The fellowship in this chapter is concerning the work and is mainly related to the brothers. Most of the co-workers have a particular way of doing the work. When a co-worker goes to serve in a locality, he wants the elders and the saints to hand everything over to him. If the elders hold something back, the co-workers feel that they cannot work, because they are restricted. This attitude must be torn down. This is the reason that the work does not have an effect among the saints.
However, even if the elders were to do whatever the co-workers tell them, I question how much the co-workers would be able to achieve. The co-workers serve in a way that causes everyone else to become “unemployed” because they must be directed by the co-workers. Furthermore, the co-workers may not be able to properly exercise their function. As a result, not only are the saints idle, but the Lord’s work is hindered. It is very difficult for a person to change his temperament, habit, and style of work. As soon as a person becomes the master of a domain, everyone must listen to him. This creates problems in the coordination.
Therefore, if we do not drop this concept, our work will have no effect. The co-workers will not be able to coordinate with others, nor will others be able to coordinate with them. This is an existing problem among us. The co-workers have this flavor in their work. Forgive me for saying this: Not every saint is qualified to be a co-worker when he begins serving full time. Actually, all the brothers and sisters who serve together are co-workers, but this does not mean that they can take the lead in the work. Some saints think that the co-workers are apostles. This is not true. Every saint is a disciple, and every disciple is a co-worker. If the co-workers want to be useful in the Lord’s hand, they must adapt to their environment and not expect the environment to adapt to them.
Some brothers said that there are many capable saints in the church in Los Angeles and that the serving ones there are also capable. When I serve, I do my best to bring the saints into function. The church in Los Angeles is the fourth or fifth church that I have served. When I was in northern China, there were many capable ones there. There were many capable ones in Shanghai, and there were even more capable ones in Taiwan. However, initially the serving ones are not necessarily capable. The truth is that the saints who are brought into function become capable, but those who are not brought into function remain limited. When we perfect the saints, we do not necessarily need to take the lead. Even without our taking the lead, the saints can still be perfected.
Therefore, the co-workers must not depend on others’ being accommodating. The co-workers must be like rainwater, which can seep through any crack. In the past we have said that the co-workers should be accommodating of others to the point that they are like glue. Glue can be applied to a horizontal surface as well as to a vertical surface; it can be applied to an area under a table as well as to a surface that is slanted. Moreover, glue can be applied to objects of any shape, whether they are pointed, round, or rectangular. The co-workers have no alternative but to be like glue, which can be applied to any surface, in any condition, even if the surface looks messy. They can be accommodating in their function when they are in a locality where the church affairs are in order, and they can also be accommodating in their function when they go to a locality where the church affairs are not in order. Wherever they go, they need to function as glue, no matter what the situation is in the locality. The function of the co-workers is to be accommodating like glue. They should be accommodating whether or not the elders restrict them.
From this time onward, we should be more direct in our dealings with one another. Whoever is not willing to go to a certain place to serve should be compelled to go, and whoever is not doing an acceptable work should continue serving until his work is acceptable. It is not right for a co-worker to do poorly in his service or to do an average job. He must serve in a satisfactory way. A co-worker who is afraid of being restricted by the elders should be asked to serve with the strongest elders so that he can learn the lesson. The elders in some local churches are very restrictive, but they have been sovereignly prepared by the Lord. When the co-workers serve, they must adapt to their environment and not expect the environment to adapt to them.
In the past I wanted some co-workers to go to the West and serve in countries such as Canada, the United States, and Brazil. However, when I once recommended a co-worker to some local brothers in the West, they were concerned about his temperament. A person with a temperament problem has difficulties in accommodating others. For this reason, the co-workers must visit other places. The more places they visit, the broader their experience and knowledge will be. The brothers who have gone overseas may not be skilled and experienced, but they have a broader view of things because they have been living abroad, they know the situation of the churches in China, and they have contact with many Westerners. Many problems in the work are due to the inability of the co-workers to adapt to their environment. Without the ability to adapt to our environment, we cannot be useful.
The usefulness of a co-worker will be very limited unless his concept is changed, no matter whether he is abroad or in his own country. Some want others to revere them, but they do not revere others. This indicates that they are not accommodating in their service; instead, they want to be the master. If they cannot be the master, they are not willing to serve. We have always had this problem, even when we were in mainland China. If not for this problem, the work would have spread to many places.