We must firmly grasp one thing, that is, we must take the knowledge of the Son of God as the center in our service to God. This is the same in our personal pursuit, and we also need to lead others to pay attention to this and know this. If we take care of this, we will have no base to argue with others. If a brother who holds a view that baptism by immersion is unnecessary and that baptism by sprinkling is good enough, what should we do? This is a matter of the administration of the church. If we reply, “We should bring this matter before the Lord,” our answer is too general. If, however, we only explain the significance of baptism by immersion to him, this may provide him with some points, but it will not touch the principle of leading him to know the Son of God. All opinions and debates are an outward cloak; the real issue is that we do not have an adequate knowledge of the Son of God.
We all have to admit that we do not have an adequate knowledge of the Son of God. All opinions, views, and ideas are due to an insufficient knowledge of the Son of God. If a sister maintains that she does not need to cover her head, we should never argue with her, because it is useless. From her word and spirit, we can sense that she is full of the self and does not know what it means to have the Son of God in her as life or what it means to give herself to the Son of God. But when she is willing to give herself to the Son of God, she will spontaneously cover her head when she prays; there will be no need for any exhortation from others. The Son of God is the answer to all the problems.
If a quarreling couple comes to us, what should we do? It is better not to touch right or wrong. We must see that this couple will not quarrel if they have a further knowledge of the Son of God. Hence, we do not need to exhort the husband or the wife, because this is futile. We should help them know Christ, the Son of God, who is life in them. The Son of God is the answer and solution to every problem. All of our problems are due to not having an adequate knowledge of the Son of God.
Therefore, in order to administrate the church, we must know the Son of God and be filled with Him until we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. If this is the case, the Christ in us will be the way, the means, and the principle in our administration of the church. How we administrate the church depends on our knowledge of the Son of God. One who does not know Christ, the Son of God, can hardly lead others to know Christ, the Son of God. If we cannot lead the saints to this center, we will have no way to administrate the church well.
If two brothers come to us, arguing over the Lord’s Day and the Sabbath, what should we do? What will happen if we say that according to doctrine the Lord’s Day is right and the Sabbath is wrong? If we administrate the church and handle the matters among the saints in this way, not only will Christ, the Son of God, be gone, but the spirit and life of the church will also be gone. If we truly know the Son of God, we will stand between these two brothers and bring them out of the extremes of their insistence back to the center—Christ. We must lead them to know the Son of God; this is where we find the reality of the church, the content of the church.
The basic requirement for the administration of the church is knowledge of the Son of God, Christ. If the saints have not arrived at the oneness of the faith, they will have different views sooner or later. How should we carry out the administration of the church when different views appear? Should we discuss their views? Should we give them teachings? This is not the proper way to administrate the church. The only way is to know Christ.
The matter of knowing Christ is not something that can happen all at once; instead, we need to learn to know Christ, the Son of God, in a normal way. The apostle Paul said, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph. 4:13). This means that he could help others because he had arrived at this matter though practice.
According to 1 Corinthians, there were disputes and problems in the church in Corinth. Some of the Corinthians were focused on signs, and some on wisdom (1:22), yet Paul said, “But we preach Christ crucified” (v. 23). It seemed that the believers in Corinth knew everything, but Paul knew only Christ, and this One crucified (2:2). In 13:1 Paul said that without Christ, the Corinthian believers were but sounding brass and a clanging cymbal. Paul answered all of their questions with Christ and the cross. He reasoned with them, and he also spoke of resurrection (ch. 15). Regarding their erroneous doctrines, he dealt with them according to the truth. However, he solved the problems in the church by Christ, not by doctrines. This is a great principle. Our problem lies in our inadequate knowledge and experience of Christ. The administration of the church can be carried out only in the knowledge and experience of Christ.