I do not wish to see anyone taking the extreme way. Do not condemn those who are engaged in commerce as soon as you meet them. They did not have the opportunity to choose their occupation. I knew a brother who was quite pure when he left school. After he went into business, his heart gradually became corrupt. He tried to make money day and night. If you wanted him to buy something for you, he would try to make some money in the process. He always tried to make some money from others. This is too poor. I believe such a person has been corrupted in his heart. We hope that anyone who can choose his own occupation will not go into pure commerce. We must open the eyes of those who are already in it and help them to have a change. Do not embarrass them, but at least show them the way clearly.
Pure commerce is never a good thing. We hope that ten or twenty years from now, it will be a tradition among us that no one goes into pure commerce. Hopefully, in the future all the brothers and sisters among us will build up the habit of shunning pure commerce. As God’s children, we would rather be teachers or manual laborers; we would not go into pure commerce. We would till the land and harvest wheat, barley, or rice and then sell the harvest. We would raise lambs from our sheep and then sell them. We would have our hen lay eggs and then sell them. We would have our cow produce milk and then sell it. We would make fabric and then sell it. We can do all these things. The more we work and produce, the more God will bless. The worst thing that can happen to us is that our brothers and sisters simply make a great deal of money. Nothing could be worse than this.
Today our brothers and sisters are the poorest among all those in the other denominations. If we are not careful, we could become the richest. Because we are more honest, diligent, and frugal than others, and because we do not lie, smoke, drink, or live in big mansions, it is possible that within a short time, all of the brothers and sisters will become wealthy. John Wesley once said before he died, “I am concerned for our people in the Methodist assembly. They are honest, diligent, and frugal. Soon they will become the richest people in the world.” Such a word has indeed come true today. The Methodists are the richest people in the world. But their testimony has been lost as a result.
We hope that all the new believers will earn their living by their own labor. We hope that they will not make money by taking in with one hand and taking out with the other. Our principle is to increase the abundance of the land, not the money in the world. If we do this, the money we receive will be clean, and when we offer it to God, it will be acceptable to Him. Every dollar will end up in a good place. Suppose a brother makes a basket and sells it and then offers the money to the Lord. This is much better than another brother who buys ten baskets, sells them, and then offers up his profit to the Lord. The amount of money offered may be the same, but the nature of the money is different. We hope that many brothers and sisters will see this principle. We must either labor with our hands or we must produce something. Both are according to the proper principles. I cannot forbid anyone from going into the business of pure commerce, but I would advise everyone to try his best to avoid pure commerce. This occupation will always drag a Christian down. We hope that the new believers among us will please the Lord in their choice of occupations.