We need to follow the early apostles in making up the lack of Christ’s afflictions for the church. We also need to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings for the building up of the church. The goal of our Christian work must be the building up of the church. However, if we care only for such activities as preaching the gospel or teaching the Bible, we may be welcomed and appreciated. But if the goal of our preaching and teaching is the building up of the church, we shall be opposed by the religious ones.
What is our goal in preaching the gospel? It is not simply to save sinners from hell. It is to obtain material for the building up of the Body of Christ. When I was in religion, I heard many messages encouraging us to preach the gospel. We were always asked to consider God’s love and sympathy for pitiful sinners, and we were told to have the same feeling toward them. Sometimes preachers would say, “Thousands are going to hell every day. Is your heart untouched by this?” Some would be inspired by this preaching and with tears respond to the altar call to become ministers of the gospel. The term “soul winning” is very common in today’s Christianity. But what is the purpose of soul winning? Have you ever heard that soul winning is for Body building? Nevertheless, Paul’s goal in preaching the gospel was the building up of the Body. This is why he was persecuted and why he suffered.
Surely the Jews were the people of God during the time of the Lord Jesus on earth. Did they not daily offer up sacrifices to God? Did they not have the temple which was built according to God’s revelation and instruction? The answer to these questions is yes. But one day Jesus came. He did not care for the temple in the way the Jewish religionists did. When His disciples were admiring the buildings of the temple, He said, “A stone shall by no means be left upon a stone which shall not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:2). Who could have dared to say this? If you had been there and had spoken these words, the Jews would have killed you. This was the reason they persecuted the Lord Jesus.
In the book of Acts we see that those in the Jewish synagogues accused the Apostle Paul of being a “pestilent fellow” (Acts 24:5). Wherever Paul went, he caused trouble. Therefore, he was opposed by the religious people, by the so-called people of God.
It is the same today. If we preach the gospel only for the sake of soul winning and rescuing people from hell, we probably shall not suffer very much. In fact, we may find ourselves welcomed in many places. However, if we take the building of the Body as the goal of gospel preaching, we must be prepared to suffer, even to be opposed and persecuted. Religion does not agree with the building up of the Body. Some Christians have even lied about us, classifying us with those in cults and evil, blasphemous movements. In 2 Corinthians 6:8 Paul said that he had experienced both evil report and good report. If, as you serve the Lord, others give only good reports concerning you, I would question your faithfulness to the Lord. If you are faithful to the Lord, today’s religion will criticize you and spread evil reports about you.
Apparently, religion is for God; actually, it is against God’s economy. Nothing is more subtle and damaging to God’s economy than religion. Winning souls does not affect religion; rather, it helps it a great deal. But whenever you talk about the building up of the Body, religion is threatened.
Consider what Paul did when he was Saul of Tarsus. He was a leader in his religion, and he did everything possible to derive benefit from that religion. However, on the way to Damascus, he was caught by the Lord. After his conversion, whatever he did amounted to a tearing down of religion. Paul was bold. The Lord Jesus annulled the Sabbath day, but Paul annulled something even more important to Judaism—Paul annulled circumcision. The Jews condemned Paul for teaching others to discontinue the practice of circumcision. If Paul had been concerned only with soul winning, he would not have offended people. Paul did not say, “I must keep all the doors open. Therefore, I shouldn’t say a word about circumcision. I must not say anything contrary to the Jewish religion. For the sake of soul winning, I must maintain a good relationship with the religious people.” If Paul’s concern was merely the saving of souls, this could have been his practice. But since he was for the building up of the Body, there was no way for him to do this. For the sake of the producing and building up of the Body of Christ, Paul shared in the sufferings of Christ.
Often people have told me that they appreciated my ministry with the exception of my ministry concerning the church. Some have even pleaded with me not to speak of the church. One instance of this took place in Texas in 1964. I had been invited to Dallas to speak to a certain group of Christians. One evening after the meeting, my host said to me, “Brother Lee, we appreciate your ministry. However, we wish to make it clear that this audience cannot accept any word about the church. In your messages, please don’t say anything about the church.” I replied, “It is important for you to realize that the more I minister on Christ as life, the more the saints will hunger for the church.” During the last meeting, I had the Lord’s leading to speak on the Body from Romans 12. I knew that if I did not speak regarding the church, I would not be faithful to the Lord or honest to the audience. Although I knew my host and others would be offended, I proceeded to speak a strong word about the church life. Unhappy with my speaking, my host did not even rise up to see us off when we departed early the next morning. Nevertheless, one brother was greatly helped by that message on the church and, as a result, was encouraged to turn to the way of the Lord’s recovery.
For the sake of the Body of Christ, the church, we need to fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ. I can testify that I have been attacked and opposed simply because of my stand for the recovery of the church life. If you choose to stand for the church, be prepared for attack, misunderstanding, and rumors. Many evil things will be spoken concerning you. The reason for this is that the matter of the church stirs up the authority of darkness. Therefore, those who stand for the church must be prepared for the attack of the enemy. The Lord Jesus said, “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). This word indicates that the gates of Hades, the power of darkness, will do everything possible to frustrate the building up of the church. Praise the Lord that He has promised that the gates of Hades will not prevail!
If we are faithful and honest with respect to the Lord’s ministry and the stewardship of God for the building up of the church, we shall suffer attack, opposition, and evil speaking. In view of this, we need to look to the Lord that we may be covered by His prevailing blood. We also need to pray that the Lord may hide us in Himself as our high tower. As we hide in the Lord during times of suffering and affliction, we share in the fellowship of His sufferings. In this way we fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for the sake of the church.