“Where there is no vision, the people run wild” (Prov. 29:18, Heb.). For us to run a straight course we need a vision. If the vision is clear, we shall not be misled. After answering some questions, I would like us to consider together what the Lord’s recovery is.
Romans 16:17 says, “Keep a watchful eye on those who make divisions.” How can we keep the oneness yet not open ourselves to a negative element?
This is a clear principle given us in Romans 16. We surely need to be on the alert regarding divisive ones. Yet I would encourage you to love the saints more than watch for divisiveness. The love should occupy perhaps eighty per cent of us, but the watchfulness only twenty per cent. Otherwise, our attitude toward one another will be one of suspicion rather than care. If we emphasize loving rather than being watchful, we may be able to help a brother who shows signs of being divisive.
What can we do when language causes a separation?
This kind of separation is best helped by providing interpretation.
What should we do if we see that someone is divisive?
A surgeon’s decision to operate is not easily made. He hesitates to sacrifice some part of the body unless this is essential to maintain the life. It is not simple for us to handle the sickness of divisiveness in the Body either. As members of the church, we should be keen to sense if there are some brothers who are subtly and secretly divisive. Though we should not be blind or ignorant, we should nonetheless be loving toward such brothers. Because we want to cover and preserve them, we may in a loving tone hint to them that some are aware of their divisive intent. A thief will not steal if he knows everyone has been alerted and is watching for him! By such a loving way we may quench the divisive fire.
The elders especially must be wise and loving not to cut off one who is secretly working to cause division. When a member of our body is sick, we must tenderly care for that part, seeking the best medication or even an operation to heal it. We have followed this practice in the past and have seen many divisive ones healed and recovered. Never again did they practice their subtle undermining; they realized they had been healed of a sickness.
It is not a simple matter to practice the church life and to keep the oneness. Others may not see through the divisive one’s subtle ways. If you have the insight and the wisdom, you will keep tabs on him, watching his movements and his contacts with different ones. Then, as the Lord leads, you may have a hidden opportunity to say some “inoculating” words to help heal him of his “illness.” You will also need to be wise to know when to talk with the elders about his situation. You may need to wait a month before the time will be ripe for exposing the matter to the elders. How much we have to learn about keeping the oneness!
Should there be different levels in the church? When you come to visit, for example, shouldn’t everyone be invited to meet with you instead of just the important ones?
I am sorry to say that this type of question indicates an unhealthy condition. Whatever the state of the church- whether there are two levels or twenty-two levels-you should have no criticism and nothing to say. As long as you talk about levels, you are opinionated and a factor of damage.
The truth of the matter-not my opinion!-is that every family has levels. There is a grandparents’ level, a parents’, an older children’s, and a younger children’s. When we invite saints to our house, I don’t ask my two-year-old granddaughter to come and join our conversation. It would be silly of her to protest that I am keeping levels! The church is a family. Surely the elders are not on the same level as those who were saved just last week. There is also the level of those who serve as deacons and deaconesses. There are some who bear the burden to minister from the Word. Your level depends on your growth in the Lord.
In 1 John 2 the Apostle John distinguishes between fathers (vv. 13-14), young men (v. 14), and little children (vv. 13, 18). The fathers have the experience of knowing the Father, so they have become fathers. The young men are strong and have overcome the Devil because of having the Word in them. The little children-even the little children-have the anointing within.
Be careful not to allow democracy to creep into the church. We may all be brothers, but we are not the same age. Boys four years old can’t be trusted to cook a meal; they may make a mess even if you ask them only to empty the trash! Our level in the church is according to our spiritual growth.
What shall we do about Children’s Meeting?
Firstly, go to the elders and pray with them. This is your family; it is not for me to say what to do with your little ones. Have fellowship and prayer with the elders and see what you should do.
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