II. SPEAKING THE SAME THING ACCORDING TO
THE TASTE OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY
Speaking the Same Thing
We are here for the Lord’s recovery. I am not doing my own work, and you are not doing your own work. We all are bearing one testimony; we all have our shoulders under the “staves” of the “ark.” Since we are all bearing the one testimony, we all should speak the same thing (1 Cor. 1:10). But the speaking in certain places is leading the saints in the direction that is away from the Lord’s recovery. Such speaking may not be wrong or unscriptural. It may be right and scriptural, but eventually it will lead the saints in a wrong direction.
If we go in a straight line, we shall reach a proper goal. But if our direction is off, eventually we shall reach a goal that is not the goal of the Lord’s recovery. Even after a short period of time, trouble may come to the recovery through your way of speaking scriptural things, that is, through your speaking of good messages. Although there is nothing wrong with your speaking, it may lead others in a wrong direction. If so, eventually that will become a problem to the whole recovery.
The recovery is not merely a local matter. Although the recovery is in your local church, the recovery is universal. If you lead those in your locality in a direction that is off from the recovery, then there will be two directions—the direction in the recovery as a whole and the direction in your locality. If you teach in a way that leads others in a different direction, some may receive your teaching, but many of those in the Lord’s recovery will reject it. They will not “swallow” your teaching.
From experience we know that the one who teaches differently is the first one to be sacrificed. This means that if you teach differently, you run the risk not of sacrificing the recovery but of sacrificing yourself. We all need to practice Paul’s word to Timothy: “Even as I urged you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach differently” (1 Tim. 1:3). Instead of teaching differently, we should all speak the same thing.
Since I am the one who has given the Life-study Messages, it is rather awkward for me to speak about them. However, I can say that the Lord’s recovery has been going on by the ministry. If the ministry had not come to this country, the recovery would not be prevailing here. The recovery came through the ministry, and the recovery has been going on by the ministry. If you, then, speak something that is off from the ministry, surely the recovery will not follow that speaking. It is a dream to think that the entire recovery will follow the speaking that is different from that of the ministry. Therefore, if you speak differently, you will exclude yourself from the recovery by your speaking. No one else will exclude you; you will be excluded by your own speaking, concept, and attitude.
It is no doubt true that every local church has its own jurisdiction. However, we have taught very strongly that each local church is not a Body of Christ; all the churches together are the one Body. Because of this, what happens in one place will affect other places. This means that what you do in your locality will affect the other local churches. News travels quickly from one place to another. Also, the saints who are now in your locality later may move to a different locality.
Those who teach differently are not able to stop the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. The ministry brought the recovery to this country, and the ministry is still carrying the recovery. How can the ministry receive dissenting teachings? Those who teach differently will cause trouble first to themselves and then to others and to the recovery. They will damage others and then cause damage to the recovery. Such damage is the responsibility of those who teach differently.
We all need to consider what we minister, preach, and teach. This means that we need to take care of all the churches. Before the Lord I can testify that this was my practice in China, and it is my practice today. When I was in China speaking in a certain locality, I considered how the other churches might be affected by my speaking. I asked myself, “Will this cause trouble to the other churches? How will it affect them? Will the entire recovery be able to accept this?” I realized that if I did not consider my speaking in this way, I could cause trouble. I could speak something that the recovery as a whole would not receive. I could speak something that others would reject because it was contrary to their taste.
A Taste for the Ministry
Just as people have different tastes in food, so the Lord’s recovery also has a taste for the ministry that has built up the recovery over the years. The recovery was raised up with a certain taste. Those who have been raised with this taste will reject a taste that is contrary to it. This means that if you speak something contrary to the taste of the Lord’s recovery, your speaking will be rejected, and you will be the first to suffer loss. We have seen a number of examples of this in the past.
In 1964 I invited a certain brother to share a message in one session each day of a training. That brother’s teaching was very good. Otherwise, I would not have asked him to share that training with me. However, the speaking of that brother went against the taste of the saints. One brother told me that this brother’s teaching was too philosophical. This indicates that even though the recovery had been in this country less than two years, the saints had already acquired a taste for life.
Concerning a matter such as this, it is useless to argue about who is right and who is wrong. The point here is that saints have a taste, and they do not accept what is contrary to it. Let me give you an illustration of what I mean by a taste for the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. One day I encouraged a brother to try eating sea cucumber, a Chinese dish that I enjoy very much. Even though the sea cucumber had been prepared by an expert cook and I had strongly recommended it, the brother refused to eat it, because it was contrary to his taste in food. Likewise, you may think that your speaking is good, but it is not according to the taste in the recovery.
If you are wise you will know the taste of those to whom you are speaking. All the churches in the recovery were raised up through the ministry, and the saints have been “eating” this ministry for years and have a taste for it. Even though no churches have been produced by your speaking, you now begin to “serve” the saints with something different from the ministry, with something that is not according to their taste. If you do this, you will cause trouble for yourself. Just as parents will have trouble with their children if they force them to eat food that is contrary to their taste, so you will have trouble if you expect the saints to “eat” something against the taste in the Lord’s recovery.
Those who teach differently are not wise, for they do not know the environment, situation, and condition of the Lord’s recovery. The Lord’s recovery has been raised up in a particular way. Brothers who teach differently actually are trying to bring in a foreign element; they are trying to wedge in a foreign particle into the “body” of the recovery. The recovery will not accept any kind of foreign element or article. As we have strongly emphasized, the reason is that the saints have their taste.
Although the recovery is not controlled by any person, there is a controlling factor in the Lord’s recovery, and this factor is the taste in the recovery. The recovery has a particular taste because it has a certain life that came from its birth. Just as a human being is born with a life that gives him a certain taste, so the Lord’s recovery was born with the life that has its own particular taste. This taste is the controlling factor in the Lord’s recovery. No one can overthrow this controlling factor. If you try to overthrow it, you yourself will be overthrown. This means that you actually overthrow yourself, causing yourself to be separated from the Lord’s recovery.
I do not insist that all the churches use the Life-study Messages. However, I wish to point out that this ministry brought the recovery to this country and has been helping and nourishing the recovery. The recovery has grown up with the “food” provided by this ministry. Now it is impossible for the saints to change their taste. If you try to change the taste of the saints, you will be foolish, you will waste your time, and you will cause damage. If you feel that your teaching is better than that in the Lord’s recovery, you should serve your “food” to those who have a taste for it. Those who have been raised on certain foods may occasionally eat something different. But for the long run in their daily living they will eat what matches their taste and reject what is contrary to it.
Since this is the situation among the saints in the Lord’s recovery, we should be wise to learn the basic truths and then serve these truths to the saints. If we do this, everyone will be happy, and we shall have a peaceful situation not only among individual saints but also between the churches and between the churches and the ministry.
The Nature of the New Testament Ministry
If you can give messages that fit the taste of the Lord’s recovery without using the Life-study Messages, that would be wonderful. Such messages will be profitable to the recovery. Messages that fit the taste of the recovery are truly part of the New Testament ministry. No one should think that only what I minister is the New Testament ministry. Paul, of course, ministered the New Testament ministry. Martin Luther also ministered a part of the New Testament ministry. Many among us also minister the ministry of the New Testament.
Whatever we minister must be of the nature of the New Testament ministry. Whether or not a particular ministry is part of the New Testament ministry can be proved by applying three governing principles: one, the principle of the processed Triune God being dispensed into His chosen people; second, the principle of Christ and the church; and third, the principle of Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. If your teaching can pass this threefold test, your teaching is part of the New Testament ministry. Any ministry that is part of the New Testament ministry will be welcomed by the saints in the Lord’s recovery. Any other ministry, however, will only cause trouble for the recovery. (Elders’ Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision, pp. 127-132, Witness Lee)
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