The service of the church is corporate, not individualistic. Strictly speaking, there is no individualistic service in the church. Individualistic service is not the service of the church. Once we are individualistic, we are no longer in the service of the church. Whenever we serve individualistically, the church is paralyzed, and our service has no value. For example, our preaching of the gospel to save sinners should be corporate. This means that we should preach the gospel from our standing as the Body. Furthermore, the result of our gospel preaching should be for the church. As the temple of God, the church needs all kinds of material; hence, we need to preach the gospel to collect material for the building of God’s temple. Genuine service is entirely in the church, in the Body.
In the old creation we all are individual persons. In the old creation you are an individual, and I am an individual. You can eat with your mouth, and I can eat with my mouth. You have eyes and ears, and I have eyes and ears. We are individuals with the same internal organs and the same external features. This is our situation in the old creation. In the new creation, however, none of us is complete in ourselves. In the new creation we are members, and no member is a complete person. A member is not a complete person. Although a person can both see and hear, an eye can see but not hear. Similarly, an ear can hear but not see. A nose can smell but not eat. A hand can gesture but not walk, and an arm can hold an object but not stand. No member can fulfill every function that is needed in a body. In the old creation we are a complete person; however, in the new creation we are members. The church is the one new man, and we who are many are the members of this one new man. There is only one new man, and we are only members of this one new man.
Romans 12:5 says, “We who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Even though this verse says that we are members of the Body, many in Christianity act as if they are members in a club. In the church, however, the Body has only members. A club member can act alone, but a member of the Body cannot. Members of a club can act independently, but as members of the Body, we must depend on one another. We should ask ourselves whether we prefer to be members of a club or members of the Body. Although we may respond that we want to be members of the Body, it is not too much to say that we prefer to be club members.
While members of the Body do not have any individual freedom, the members of a club can enjoy a great deal of freedom. Being a member of the Body requires coordination in oneness. A brother once said that he suffered very much as an elder. When he said this, I thought that his suffering was related to some problem or persecution, but after listening for some time, I realized that he was speaking of the suffering related to coordination in the service. His experience confirmed that coordinating with the saints and other elders is the most difficult thing for an elder.
When the Lord Jesus was living on earth, the question of who among them was the greatest rose up among the disciples in Luke 22:24-26. The disciples discussed and studied it, and in the end they began to contend with one another. When one said that he was the first, another one surely disagreed and said that he was first. This produced quite a contention among them. In chapter 20 of Matthew a similar situation of contention was triggered by the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. When she came to the Lord Jesus, she asked Him to say that her sons would sit on His right and on His left in His kingdom (vv. 20-21). Upon hearing this word, the other disciples became indignant with James and John (v. 24). The Lord responded to the mother and the disciples by telling them that they should not follow the Gentiles, who had rulers and great men exercising authority over them, and that whoever wanted to become great among the disciples would have to be a servant (vv. 25-27).
In the coordination of the church, the matter of position, such as who is greater or lesser and who is higher or lower, must be dropped. Nevertheless, this concept is among us. This thought comes from our environment, our background, and the world. In the church there should be no such thing as being higher or lower and greater or lesser. In our physical body the question of whether the eyes are greater than the eyebrows is not even a consideration. We may have a concept that the eyebrows are greater because they are above the eyes, but this is not an accurate concept.
Considerations of who is above and who is below or who is higher and who is lower come from the abyss; they have no place in the church. We should not think that a brother is wonderful because he is an elder. Although an elder should be more experienced and have more growth in life, we should not have the worldly concept that the elders are above the saints. This is not a proper understanding of the Body in which everyone has a function and a place.
We must completely drop any natural concept concerning position in which someone is higher and others are lower. We should not think that elders are higher than others or that they are lower than others. In the church there are many practical matters that need to be taken care of; hence, there is a need for administration. This does not mean, however, that the elders involved in this administration are higher than the other saints. The Lord Jesus said that this concept is practiced among the Gentiles. The Gentiles have rulers and great ones to lord over them, but it should not be so among us. On one hand, the elders should not consider themselves as being higher than the saints, and on the other hand, the saints should not have a concept of position.
We should honor the elders because of their labor and love in the church and because of their concern and service for the church, not because we think that they have a special position. Some saints have an attitude that when a certain brother becomes an elder, he should be treated differently and honored by all. Our honoring of an elder, however, should be pure; it should not be based on the thought that he is in a higher position as an elder. In a local church there are many business affairs that require practical management. Consequently, some saints receive grace and are willing and able to manage them. For this reason we honor them. There is no concept of position in this kind of honoring. I hope that all the serving ones in the local churches will be clear concerning this. We need to drop the concept of position. The Lord Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you shall be your slave” (vv. 26-27). We need to drop the concept of position so that there is no thought among us that certain ones are “officials.”
May the Lord cover me. More than twenty years ago I appointed all the elders in a local church in northern China. Prior to appointing these elders, I helped in the service by cleaning the toilets. After I appointed the elders, I continued to clean the toilets. We should never have the concept that some tasks are beneath us because we have some kind of position.