In January of 1933, Dr. Sung went to Chefoo to preach the gospel, and I went to listen to him. I could not help but shake my head when I listened to his preaching. He used the woman who had a flow of blood as an example (Mark 5:25-34). He drew a heart on the blackboard and said, “This is a human heart, and it is your heart, a black heart. Oh, I came and spoke about the precious blood washing man’s heart, washing man’s heart. You were moved and your heart became burning for the Lord. But a few days after I left, the burning ceased, and the flow of blood began—the precious blood flowing out, flowing out....” He interpreted the woman’s flow of blood as the precious blood of Jesus. That was really a nonsensical speaking. Nevertheless, his speaking was very captivating. For one and a half hours he kept hammering on this subject—the precious blood washing our heart, and the precious blood flowing out of our heart. The hall was crowded with over a thousand people. I shook my head at his preaching because what he said was altogether inaccurate. The Bible tells us not that the blood of the Lord Jesus cleanses our heart but that it washes away our sins. Even though Dr. Sung’s teaching was inaccurate, the audience was moved. Many went to the front weeping, and they confessed and repented, saying, “O Lord, my blood flowed out. O Lord!” By this we see that the effectiveness of the gospel lies not in reasoning but in the release of the spirit.
My intention is not to encourage you to speak inaccurate doctrines but to show you that you need to exercise your spirit. One time Dr. Sung went to preach the gospel at Hankow, and my second oldest sister went to listen to him. When she came back, she told us that after Dr. Sung had spoken for a while, he suddenly picked up a wooden stick and pointed at a young lady in the audience, saying, “You are someone’s mistress!” The woman was infuriated and said within, “How can you Christians behave in this way? You invite people to come to hear the gospel, yet you rebuke them.” In fact, she was a concubine, a mistress. She thought that someone had told Dr. Sung about her case, so she was angry and bitter. After she went home, however, the Spirit operated in her, saying, “Why do you blame the preacher? Consider, are you not a concubine? Are you not a sinner? Why do you hate the preacher?” Having been enlightened, she repented. The next day she went again to hear the gospel and was saved.
Therefore, I would like to tell you that when you preach the gospel, if you care only about speaking rightly and pleasingly, do not expect to lead people to salvation. This does not mean that I am encouraging you to not speak rightly and to rebuke people. What I mean is that you should take care of the spirit of gospel preaching and allow your spirit to be released. In preaching the gospel you cannot be like an old pedant with a stern expression and a snobbish attitude. Instead, to lead people to salvation you have to be thick-skinned and have an open mouth and a released spirit.
The Chinese are naturally conservative and well-behaved, so when they meet together, everyone is reserved and proper. This is not to say that it is wrong to behave properly. However, often when you are well-behaved, you become stiff and rigid and therefore restrict, hold back, the spirit. This is wrong. Paul said that we Christians have to be beside ourselves before God and sober-minded before men (2 Cor. 5:13). To be sober-minded is to be self-controlled in love for others’ good. We should be sober-minded before men, but have we ever been beside ourselves before God? When we are by ourselves and no one is around, are we beside ourselves before God? If we are, then when we come to the meeting, we do not need to shout loudly—the moment we pray, others will be able to sense that we are beside ourselves before God. Paul was sober-minded before men, but when he was alone before God, he was beside himself. He is our pattern.
By the Lord’s mercy, I am a person who is often beside myself, a person who is often “crazy.” Sometimes after praying only three or five sentences, I became crazy, overflowing with joy. I felt that God’s grace is so great and His mercy so abundant that I could not help being crazy. If no one is with me, it does not matter if I do such things as rolling, jumping, prostrating, and turning somersaults. But once I come into your presence, I become sober-minded. I am bound by your eyes and restricted by human regulations. It is right to take care of others’ feelings, but as Christians we should daily pray and be beside ourselves before God.
If you are a person who is beside yourself before God, you will not be reserved in the meetings. On the contrary, you will manifest some signs of “craziness.” We can illustrate this with Peter, whose true identity was revealed by his Galilean accent (Matt. 26:73). If you are often beside yourself when you pray to God in private, then once you come to the meeting and open your mouth, your “crazy” speaking will reveal your true condition. This does not mean that you pray and sing with a loud voice. Instead, it means that you are full of praises, thanksgivings, psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and you are full of the power of the Holy Spirit. In this way, others will know that you are a person who has been crazy before God. This is because what truly is within you will be manifested. You cannot pretend to be crazy if you are not crazy.
The spirit of the gospel is a spirit of being beside ourselves. In order to have the spirit of the gospel, we need to be “crazy” in our spirit. Do not pay too much attention to rules, and do not care too much for others’ feelings. Sometimes when we are sitting in the meetings, we look around at the brothers and the sisters and we feel embarrassed to do anything. Whenever we have this kind of consideration, our spirit is restricted and has no way out. I hope that whenever we meet, we would break all rules, rituals, and formalities, thereby letting our spirit be released.