Whenever we are making a proposal, we should sense that the Lord’s cross is present. Many brothers and sisters did not argue or fight when they loved the world instead of the Lord and did not care about anything related to the church. They were not interested in anything related to the church, because their attention was focused on the world. Such people certainly have no need to argue or fight. The sad thing is that when they receive grace and turn to love the Lord, they begin to serve the Lord with their opinions, demanding that others do things according to their way. They may have an opinion concerning the way we should read the Bible or concerning how we pray, whether we should pray loudly or quietly. At first they expect everyone to be the same as they are. Actually, no one should expect others to be the same. If we consider each one of us, no one has the same face. Each of our faces is unique. Moreover, some of us are big in stature, and some are small. None of us are exactly the same.
It is a pity that whenever we touch the things of the Lord, we tend to insist that others be the same as we are. Often we do not support or say Amen to those who are different from us, and we do not go along with them. For instance, we may feel that it is time to preach the gospel, but others may talk about having daily fellowship with the Lord and returning to His presence. If this is the case, we might condemn them for being mystics and say that they are taking the way of Madame Guyon. Consequently, a debate may ensue in which we clearly indicate that we disagree with them. Conversely, if we are persons learning to touch the Lord through fellowship, we may think that those zealous for the gospel are fleshly and that we should not take part in their activity. In both illustrations the “I” can be fully seen. If others are talking about fellowshipping with the Lord, although we may feel that this is the time to preach the gospel with zeal, we should say, “Thank and praise the Lord, for years I have not learned this lesson. I pray that the Lord would have mercy on me to open my eyes that I may see. I need to be broken and learn to fellowship with the Lord.”
Often when we are serving with others, we may observe them in order to see what kind of temperament and personality they have. If we are a slow person coordinating with a quick person, we may feel that we simply cannot serve with him. We may hold the opinion that a quick person cannot make it into the Holy of Holies and that because there are many curtains within the tabernacle, a person should not move too quickly. In fact, a person who walks quickly may be more spiritual than one who walks slowly. We should not measure others according to these things. These outward matters are all related to the flesh and according to our preference. It does not matter whether a person walks quickly or slowly; the Lord Jesus is still the Savior. When we serve the Lord together, any kind of proposal should be allowed. What matters are not the proposals but whether there is proper coordination. This is a matter of principle.
A brother may say, “The more a certain brother opens his mouth, the less I can say Amen to him, because my spirit does not respond.” We need not argue regarding whether or not our spirit responds; rather, we should be concerned about whether or not the “I” within us has the ground. We cannot say that we have never touched the Spirit in another brother’s prayers. When we touch God through one of his sentences, we should say Amen. In our coordination of service we must learn to always place ourselves under the cross. The brothers can propose anything as long as no proposal is from the “I,” and the brothers can do anything as long as the proposal from the “I” is placed under the cross. Whatever the brothers propose matters, but the proposal from the “I” does not matter. There is no “I” in coordination. If we serve together in this way, our problems will cease to exist, and in all our serving we will be filled with the Lord’s presence. There is no need to talk about submitting to authority or walking according to rules, and there is no need to talk about staying within the limit of our authority in our appointed service. There is even less of a need to inquire concerning whether and to whom the elders have granted the authority to decide what to do and what not to do.
Such considerations are important in the political arena and in secular society, but there is no such thing in the church of God. In the church there is only the cross. Every one of us—whether we are an elder, a deacon, or a brother or sister in a district meeting—should take the cross. If each of us takes the cross, there is no need to talk about authority, walking according to rules, the limits of one’s authority, or the right procedure for doing things. We need to see that a condition of harmony, one accord, and oneness is the proper condition of the Body. When each of us takes the cross, allowing the cross to crucify the “I,” the Holy Spirit will have the ground, Christ will have the sovereign rule over us, and God’s presence and God’s blessing will surely be among us. We do not need to exhort the brothers and sisters, because exhorting avails nothing. Neither do we need to help the brothers and sisters to make decisions or resolutions. We need only to share with them that the secret of the church life is to have no “I,” no self, that is, to live under the killing of the cross. This is not a doctrine but should be a reality in all of our serving.
If the Lord would give us grace, we should learn to serve without the “I.” We are laboring and paying a price to serve; however, if we do not receive the Lord’s mercy, we may end up taking a man-made, mechanical way to carry out the church life. Only by taking the way of coordination in the Body will we be able to think so as to be sober-minded, not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think (Rom. 12:3). It is only in this way that we can endeavor to function in our measure, in exactly the place that is suitable for the power of the Holy Spirit to be released and in which He is able to manifest His gift in every believer. As a result, the Lord’s presence, leading, blessing, and riches will be expressed among us. The key to all these matters is receiving the dealing of the cross.