Elders should shepherd and oversee the saints. The elders should entrust the services to the saints and give them the authority to make decisions. However, this does not mean that the saints are independent. Suppose there are eight districts in a church, and the elders delegate the church affairs to the eight districts. This does not mean that the districts are independent. In the same way, the saints are in different districts and in small groups, but they are still the one church. The function of the elders is to oversee the church, not to lord it over their allotments (1 Pet. 5:3). The elders should shepherd the saints, delegating services to the saints. Then they should oversee the saints, letting the saints have authority for their service and allowing them to develop.
In the church in Taipei some halls have very capable saints. However, the saints are not developed, because there is not much shepherding and overseeing. Directing the saints is not the same as overseeing. When we direct others, we have not handed things over to them. To hand things over means to entrust. For example, if a brother is given the responsibility to purchase a tape recorder, he will need to pray earnestly even concerning the money to make the purchase. He must also consider the size and type of tape recorder. Concerning the finances, the size, and the type, he and those who coordinate with him must go before the Lord in prayer.
The service for recording the meetings is a good example. The key to the recording room should not be in the pocket of the elders; it should be given to a serving one who manages everything related to the recording room. If he is careless and leaves the tape recorder in the elders’ room, they can remind him to put it away. If he is careless in other matters, the elders should pray for him. If he loses the tape recorder, he will surely learn a lesson. This is not a joke. In this way many saints will be raised up.
Some elders have argued that the co-workers are serving very faithfully. I know the co-workers are faithful and have a good intention. Nevertheless, their faithfulness and good intention annul the function of the saints. After working in a place for two years, the co-workers and elders should not be tied down, and the saints should be useful. We must change our concept and raise up the saints by handing things over to them. We must not be fearful of their mistakes. I handed over the responsibility of a conference to the young saints in Los Angeles and told them that making mistakes is the way to be perfected. The most precious thing in our work is to produce useful saints.
We must change our system. Once our concept is changed, it will be easy to change our system. The work of shepherding and feeding in the church desperately requires the time and energy of the elders. They should be like parents endeavoring to feed their children. The work has decided to move the co-workers out of the localities, but we are worried about the churches. The churches have relied too heavily on the co-workers. After working in a local church for three years, a co-worker should be able to leave, because he should have raised up useful saints. However, our practice has not been to develop the saints but to replace them. The more the co-workers have labored, the more responsibilities they have gained, but other saints were not brought in to function. When a co-worker arrives in a local church, he does not have much responsibility. But after three years all the responsibilities in the church are on his shoulders. He does everything, while the other saints do nothing; they merely listen to his instructions. As a result, no responsibilities are handed over to the saints, and the saints are not raised up to bear responsibility. In the end the co-worker cannot leave the church, because if he leaves, the church will lose its support. The co-worker has become the only pillar in the house, and when the pillar is removed, the house collapses. A laboring co-worker is a pillar, but he should gradually add other pillars to the building. When there are fifteen pillars in a local church, it is time for the co-worker to leave. This is the principle of our work.
In a training in 1953 I said that a co-worker should lead the saints, but under no circumstance should he replace them. However, in the churches that I have visited, the element of replacing the saints still remains among us. It is greater than the element of leading.
The co-workers have been serving in place of the saints. They keep things in their hands and direct others. If this situation continues, the saints in the localities will not know what to do when the co-workers leave. This is wrong. The more we work, the more the saints should be raised up to do the work.
In 1946 I was led by the Lord to go to Nanking. In my first fellowship with the brothers, I said, “You brothers are happy that I am here, and you think that I have come to help you. However, I want to warn you that while I am here, your responsibilities will not decrease. I am very burdened. Everyday a part of my burden will be transferred to you. After a year I will be free of my burden, and all the burden will be yours. Hence, I have not come to replace you; rather, I have come to burden you.” In less than two years all the responsibilities in the church in Nanking were borne fully by the brothers. They took care of everything.