FELLOWSHIP CONCERNING THE PRINCIPLE OF HAVING A JOB
Concerning the matter of holding a job, we all must have the apostle Paul’s spirit of tent-making. We should not think about making big money and becoming rich people but simply earn our livelihood so that we can live for the Lord on the earth. If the Lord calls us for a need after we have been working for a few years, we should present ourselves to the Lord right away. Of course, this is not an easy thing. Nevertheless, this must be the principle of our having a job. No matter how hard it is, there is nothing too hard for God. If we have Paul’s intention, when the time comes, God will sovereignly arrange everything to allow us to serve Him full-time. If we continue to hold a job, then the Lord may also arrange the way for us to be a testimony for Him on our job. For example, we may have to migrate to Australia, move to Africa to operate a business, or go to South America to establish a factory. But wherever we go, we have to go with a spirit of being full-time to raise up churches or function in the church in that locality. However, all these matters require us to be equipped first. Thus, we need to try our best to equip ourselves whenever possible.
A REMINDER CONCERNING OUR GOING FORTH FOR PROPAGATION
If we have received excellent perfecting in the new way, we will spontaneously give people a good impression when we go forth for propagation in every town and village. Then the saved ones will follow our pattern. Rather than paying attention to, or holding on to, the kind of meeting in which one person speaks while all the rest listen, and rather than relying on an individual preacher, they will depend on everyone knocking on doors to visit people from house to house in order to spread the gospel (particularly to their relatives, neighbors, colleagues, and friends). We should not give people any impression of the old way of Christianity; rather, we should let them see the new way, which is altogether new and scriptural. We have to show people that although we are Christians, we are one hundred percent different from Christianity. We are Christians who are truly according to the Bible and not according to the tradition of Christianity. We do not rely on the kind of meeting in which one man speaks and all the rest listen. We also do not necessarily meet in the meeting hall. We can meet in anyone’s home. We do not have a headquarters; instead, we have churches in every village. In this way, the gospel of the Lord will spread rapidly. Eventually, all of Taiwan will not only be gospelized but also “truthized” and “churchized.” This is the goal of our propagation.
EVERYONE PARTICIPATING IN THE MOVE OF THE GOSPELIZATION OF TAIWAN
The widespread move of gospelizing, truthizing, and churchizing Taiwan is an unprecedented blessing and even a great act in church history. We will spend five years to gospelize Taiwan and another five years to truthize and churchize Taiwan. Thus, after ten years the whole island will be saturated with the gospel. Every village will have a church, everyone will know the truth, and everyone’s living will be a testimony. Such a future is really bright and glorious. I hope that all of us would receive this burden and fellowship with the churches and the saints about this, so that we may all participate in this glorious move. Those who can serve full-time should offer all of their time. Those who cannot serve full-time should do their best to provide financial support.
If we have one thousand full-timers, our monthly support will be fourteen million (NT$). In addition, there will be other expenditures for the propagation, so the need will be tremendously great. Now we have more than eighty churches in the whole island. There should be some arrangement in the budgets in order to have that much offering each month. For this reason, we have gathered all the elders and co-workers from the entire province to fellowship with them about this burden, hoping that corporately we can share this responsibility and also pray to the Lord for this matter in one accord every day. We should pray, “Lord, may You grant the church one thousand full-timers according to this plan, and may there be no problem financially, so that we may be able to accomplish the goal of gospelizing Taiwan in five years and establishing churches in every village in another five years.”
For bigger trainings and conferences in the future, we still have a great need for a bigger meeting hall. Of course, I believe that the overseas churches will also put in their share. Once the big meeting hall in Linkou is finished, it will have two thousand sleeping spaces to meet the need. Not only so, all the churches in the whole island can be divided into four main regions and have blending meetings every season. In the future, after we have gospelized Taiwan and established churches in every village, we will need this kind of blending desperately.
RECEIVING THE BURDEN TO PRAY TO THE LORD WITH ONE ACCORD
We all have to receive all these things as a great burden and pray before the Lord with singleness of heart. I hope that the churches in Taiwan would be a model, not only of being full of truth and life but also, in terms of our daily living, becoming the noblest organization in the society and in the whole country. All of our homes, our attire, our conduct, and our speech should give people a particular impression and allow them to see the testimony of the church. We need to ask the Lord in one accord for all these things to be fulfilled.
(The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee)
