THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CHURCH
AND THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
Read and pray: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh." (2 Cor 10:3)
Discern Human Motivations
If our judgment of people is not accurate, our administration of the church will result in demolition. A lack of knowledge concerning people will only cause the church to suffer losses, even though we do not intend this. If we want to know people, we need to learn to discern whether their motivations and intentions are pure before God. If someone does not have a pure motivation, we should not give them any responsibility in the service.
Our knowledge of people's motivations is based on how the Lord deals with our motivations. If our motivations have never been dealt with by the Lord, we should not think we can know the real motivations of others. But if our motivations have been dealt with and are now pure, our ministry of the word will not produce "side effects" or result in confusion. Rather, we will be simple and pure before God.
We need to deal with our motivations in all things, not just in the ministry of the word. When we learn this lesson, we will be able to discern with ease the motivations of those who come to us. After our motivations are purified, we will be able to easily discern the motivation of those we meet with. Perhaps we will not perceive the purity of their heart, but we will immediately recognize the impurity within them. We will be able to discern whether someone is simple and pure or impure in their motivations. We will be able to easily know a person.
A person whose flesh has never been dealt with or who has never learned any lesson regarding their own flesh and inclinations will not be able to work in coordination with others in any service. We can allow them to serve, but we should not assign them to any service. That would be a mistake. Since it is difficult to find someone whose flesh has been thoroughly dealt with, we should not assign anyone to any service unconditionally.
In other words, the delegation or assignment of a person to a service should be according to the degree to which their flesh has already been dealt with. The more their flesh is dealt with, the more we can assign them service. If it has been little dealt with, we should not assign them great responsibility in the service, as this could result in problems.
Let’s suppose a brother loves the Lord, is zealous, and wants to serve. We should not rejoice when he expresses this desire and allow him to participate in the service. That will not result in edification. No one builds a house in that way. A carpenter first looks at his material to understand the nature, condition, and dimensions of what he will use in the building. Only then does he begin to build. He needs to first evaluate the condition of the material and then assign each one according to its nature and condition. Only in this way will his work be appropriate for the construction.
However, the elders of some churches do not act this way. They rejoice when they discover a brother who loves the Lord and quickly make him responsible for a group meeting. But, since his motivations are impure and his ego has not been denied, all his "tricks" become apparent within weeks. Although the saints like him very much, just as the children of Israel liked Absalom, the church will suffer considerable damage. Sometimes this damage can only be recovered after many years, and the church suffers great loss.
This affects the church’s ability to preach the gospel with power, the ability of the brothers to rise up, and the lack of vitality in the meetings. The entire church seems to suffer from poisoning, passing on to people a sense of helplessness or impotence. This is the consequence of the elders not knowing how to administer the church and not knowing the people. They are like a carpenter who does not know his materials. For this reason, it is difficult to have edification.
It is not hard to preach the gospel and bring people to salvation, and it is easy to minister the word in order to instruct them, but it is not that simple to build them together. This is why the Apostle Paul says: "According to the grace of God which was given to me, I have laid the foundation as a wise master builder; and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it." (1 Cor 3:10). It is truly not easy to build the church. We cannot just let the brothers grow by themselves. We need to understand that the church needs to be administered, and much of the administration it needs depends on our ability to know people and discern their motivations and inclinations of the flesh.
Enjoy more: Hymn 296
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