Now we need to see how the four living creatures are coordinated. Each of the living creatures faces one direction, respectively facing north, south, east, and west. As they face these four directions, two of their wings spread out and touch the adjacent creatures’ wings, forming a square. Each of the living creatures uses two of his wings to join with other living creatures.
Ezekiel 1:12 says, “And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.” Here we see that every one of the living creatures goes straight forward. They do not turn, but some return, that is, move backward. For instance, while one of the living creatures is moving toward the north, the living creature facing the south must return, moving backward. Thus, one goes straight forward while the opposite creature moves backward. At the same time, the other two living creatures must move sideways. One moves sideways to the left, and the other moves sideways to the right. No matter in which direction the living creatures are moving, there is no need for any one of them to turn. One simply goes straight forward; one returns, moving backward; and the other sides move sideways. This is a beautiful picture of the coordination that we need in the church life.
Certain brothers and sisters cannot tolerate being coordinated together. Instead, they prefer to be separated and to do things on their own. As long as they are separated, there is no suffering. Once they are coordinated, there is a kind of suffering, because in coordination there is no freedom or convenience.
Coordination keeps us from making turns. If one is moving by himself, he may first move to the north and then turn and move to the east. Later he may turn again to move to the south and eventually turn once more and move to the west. He moves in many directions by making many turns. In the Lord’s ministry, on the contrary, there is no such turning. Instead, one moves straight forward, and those who coordinate with him move either backward or sideways.
If someone acts without coordination in the church service, doing things on his own, he will make a number of turns. If he functions in the way of doing many different things by himself, it will be necessary for him to make many turns. In the church service, however, there is no need for turns. Everyone has his function and position. He can simply go straight forward in his function and position. If there is the need to move in another direction, others can take care of that. There is no need for anyone to turn.
In the church life we all need to learn not only how to walk straight forward but also how to walk backward (that is, to return) and to walk sideways. Although this may seem quite awkward, we all need to learn this lesson. Otherwise, we cannot be coordinated.
One problem is that certain brothers and sisters either want to do everything or do nothing at all. Those who want to do everything want to be able to move in every direction. If they are asked to move in a particular direction, they will also want to move in other directions. This means that they want to make a lot of turns. No matter what direction is needed in the church service, they want to be able to walk in that direction.
In the proper coordination there are no turns. You walk straight forward or you either return by walking backward or you walk sideways. It is particularly difficult to walk sideways, and many brothers and sisters are unable to do this.
We need the proper coordination in the local churches. In some churches certain brothers and sisters are very capable and make many turns. Others are not very capable, so they do nothing. As a result, there is no coordination. If we would have coordination in the church life, we all need to learn to walk straight forward, to walk backward, and to walk sideways.
If in a local church one brother has a ministry to preach the gospel and another has a ministry to build up the saints, they must coordinate. Otherwise, they may cause a problem. If there were only one ministry—the ministry of preaching the gospel of building up the saints—there would be little or no problem. However, if brothers with different ministries do not know how to coordinate, they will compete and may even strive against each other. The brother who is burdened for the gospel may contend for the outreach and the increase, and he may try to convince others to join him. The brother who is burdened for the building up of the saints may criticize the one who is burdened for the gospel, claiming that he brings in new ones but does not care for them. Then he might encourage others to help him to take care of the new ones. The result of this lack of coordination between these two brothers may be division, with some concerned only for the gospel and others concerned only for shepherding.
Since brothers have different ministries, what should they do? They should learn to coordinate. This means that when the brother who is burdened for the gospel is functioning, moving straight forward, the brother who is burdened for shepherding should learn to walk backward. Likewise, when the brother who is burdened for shepherding is functioning and moving straight forward, the brother who is burdened to preach the gospel should walk backward. The other saints should follow these two, walking sideways, sometimes in the direction of the ministry of gospel preaching and at other times in the direction of the ministry of shepherding.