As a rule, a Christian must use his inner sense as the starting point. Basically, he does not need to seek out everyone for advice. Perhaps some weddings are from Babylon, while others may even be from the bottomless pit; not all weddings originate from Jerusalem. Since we are saved, we need to bring every matter before the Lord and pray, “Lord, since You live in me, what would You like to do?” This is being a Christian. I believe that hardly anyone has prayed to the Lord about every matter relating to his wedding. Many Christians who are getting married focus on the outward considerations rather than the inward peace as their starting point. As a result, a few weeks after their wedding, they have to go before God and ask for forgiveness. The fact that they have to ask for forgiveness is a strong indication that they did not do things according to the inner sense. Do not do things according to outward considerations, outward customs, human regulations, human opinions, and human endorsements, all of which are condemned before God. We have to learn to conduct ourselves according to our innermost part.
If a young man comes to ask us, “I am going to be engaged, so what should I do now? And what shall I do when I get married later?” Now, of course, we know how to respond and say, “I cannot decide for you. I cannot be your lord or master.” In fact, though, when some older ones hear about two young people getting married, they would eagerly offer their advice even before being asked. These ones do not understand what it means to be a Christian. Once there was a brother who came to me to talk about his marriage, and he gave me all the details of his situation. I simply told him, “Brother, have you seriously prayed about this matter before God? Have you turned this matter over to God? Are you in the hands of God? What is the sense in your innermost part?” He said, “I have prayed for this matter for a long time. But the more I prayed, the more confused I have become. Therefore, I would like to hear what you have to say because you have a deeper experience in the Lord. If you say it is all right, then it must be all right. If you say it is not all right, then it must not be all right.” When I heard this, I thought, this is serious! Therefore, I dared not say whether or not it was all right. I simply told him, “I cannot decide for you. You have to bring this matter before the Lord.” That brother expected me to come up with a plan or make a decision for him, but I could not. Finally, I told him, “Do not be distressed over this. This matter is quite simple. You need to put it before God, commit yourself to Him, and ask Him for guidance. You can tell Him, ‘If this matter is of You, cause me to become so clear about it within. If this is not of You, then let me sense the blockage.’” It is so simple. We all have to learn to bring all our matters before God and to live in our innermost part.
In order to be a normal Christian before God we need to learn to do everything from within, from our innermost part. When we help others, we should learn to turn them inward, into the innermost part of their being. Do not draw up a set of human regulations for them, do not ask them to do things according to our insight, and do not make decisions for them. These things are unbecoming to Christians and are beyond the bounds of the Christian living. Many elderly Christians have not been dealt with in their flesh or broken in their disposition. Such ones are full of opinions, methods, and ideas whenever people ask them for advice. This is not being a Christian but rather being a Mr. Know-it-all.
Christians live before God and learn to bring other people’s affairs as well as their own before the Lord. They do not dare to make decisions for themselves. Instead, they wait for God’s clear leading within them. This is being a Christian. We should be Christians not outwardly but inwardly. To be a Christian outwardly is to be a Christian apart from Christ. Human views, human methods, Christian traditions, and even biblical teachings are all outward if they have not passed through the inner sense. Being an outward Christian is quite superficial and is of no value before God. A genuine Christian does everything from within. He brings all matters to prayer and waits for an inner sense before making a decision. Even a new believer should know and behave in this manner. This type of person surely has the inner peace, rest, strength, and vigor.
Real Christians do not care for outward rituals; rather, they care for the inner life and spirit (Rom. 2:29) What may be proper and good outwardly may not necessarily be proper and good before God. What counts before God is to be proper and good inwardly. Until now many Christians have not yet been walking on this path. Although many people have embraced Christianity, only a few have truly lived this way before God. Some have been saved and have received blessings from God, but they live neither in their spirit nor in God’s blessings. They still do things according to traditions and customs and according to what others say or observe. In other words, they act according to outward factors. We have to learn to be simple, knowing nothing about natural affections and Christian traditions but knowing only that Christ lives in us and that we can have fellowship with Him. We go ahead and do a certain thing whenever Christ in us gives us the peace. We stop whenever the inner peace is absent. We will not care for what other people say. We care only for what Christ says in us and the inner sense He gives us.
In conclusion, Christians are peculiar before men, contradictory within themselves, and live in their deepest part before God. Some Christians encountered many difficulties and made many mistakes when they first began to walk on this path. Although they have made mistakes outwardly while living before God, in principle they are still right. Therefore, Christians should live and walk in a hidden way; they should not make a public show. Although Christians should not do things stealthily, they should not make a public display either. Some people like to make a show when they perform a good deed. This is not the Christian life. Genuine Christians live before God. Regardless of how many good deeds they perform, no one knows except their Lord and themselves. This is the principle in Matthew chapter six. Sometimes a person prays a little bit and eagerly desires to be heard by others or be followed by others with more prayers. However, those who are with him will not sense that his prayer carries any weight. The normal situation is that although you are humble, you do not display your humility before men; although you are meek, you do not show off your meekness before men. There are times when people who are being humble or meek cause us to be uncomfortable and uneasy. This is because they are doing it not from within but from without.
Forgive me for saying that many Christians like to imitate others. In particular, they like to imitate the seminary students in their way of walking while holding the Bible and gazing heavenward every few steps. That is to be pretentious. Please keep in mind that the more spiritual a person is, the more spontaneous, ingenuous, and ordinary he is. When you consider his humility, he does not look like one who is humble. When you consider his meekness, he does not look like one who is meek. You cannot see meekness in him just as you cannot see rudeness. He is so spontaneous and ingenuous, without any affectation.
In the Middle Ages in France, there was a renowned preacher who was well praised and whose preaching was very well received. Once he visited a place and many came to welcome him, but he eluded them. Instead, he went to a playground to be with a group of children. He found a wooden board and placed two children on one end, himself on the other end, and began to play seesaw with them. Those who were welcoming him searched all over only to find him playing seesaw with some children. Thus, many of them felt like cold water had been poured on them. They could not understand how a spiritual man could play with children. Consequently, some began to say that he was not spiritual. Later in his own words, he said that he would rather be considered not spiritual than spiritual.
Whether or not we are spiritual is a matter before God, not men. We are not Christians if we are Christians merely outwardly. We are Christians only if we are Christians inwardly. The Lord Jesus said that we should not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing (Matt. 6:3). A weighty Christian is a Christian inwardly; he is an inward Christian. Such a Christian is peculiar before men and contradictory within himself. Moreover, he does all things before God with his deepest part as the starting point. Therefore, Paul said, “The spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one” (1 Cor. 2:15). Why is it that no one can discern a spiritual man? It is because outwardly a spiritual man is very plain and, like Paul, may even be weak in bodily presence and contemptible in speech (2 Cor. 10:10). Yet he has the spiritual weightiness within, and he is a person who conducts himself in Christ and who lives before God. This is a Christian.
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