We may ask what the difference is between the gifts and the ministry. The book of Numbers records how Balaam's donkey spoke a human language (22:28). Was that a ministry? That was not a ministry but a gift. This difference may also be illustrated by a Chinese person who speaks both Chinese and English. Because the Chinese language has been wrought into him, he speaks in Chinese spontaneously without effort. Because Chinese has been constituted into him, his speaking in Chinese is a "ministry." Because English has not been wrought into him, his speaking in English is a "gift."
What is a ministry? A ministry is the expression of what you are. To minister is to express what you are. To exercise a gift, though, may be a performance. When a man walks, moves, acts, and speaks, he expresses what he is. His expression of what he is, is his "ministry." A monkey can sometimes be trained to act like a man, but that is just a performance. That is a "gift." In today's Christianity there are many performances.
If the apostle Paul were to stay with us for a month, we would see that he himself is what he ministers. Paul was really what he ministered because what he had seen was wrought into his being. Eventually, he ministered what he was. The person was the message. In today's Christianity, a person may be merely eloquent and learned. His speaking may even be with a certain kind of religious tone. That is a performance. It is not the real thing. Paul, however, was different.
I came to know some famous Christian workers who talked much about the lessons of the cross. When I was with them, though, I did not see these lessons. My experience with Brother Nee was different. I was with him for over eighteen years. Sometimes he spoke about the cross, but I saw the cross in him. The sufferings that came to him from many directions were the working of the cross. The cross had been worked into Brother Nee. What he ministered was not merely a teaching by a gift. What he had was a ministry, and that ministry was what he was.
We should not appreciate the gifts so much. It was miraculous for Balaam's donkey to speak a human language, but we should not be overly excited about something like that. Instead, we have to gain the proper ministry. Then we will minister what we are to people. Our eloquence and our gift mean very little. It is easy for the devil to take advantage of our eloquence and gift to cheat us. We should not trust or appreciate our eloquence, our gift, or our talent. We may admire a certain person because he is so talented, but to be talented alone is terrible. In order to build up the church, we do not need mere gifts and teachings. We need the ministry. We need brothers and sisters who have been burned with some things revealed by God. Then they will have the ministry.
When a person has a ministry, he may not need to speak very much. His very presence ministers life to people. His presence in a meeting means much. If he is there, the meeting will be rich. If he is absent, the meeting will have a lack. Even his silent presence in the meetings makes a difference because he is a person who has a real ministry. He does not have mere teachings, knowledge, or gifts, but something of God in eternity has been wrought into his being. The presence of such a person makes a difference.
When the saints bring their troubles and problems into the presence of such a person, sometimes there is no need for him to say a word and the problems will be solved. I saw this in the past. When the saints bring their problems into such a person's presence, they receive the light. This person's presence becomes the light because light has been wrought into his being. When others are in his presence, they are under the enlightening. They see light in his light. Today in the church we need the ministry. Brother Nee always belittled and even condemned the gifts. He always stressed the ministry again and again.
First and Second Corinthians show the distinction between the gifts and the ministry. The first Epistle deals negatively with the gifts; the second speaks positively about the ministry. The church needs the ministry much more than the gifts. In the first Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul depreciated the gifts. In the second Epistle, the ministry is emphasized again and again. We have received this ministry, and this ministry is the ministry of the Spirit and of life (2 Cor. 3:6, 8). What is needed in the churches today is the ministry, not the gifts. After receiving the revelation, Brother Nee passed through many sufferings. Then the ministry came out of him. He had the ministry.