We need to understand that the wind of teaching is not the “wind of pagan religions” as rendered in the Chinese Bible. This phrase in Greek refers to teaching, because the word teachers in Ephesians 4:11 has the same root as teaching in verse 14. Seeing this point is a great help to us. In the past we might have thought that the phrase wind of teaching refers to the winds of other religions, that is, to the deceptions of other religions. Based on the Greek, however, Paul was not speaking concerning this at all. He was referring to teaching that does not take Christ as the center in the church. We should not consider that the winds of teaching are the winds of pagan religions.
In our preaching we should never depart from Christ as the center so that our preaching of the Word and our preaching for edification do not become winds of teaching. If we want to stand against Satan’s strategy, we must be according to Christ and be joined to Christ in our preaching. Whenever we are detached from Christ in our preaching, we will be void of life, and our preaching will become a wind of teaching that will blow and toss people about. If we have truly seen that Christ is the center, no matter what we preach, we will speak from Christ and return to Christ. This is like a wheel which has a center, a hub. The central point of our preaching is Christ, and this One crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). Like the wheel, it has a hub. There are also spokes that come out from the hub and the rim. There are many truths on the rim, but we cannot speak the truth from the standpoint of the rim; rather, we must speak from the center to the rim, and then return from the rim back to the center. In this way, the word we preach will not lose its center.
If we want to speak concerning baptism, we must speak from Christ as the center. This is how Paul spoke. He said, “Are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” (Rom. 6:3). In contrast, many people today debate over the practice of baptism, and these debates take people away from Christ. This is the same with the matter of head covering. When Paul spoke of head covering, he began from Christ. He said, “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:3). He spoke regarding head covering by starting from Christ and returning to Christ. There is no need for us to speak to the sisters concerning head covering. As long as we bring them into Christ, they will spontaneously cover their heads. If there are sisters who are against head covering, we do not need to debate with them; we must simply bring them into Christ as the center. At a certain point, they will say to the Lord spontaneously, “O Lord, I take You as the Lord of all; You are the Head over all things.” At this time, they will certainly sense that they need to cover their heads. This is to speak concerning head covering starting from Christ, through Christ, and returning to Christ.
Concerning the matter of standing against the devil, we cannot skip over Ephesians chapters 1 through 5 and go directly to chapter 6. In order to stand against the devil, we must reign with Christ in ascension because we cannot stand against the devil outside of Christ. Outside of Christ, we cannot stand against the devil; rather, the devil stands against us. If this is the case, we fall into the winds of teaching, into the error of Satan’s scheme and system. In Ephesians 6 the warrior standing against the devil has died with Christ, has been resurrected with Christ, and is seated in the heavenlies with Christ.
All teaching must come out of Christ, pass through Christ, and return to Christ. Even if we speak messages concerning things on the rim, we still need to begin from the center, pass through the center, and come back to the center. If a person has not seen the center, he will always speak from the rim, and his speaking will become a wind of teaching that distracts people from Christ. All of our problems lie in not seeing Christ as the center. When we see that Christ is the center, everything is very simple. Since 1934, God has gradually opened my eyes to see this. From 1944 until today, I have rarely spoken a message that is apart from Christ. No matter what I speak, I speak of Christ. If Christ is not spoken of, the message has no substance. No matter what we speak, we must come back to the center—Christ and His cross.
When we speak concerning how to administrate the church, our goal must be for the saints to know the Son of God and to discern the winds of teaching (Eph. 4:13-14). The administration of the church is the dispensing of Christ into the brothers and sisters. Some people are concerned that their preaching may become winds of teaching because of their inadequate knowledge of the Son of God, and for this reason we must firmly grasp this principle: We should speak to the level of our knowledge of the Son of God; we should never speak more than this. The Son of God is the center, and we should speak from the knowledge we have of Him. Even though sisters do not stand on the podium to release messages, in their constant contact and conversation with people, they also should not exhort other sisters, saying, “You should not wear anything red or flowery.” If they speak in this way, it will become a wind of teaching. Instead, we should first let people see that the Lord is in us as life. Even though this point is simple, it is a high principle. We need to tell the people whom we contact about this, and in our testifying and conversation, we should let them see that the Lord is in us as our life. If we know only this and speak only this, it will cause those whom we contact to be blessed. Speaking anything else will become a wind of teaching. Our service in the church is to serve Christ to others; our administration in the church is to administer Christ to others. We can minister only what we have. We should minister what we have, and we should not minister more than what we have. This is a simple principle.