The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church

Serving

7. Serving

A central component of the normal Christian life is service to the Lord and to the church (Rom. 7:6). This service is both practical as well as spiritual. Watchman Nee and Witness Lee labored to present this matter clearly so that all the believers could enter into a life of service. Regarding the matter of the practical service of believers in the local churches, Witness Lee states:

When a local church is organic [according to the divine life], all the serving ones serve organically.

A brother who is a deacon may say that he serves merely because he was appointed and has no choice. This is organizational. If we ask another brother why he serves, he may say, “Praise the Lord! The Lord is within me. He leads me and burdens me to love Him, and I like to serve the saints. I do not care whether I was appointed to be a deacon or not. Even if the church did not appoint me, I would still like to serve more.” This brother’s service is organic.

(Witness Lee, Eldership (1), 81)

In discussing the need for the living and organic function, the service, of the believers in the local churches, Witness Lee comments:

It is a difficult thing to help the brothers and sisters to become useful before the Lord. It is easy for us to go to various places to preach the gospel and to give a few messages. But to remain in a place to serve the Lord properly, be coordinated together, and fulfill the function of each one, is a very difficult thing. This is something that the co-workers must pay attention to in the future. If this matter is carried out properly, God will have an oracle and a mouthpiece here. It is not right for the co-workers to see results only when they themselves are working, but not to see results when they are not working. A local church must be something organic; it must be on the move all the time. The co-workers must have an adequate amount of spiritual life, and they must have a proper view to promote this matter. When the elders and the co-workers are not there, the brothers and sisters should still continue to work. When that happens, the co-workers are free to go to work in another place. A built-up church is one that mobilizes by itself and that functions by itself.

(Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, Resumption, 197-198)

Main

Meetings

Lord’s Table

Prayer

Prophesying

Small Group

Gospel

Children’s

OT Type

Spiritual Exercise

Reading

Praying

Singing

Speaking

Thanksgiving

Praising

Serving

Calling

Pray-Reading

Bibliography

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