We must see that serving in the Lord’s presence is altogether a matter of coordination; it is not a worldly movement. In our serving, it is not proper for us to do absolutely nothing until the responsible ones make a decision or give instructions. At the same time, neither can we freely make decisions without consulting the responsible ones. The former is to serve according to dead letters, whereas the latter is to serve in the flesh. Neither is right. What is right is that we receive the Holy Spirit, the breaking, and the coordination. When we are in a proper condition, we will realize deep within that we need to be coordinated with others. If we are an Aaron or a Hur, we will see that our position is to support others.
In my experience of learning to serve during the past twenty to thirty years, there have never been any problems among the co-workers. This is because we have each seen our place in God’s arrangement, and each of us knows where we should be and what part we should fulfill. In Taiwan God has blessed us and His presence has been with us. We are learning to coordinate and to know our place. We are tired of the prejudices of different backgrounds, we absolutely avoid speaking corrupt words, and we are disgusted even more with walking according to the flesh. We rejoice to see every brother and sister inwardly receive the breaking and coordination. We know who we are and where we stand. We know whether we are a Moses, an Aaron, or a Hur. Spiritual coordination is by no means an arrangement in letter or a set of regulations in an organization. It is altogether a matter of the Spirit, a matter of spiritual order. We should never turn the spiritual order into letters or regulations in the manner of a worldly group or organization, which is very much of man. We are not an organized group, and we should not be under the control of an organization. Instead, we must have the coordination of the Holy Spirit inwardly. I hope that we will see this spiritual fact and continue to learn this lesson.
In regard to our practice, some of us may be part of a group of responsible ones, who meet in a certain district. One day, someone whom we have previously not met may come to our meeting and fellowship with us. Later we may find out that he is truly a believer and that he has been saved through another Christian group. Consequently, he may not have much understanding concerning our meetings or our present situation. When he inquires about our meetings, someone may tell him the schedule for all the meetings from Monday through Lord’s Day, and then he may indicate that he would like to come to the Lord’s Day table meeting. In this situation, some saints might tell him that he cannot yet break the bread with us, because it is necessary to first ask for instructions from those who are responsible for the district meetings, and they, in turn, need to ask for instructions from the elders. When everything is made clear after passing through multiple layers of instructions, he can then break bread with us. To reply in such a way is to behave completely according to organization, that is, according to dead letters. This is not our way. We do not need to help him understand all the rules and regulations; instead, we should prepare him spiritually for the table meeting and welcome him, giving him encouragement that is full of life. We need to give him an encouraging confirmation.
Every person who is truly saved will want to fellowship with the brothers and sisters. To break bread is to fellowship; the purpose of breaking bread is for us to fellowship with the Lord and to testify for the Lord before the enemy. We need to have a life of testimony and a life in resurrection; such a testimony will cause us to have sweet fellowship with others. For instance, we may say to a newly saved brother, “Brother, we break bread because we have the Lord’s life, and we live by the Lord’s life.” We should have some brief spiritual fellowship with him. Fellowship is to introduce and to receive. When we have spiritual fellowship with a new one, and when he receives help from us to come to the table meeting on the Lord’s Day, we can tell the responsible brothers in the district that he is truly saved and able to participate in breaking the bread. If a responsible one were to say, “If you bring someone to the Lord’s table without my permission, you are not keeping the regulations of the church” we can then have further fellowship with this responsible one. In our further fellowship with the responsible one, we can testify that in our fellowship with this new one, we touched the Lord’s grace, and we are willing to introduce him to the brothers and sisters. In this way the new brother will spontaneously be received into the fellowship. This is entirely not a matter of procedure but a matter of spiritual reality.
If every saved brother and sister lives in such a spiritual reality, there will be spiritual order. It does not matter whether or not we are called a “responsible one”; we still need to live in the spiritual reality. If we conduct ourselves merely according to our “designation,” we have failed. Likewise, if a brother feels that he has full authority to make decisions without caring for the elders, he is being fleshly. We are the church. As the church, we bring new ones to know the church, and we bring them to meet the elders. If the elders’ attitude is, “How could you receive people and let them take the Lord’s table without our approval?” this is Amalek, that is, the expression of the flesh. Concerning the receiving of new ones, the elders should be full of joy and lay their hands on them to bless them in spirit.
For the sake of having further contact and convenience in service, we should obtain the new ones’ addresses, asking them to fill out an information card. During the Lord’s table every new one should be introduced to the brothers and sisters in a good way. When we introduce new ones, we should not follow the way of business corporations that have a set of outward procedures but no Spirit within. Bringing the new ones to know the elders and asking them to fill out an information card is not a dead method or regulation. When we do this, we should allow the living Spirit a way to move. We must find a suitable time to introduce the new ones to the elders so that the elders can introduce them to all the brothers and sisters. This is not a mere formality. When the new ones are being introduced to the saints, if time permits, we can even ask them to give a little testimony in addition to their name.
We need to learn to live in spiritual reality, progressing forward according to the practices of the church, that is, neither following dead regulations nor doing things without restraint. There is no rank in the church; there is only a spiritual order. We should all learn to live in the spirit, each one functioning in his measure. We should hold to this principle not only in the matter of receiving others but also in all other matters. We should not depend on regulations or organization. We should touch the spiritual reality, living according to the practices of the church. In this way we will give the brothers and sisters a deep impression that we are living and not dead. When the brothers and sisters contact the responsible ones, they will receive a living supply. Moreover, when they contact the elders, they will receive the same living supply. After several such contacts, the brothers and sisters will surely be influenced.
The way we practiced the church life in the past was not wrong; however, because most of us are used to working in offices, we have made many items of our service formal. Even the way we talk about baptism has been formal and not very living. Our original intention was to make everyone living without any formalities. We must always have a view that regulations should be hated but that doing things without restraint should also be condemned. Every one of us needs to learn to be in the spiritual reality, accepting God’s arrangement in coordination and knowing whether we are a Moses or an Aaron. We should know that when Moses lifted up his hands in prayer, it was Aaron’s support that enabled Moses’ hands to be steady. In this way we will experience the Lord’s overwhelming blessing, and every meeting will be full of His presence.
We are not building up the church for ourselves, and we should not feel that this church or that church is ours. If God has had mercy on us in making us channels of blessing that transmit blessing to others, we should not recruit people and make them our following. We should all learn to maintain the one testimony of God on the ground of the local church while carrying out the ministry of the church for the sake of Christ, His Son. We all need to pray, asking God to help us receive the Holy Spirit, receive the breaking of the cross, keep to our measure willingly, and have spiritual coordination. All these are reality in the Spirit.