In the New Testament economy nothing is more serious than insulting the headship of Christ. In the previous Life Message we pointed out that the church is built with Christ as life and with oneness as its ground. There is one further aspect. For the church to be safeguarded, it must be built according to the truth. Of all the truths related to the church, the most important one is the headship of Christ. Life is crucial, oneness is important, but without the headship of Christ the church is not safeguarded. As some of the questions below illustrate, this matter is related to leadership among the saints.
Why do we who follow the churches turn first this way and then that way?
Too often it is true that we sway back and forth. With no sense of direction eventually we are all disappointed. This needless turning first to the right and then to the left is a sickness in the churches. The cause is the failure to practice the truth. We must all come back, not only to life and oneness, but also to the truth. Any movement, any direction, or any speaking that leads to a hierarchy is an insult to the headship of Christ; as such it must be rejected. By practicing the truth in this way, each local church will be safeguarded from fluctuating and be kept to the one goal.
What is the function of a full-time worker?
According to the Bible, for one to be a full-time worker, he must have a ministry or burden from the Lord that occupies all his time, and he must also be in an environment that can provide him with his living. You recall that Paul was fully occupied by the Lord’s work. After a certain time, however, his environment did not supply his material needs, and he resumed his occupation of tentmaker (Acts 18:3).
How can one serve and even help others to serve in a proper way in spirit and under the headship of Christ?
With the church service, the less direction there is, the better. There is, however, the practical need to know, for example, where the mops and cleaning supplies are. If you can help by saying where they are, such a direction is not an offense to Christ’s headship. Be careful, on the other hand, not to issue kingly directives: “Sisters, you can go clean over there. Then go and help those downstairs to finish.” This is a matter of the attitude of the spirit. If you help others because they need some help, that is good. If you help others in the spirit of being the service group leader, that is poor.
That we should not take the role of head is a far-reaching truth. It governs the elders, the co-workers, the saints, and the churches. It will kill the ambition which is in all of us as fallen human beings.
Then if you see the need and take the initiative, is that in the same realm as taking the headship?
It is the Lord’s place to initiate. To bring to the Lord what we propose and ask His blessing on it, as is the common practice in Christianity, is an insult to His headship. We must respect His lordship by letting Him initiate; unless He does, we refrain from doing anything.
Suppose when you were in our locality you were not speaking the truth. How would the brothers deal with the situation?
In order to avoid confusion, the elders would probably not interrupt the meeting. But there would be no second meeting. After that first meeting, the elders would invite me to their home and tell me in a gracious way that I was not speaking according to the truth and that the church could not take it; would I please refrain from going further?
It would not be too good for the administration of the church to step in and stop the speaker, but for a single saint to do so is according to the Bible. (“Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge,” 1 Cor. 14:29.) A saint may interrupt the speaker by saying, “Brother So-and-so, I have a question to ask. You have said such-and-such, but it seems to me this is not according to the truth. Please prove it to me.” If all the churches and all the saints are this alert, think how careful the speaker will be.
On the other hand, a church which takes whatever I say just because I say it is not healthy and does not know the truth. If you follow what I tell you, it must be because you have checked that it is according to the truth. It must not be a matter of following a man but of keeping the divine truth. If what is spoken is checked out by every saint and by the church to see that it is according to the truth, we shall be kept from falsehood.
Be sure your questioning is done in the Spirit. In the church everything must be genuine and true, but it must also be in spirit. If you challenge a speaker, you must do so in your spirit with love. We are not opposing someone; we are studying the truth. Let us go on, then, by growing in life, by keeping the oneness, and by seeking after the truth.
When something is bothering us and we want to take that to the Lord, that is not the same as going to the Lord with a purpose, is it?
The best contact with the Lord is simple. Whatever burdens or problems I have, I come to Him without any. I lay them aside to come to Him with no purpose. The truth of the matter is that the Lord is bearing our burdens. A number of times I have gone to Him with my burdens, and He has said, “Foolish child, why do you bear the burdens which are on My shoulder? Why don’t you just enjoy Me?”
This is a basic lesson for our whole Christian life. If we learn to cast our burden on the Lord, we shall grow. Don’t think that if you don’t bear the burden, no one will. The Lord will bear it.
Home | First | Prev | Next