CHAPTER THREE - NOT TO DO A DEMOLITION WORK IN THE CHURCH'S SERVICE
Read and pray: "Each one's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done." (1 Co 3:13)
THE NEED FOR OUR SERVICE TO PRODUCE EDIFICATION
The edification of the church is brought about through the administration of the church and the ministry of the word, and both depend on the condition of our person. Our administration of the church may not result in much edification. It is also possible that our ministry of the word may not result in much edification.
Even the act of leading people to salvation and helping the saints in their perfection may not result in much edification of the church. Our work may be effective, but the more we do it, the less element of edification exists.
In other words, the effectiveness of our work is inversely proportional to the edification of the church. It corresponds to the demolition of God's work of edification, and not to edification.
Under normal circumstances, the more we do the work, the more we build. Our work should correspond to our edification. For example, when some preach the gospel, they not only save sinners but also build the church; when they instruct the saints, they not only help them but also build the church.
We need to pay attention to this peculiar fact: we can do a work without producing edification. If we are in the light, we will see that it is possible to save sinners and instruct the saints without building the church. Many works in Christianity actually demolish the work of God's edification.
The most serious demolition of God's edification in the church does not result from persecution or opposition from unbelievers. It, however, comes from many works done zealously in Christianity. These works do not come from bad intentions, evil ideas, or mistakes; rather, they have the good intention of saving sinners and instructing the saints, but they do not result in the edification of the church.
SATAN'S SCHEME TO CARRY OUT A DEMOLITION WORK IN THE CHURCH'S SERVICE
What does it mean for our work to demolish God's edification? A good example of this occurs when a certain brother, responsible for a group meeting, changes the presbyters' proposal to study a specific book of the Bible. Changing the book to be studied may be instructive for those participating in his meeting; however, the way he does it undermines the divine edification of the church. It will not help the saints know their flesh, deal with their own opinions, or learn to submit to others.
His way of acting will only generate people full of viewpoints and opinions, who like to correct others but do not like to submit to them. Although this brother has good intentions and does not criticize or judge others, the destruction caused is serious for the church.
The presbyters may decide that the entire church will study the Gospel of John, yet a responsible brother may conclude that this book is too large and change it to 1 Thessalonians. This good intention demonstrates that he has not yet learned the lesson of being broken; he cannot set aside his opinions and does not know how to submit to others while serving the church.
The church cannot be edified if twenty-one of those responsible say, "The presbyters are not necessarily right in the way they do things. Their decisions are not always correct." If such an attitude is adopted, things will spiral out of control.
Perhaps these responsible brothers would not even be satisfied if the apostle Paul were one of the presbyters. Whether the presbyters make right or wrong decisions is not our problem. Our need is to submit to them.
It is hard to believe that a person who does not submit to the presbyters can generate people who are broken, deny themselves, place themselves under God's hands, and submit to others. The best they can do is produce people with their own viewpoints and opinions, who demolish instead of building the church.
To edify is to place one stone upon another. In contrast, the Lord's word in Matthew 24 shows us the demolition: "Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." (v. 2).
When demolition occurs, no stone is left upon another; when building occurs, each stone is upon the other. People may praise our work, but we need to see if it is not demolishing the church. Satan's scheme is to demolish.
All our work in Taiwan was for edification; however, in the last six months, there has been much demolition. This is the scheme of the enemy, and many of us have been used by him to carry out this demolition work.
We do not want to do this kind of work. No brother does it with bad intentions. However, not having learned the lesson, we are unconsciously used by Satan in our service to demolish. We may think we are building, but our work has been to demolish the church.
Satan demolishes through our work. This causes great harm to our service and the testimony of the church.
Enjoy more: Hymn 382
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