Christians possess a life that is not only willing to give but also reluctant to make a show. For example, a sister who plays the piano may be invited to a recital. She performs excellently and is praised by everyone. Do you think she can rejoice when she goes home? Do you think she can kneel down and pray? Normally, she cannot go home with joy. She loses her inner joy as soon as people shower praises upon her. This is a marvelous thing. On the contrary, if she performs poorly, although she will feel dejected outwardly, when she goes home she can kneel down to pray and be filled with joy from the Lord. Being reluctant to make a show is a special nature of the extraordinary life of the Lord Jesus.
People in the world all like to make a show of themselves. Christians, however, are unique-they dislike making a display of themselves. For example, in the matter of rendering help to others, most people are eager to make it known to everyone. Christians, however, are reluctant to make it known and feel uncomfortable, even unhappy deep within, if it has been made known. Christians can praise God and be filled with joy only when they help others without making a public display and without being known.
Christians are in contrast to the worldly people in many respects because they have a life which is quite different from that of the worldly people. For example, when someone in the world has been wronged, he likes to vindicate himself and even issue a public statement so that he can make himself feel comfortable. However, if a Christian does likewise, he will lose his inner joy. This does not refer to his outward being but to his inner life, the life that is in all those who have Christ within. When a Christian suffers injustice, naturally he is not happy, but the life within him rejoices. He can tell the Lord, “Lord, someone has wronged me by telling lies about me, but You know me.” He has the inner joy. This is to be a Christian. A Christian has an extraordinary life within him that gives him an extraordinary sense which leads him to live an extraordinary yet normal life. Such a life is unusual in the eyes of others but normal to the Christian himself. A Christian is normal in the sense that he is distinct from the worldly people and does not go along with the tide of the world because he has a peculiar life with a peculiar nature which is Christ Himself. Although many of his actions may seem unusual, and even strange or odd to others, they are manifestations of the peculiar life which he received when he was saved.
Many Christians can neither pray nor offer thanksgiving in the meetings. With some, of course, it is due to their timidity and shyness, but with most Christians it is because their spirit is void of joy and is oppressed. They may feel that they have not committed any sin or done anything wrong, yet their spirit cannot be uplifted. The main reason is that they have formed the habit of neglecting the sense in their spirit. Some, when they feel that they are wrong do not ignore their feeling. Thus, they are released and freed in their spirit. When they come to the meetings, they can pray and testify spontaneously. A difficult matter with most Christians is that they have a peculiar life with a marvelous sense, yet in their circumstances, due to their disobedience, they are unable to live out a proper condition. As a result, they are Christians inwardly but do not live as Christians outwardly. They have Christ within but do not look like Christ without. This is all because although they have the sense within, they do not have the obedience without. Consequently, there is no difference between their living and the living of ordinary people.
It is difficult to find an honest person, a person who tells the truth one hundred percent. Nonetheless, a Christian should not lie. Once when I was going to Shanghai, I had to buy a ticket for baggage transportation. A porter told me, “Sir, your baggage is at least five kilograms, which is just a little over ten pounds, but you may declare that it is only two pounds.” I felt uncomfortable because I could not lie, so I had my baggage weighed and ended up having to pay more freight charges. I knew that the porter wanted to help me, but he also wanted me to lie, so I could not listen to him. The porter stared at me angrily and said, “Do you not have a better place where you can use your money?” I simply smiled and did not say anything. He continued, “You are a foolish traveler. You simply do not know the rules of the game.” I just stood there while he scolded me. Many times we will find ourselves in the same kind of situation. What should we do when we are being tempted? If I had cheated and said two pounds as suggested by the porter, I would have gained some monetary advantage but would have lost my inner joy. Therefore, we should rather keep our inner joy.
Another time, I was being interrogated by the Japanese authorities. The Japanese officer asked me, “Do you believe in God?” I said that I believed in God. Then he asked, “Who is greater, God or the Emperor of Japan?” I said that God is greater. Again, he asked, “Who is first, God or your country?” I said God is first. On the next day, before the officer began his interrogation, an interpreter came to see me and said, “Mr. Lee, since the Japanese officer wants you to say that your country is first, you should just say it. Why should you say that your God is first?” Saints, I hope that we can all see clearly that in such situations, the unbelievers are watching to see whether or not we are special and different from them. We can either tell the truth and suffer or not tell the truth and escape suffering. The worldly people and even the demons are waiting and watching to see how Christians face temptations.
Thus, we can see that some brothers and sisters cannot pray because they act contrary to the nature of the life within them. In their living they are always either lying to others or deceiving themselves. The cheapest thing in the world is lying. For instance, when a guest comes to see us, the most convenient way to refuse him is to ask someone else to tell him, “So-and-so is not home.” In today’s society, whether in hospitals, in schools, in offices, or in other organizations, it is very difficult to find people who do not lie. This is because lying is the easiest way to resolve a problem. All that is needed is to speak or write a few words as one sees fit. For example, people generally misstate their expenses when they go on business trips or misstate their overtime charges. In brief, there is something special in Christians. If we are Christians, we must be those who are genuine, proper, and on the right track so that we can live out the extraordinary nature of the life that is within us.
Those who have lived in Shanghai know that commuters there commonly practiced a dishonest thing. One time when I was returning from Cha-pei to Shanghai, before I reached my destination, someone who knew that I was getting off shortly approached me to ask for my ticket, so that he could make money by reselling it later to another commuter. I refused to give it to him because I had the conviction that I should not help him sin. Since I had repeatedly refused to give him my ticket, I almost had a clash with him one time when we met on the same electric car again. Another time, I met another person who was also trying to resell used tickets and who lectured me, “This company is British-owned. Since you are a Chinese, you ought to help your fellow Chinese to make some money from the British people.” However, I have a peculiar life and nature within me. If I live and walk according to this life and nature, my spirit will be rejoicing, transcendent, and able to praise God; otherwise, I will feel depressed and lacking in joy.
Of course, it is convenient to ask someone to tell an unwelcome guest that we are not home, and there is also no great harm done to anyone when we help someone to reap some small gains by allowing him to resell our used ticket. Nevertheless, this will cause us to lose our inner joy. Although others will not find fault in us, our spirit will be deadened, and we will not be able to pray or give praises to God. In today’s society very few can stay away from lying. It is precious that we are able not to lie. It is indeed difficult for us to be truthful in an environment which is filled with lies and hypocrisies. Nevertheless, Christians must all be clear that this is not just a teaching or a principle in the Bible; rather, it is the peculiar nature of the life in us. This requires our exercise and practice.
To go against the tide means that, for instance, even though everyone believes it is all right to lie, we are troubled within. Lying causes us to lose the ability to pray, praise, and fellowship. Others lie but we cannot-this is the distinction between us and the worldly people, and this is also our peculiarity. Therefore, the Lord often gives us a feeling which is different from the feeling of the worldly people. If we ignore the feeling we have from Christ and go along with the tide just like ordinary people, we have lost our way before God because we have lost the peculiar nature within us. However, if we obey that feeling and walk accordingly, we become a special people who are in this world as God’s peculiar people upholding His marvelous testimony.
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