offerings?” We do not need to worry about this; this is a matter of their faith in the Lord. Perhaps some may say, “What if some receive too much?” We also do not need to be jealous; this is a matter of their being accountable before God. However, we should remember that a proper local church does not accumulate when it has received more than is needed; likewise, a proper worker does not save up for himself when he has received more than he needs. If the workers and the churches live before the Lord, when they receive more than is needed, they will keep only enough to meet their expenditures and give away the surplus. I can boast that for the past thirty years, the co-workers in China have never saved up for themselves. Their money is always in circulation.
Perhaps we may have had only one thousand yuan, but the money circulated to the point that it was as if we had twenty or thirty thousand yuan. For example, ten brothers and sisters may have given one thousand yuan to a local church. However, the local church may need only one hundred yuan. As a result, the church might then give the remaining nine hundred yuan to three co-workers. The three co-workers might each spend one hundred yuan and have a remainder of six hundred yuan. Thus, when they saw brothers and sisters in need, they can give them some money as well as send a portion to co-workers overseas. When the overseas co-workers received the offering, they might not feel that it was needed because the Lord has already given them enough. If they sensed that other local churches had a need, they can send it to them. The money given by the ten saints was one thousand yuan, and when the local church received this amount, it was recorded in the account book. Then when a portion of it was sent out, three hundred was recorded in each of the account books of the three co-workers. Eventually, after repeated recordings, the total of all the recordings would be twenty or thirty thousand yuan.
For this reason, when we were in mainland China, there was no way to calculate how much material supply we actually received. Every one of us was supplying others; hence, we truly saw the Lord’s presence in the matter of finances. It seemed that even a little money became an abundance. This practice is very different from the practice of storing up treasures. According to such a practice, if an individual has excess money, he stores it up; if a church receives extra money, it deposits the money in the bank. In contrast, our money was always in circulation and never stopped at a certain place. Because of this, we were able to express the Lord’s abundance. We did not have a headquarters, organization, or center, and there were no statistics. We did everything before the Lord.