Now that this distraction is apparently over, the churches seem to be doing quite well, to be going on steadily. From my observation, however, I would say that their attention is not fully centered on the focus. Some places are centered on good meetings; others, on the proper increase. By proper increase I do not mean the kind that was promoted from 1973 to 1978; I mean the proper increase. Some churches are endeavoring to build up their kind of church in their locality, with a bigger number, with more vitality. Because they realize they cannot do that much, they invite me and others as well, to go and help.
Brothers, even if you visit five or ten churches, I doubt you will find one whose church life is really centered on the focus of God’s economy. I do not like to disappoint you and be unappreciative of all your good points, while pointing out your shortcomings. I do not like to do that, but my burden is to tell you frankly and honestly that the actual condition of the churches is not that encouraging. Whether you feel encouraged or not depends upon your point of view. This is why I say we must pray desperately that we may see the Lord’s real testimony today, His real recovery, His real move. Once you have seen this, you will have the right point of view. Then you will not be satisfied with the condition of the churches because it is hard to find one that is centered on God’s focus.
We must look to the Lord that we may concentrate everything—our time, our energy, our physical, material things—on this one thing, that is, the testimony of the Triune God. We need more prayer, more fellowship, more meetings. We are here only for this. Of course, we have to do something to make a living. That is a necessity. But apart from having a job to make a living, we have no necessity. We are not for a good living, pleasure, enjoyment on this earth. We are here only for the Lord’s recovery of His testimony. We are not merely for good meetings, high meetings, living meetings. We are not merely for good Bible teaching. Nor are we merely for good gospel preaching. We are for a living testimony.
Do not use the excuse that the saints in your locality are too new to understand. Even if we are preaching the gospel to sinners who are hearing it for the first time in their whole life, you can still preach the Father’s nature, the Son’s embodiment, and the Spirit’s expression. What we speak depends on how much we have seen the central focus, and how much we are burdened.
We must first check ourselves. Have I seen the real focus of God’s economy? Am I burdened with this? Or is what I say merely what I have heard about the local church, about the ground, about this and that teaching? The problem lies with us. If we have not seen, then we are just doing a Christian work. We are merely helping people to know God in a general way and perhaps to take the church ground. But is there a lampstand? The church ground is not the lampstand.
Some of the dear leaders in the local churches even stress the matter of the ground not in the light of life. The ground in some leaders’ minds has become a doctrine. I gave you ten messages on The Genuine Ground of Oneness (in 1979). My reason for giving those messages was because many of the leading ones understood the ground in a doctrinal way, not from the life point of view. Those messages were given from the life viewpoint.
Brothers, forgive me for my frankness. I wonder how many of you have gotten into those ten messages. No need to say the elders far away from here, even you who have been here with me at least six years, I doubt that you have really gotten into those messages, which speak of the genuine oneness from the life point of view.
Brothers, nothing can keep you in the recovery, nothing can keep you one with the brothers, except this vision. Paul says, “I was not disobedient to the...vision” (Acts 26:19). Only this can keep us. It has to be our life, our living, our work, our burden, our everything. Surely we must preach the gospel, but we preach with this as the focus. Surely we must expound the Bible, but we teach with this as the focus. Surely we want good meetings and a good church life, but the meetings and the church life must have this as the focus.