Here is the burden. We brothers who are taking the lead in the churches must see this focus clearly. Otherwise, what we are doing here eventually will become a distraction to produce another work, and spontaneously there will be another ministry. Whatever we preach, whatever we teach, must be focused on this.
The hardest thing for us to do is to experience the things we ourselves preach and teach. We not only teach or preach, but we practice. Furthermore, we help the individual saints in every local church to practice these things.
If we are not in the focus and if we do not experience what we preach to others, we face two perils. One, sooner or later there will be divisions. Two, if we don’t practice the focal points, the saints have no way to practice them. The things we teach will eventually become doctrines in the Lord’s recovery. There will be no reality. The recovery will be just empty. Then in the sphere of the so-called recovery there will be divisions and emptiness. The only thing that can keep us permanently and absolutely one is the unique ministry to minister the unique focus. The only thing that can keep the Lord’s recovery full of reality is to practice what we now preach and teach and to help the saints in every locality to practice the same thing.
If we expect an increase either by evangelism or by the spreading of the doctrines we teach, we shall surely face these two perils. If we don’t care for the Lord’s recovery by paying heed to all these unique points, then we will care for the spreading of our work. To care for the spread of our work is dangerous. It will produce different works to build up different ministries. Then division will result. We can foresee this. Furthermore, if we don’t pay full attention to practice these things in our daily life and to bring all the saints in our local church into these practices in their daily life, the churches will be empty. I am fearful and trembling of these two perils: the peril of different works being produced to cause division and the peril of emptiness. We will have the ground of one church, one city, and we will have the scriptural teachings, yet there will be no real experience of Christ in our daily life.
We need to build up a local church in a very particular and fine way. It is not enough to bring new ones in, to have an increase; we must build them up by helping them to practice the focal things that we ourselves practice. We must be a pattern. The elders should not lord it over the flock but be an example, a pattern, of how to live Christ, how to practice the focal things (1 Pet. 5:3). This will create an atmosphere in the church which will influence all the saints to practice these focal things.
Such a living will also save us from being a movement. We grow in life and help the saints to grow in life, without paying much attention to the spread of the work. This doesn’t mean that we do not preach the gospel or spread the truth. We have to preach the gospel. We have to spread the truth. But these things are not our goal. Our goal is to minister to others the divine Trinity as the unique focus. At the same time, we ourselves practice the one spirit with the Lord and live Christ.
In the Bible everything is unique. Have you noticed that Barnabas eventually was gone? He went away. He had a good start. Actually he brought Paul in, but eventually he left. There is no more word concerning him. This indicates that the Bible doesn’t keep a record of two ways. According to the record of the Acts, there is only one way. Paul didn’t do another work. His work was a part of the New Testament ministry, just as Peter’s was.
You remember Paul’s word to Timothy: “I urged you...to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach differently” (1 Tim. 1:3). To teach differently is to minister something other than God’s economy, as Paul mentions in the next verse. Today on Christians’ bookshelves and in Christian bookstores there are many books on teachings, on doctrines, but there are very few books which are on the focus.
The perils of division and emptiness are crouching here. If we are not alerted by the revelation, it is easy for us to be ensnared either by one or by the other. We can easily be ensnared by emptiness and by the unconscious divisions.
We can be kept in the genuine oneness all the way to the end only by not doing another work. Watchman Nee never did a work other than Paul’s. He was very careful about this. He was on guard to do only Paul’s work. Just a little carelessness will bring us into this snare of division.
And if we don’t practice the focal things experientially, spontaneously we will fall into the snare of emptiness. We may boast that our teachings are scriptural, that we don’t have forms, rituals, or organization. It may be true that we don’t have these things, but we don’t have the reality either. What we have is just emptiness. This is quite serious, brothers. We have to be alerted to stay in the central lane, practicing all the focal things ourselves daily. We must also be burdened to help the saints in our locality practice these things, to grow in life that they might be genuinely and practically built up in the Trinity.
If we get into these things and see the central vision, and preach and practice it, and help others to get into the practice of these things, spontaneously all the other things will be adjusted. Just to adjust is still empty. What we need is not adjustment but focus.
There is a natural tendency to want big numbers, good meetings, good service, a good appearance for our local church. If we are not on the alert, we will unconsciously fall into this natural tendency. We don’t need to adjust these things. All we need to do is to pay full attention to the focus. I believe, brothers, that the only thing needed to preserve us in the recovery all the way to the end is to see all these unique things which I have mentioned. Just to see one church, one city is not adequate. As I said, that group practicing the “Ephesian line” also stresses one church, one city.
May the Lord bring us all and keep us all in the focus.