CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH

Scripture Reading: Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Pet. 4:10-11

THE NEW TESTAMENT SERVICE

BEING THE CORPORATE SERVICE OF THE SAINTS

The service of the church is the corporate service of all the saints in a local church. In the Bible
the church refers to both the house of God and the Body of Christ (Eph. 2:19; 1:22-23). The
house of God is a matter of enjoyment, whereas the Body of Christ is a matter of service. In the
house of God every saint should have enjoyment, and in the Body of Christ all the members
should carry out their function and serve one another. The New Testament service is not an
individualistic service, a service of individuals; rather, it is a corporate service, a service of all
the saints (Rom. 12:3-8). It is not an individual move but a corporate move.

Concerning the saints’ service to God, the Bible does not give any ground to individuals. When
we serve God, we must serve as members one of another. God sees the church on the earth as the
Body of Christ, and all the believers are the members of the Body. Hence, the saints cannot serve
God individualistically. Every member has a function, and all the members must be coordinated
together in order to manifest the beauty of the Body. If some members are not coordinated, they
will be separated from the other members and be unable to manifest their function. If there is
only a hand on the table, it will not be able to function and it will also look quite frightening. In
the service of God the saints can never act alone, serving as an individual, because we are not
individuals. In our service we cannot be individualistic or be separated from the other members.

A member who is detached from the body not only looks ugly, it even frightens people. No
matter how great the function of a member is, he is only a member; and no matter how small the
function of a member is, he is still a member. Our status will forever be as a member, that is, a
member of the Body; as such, we cannot be separated from the Body and exist by ourselves.
Hence, our service should always be as members one of another; it should be the service of the
church, not a service of individuals. In the church all the members are equal, and all are in the
Body of Christ.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHURCH

IN SERVING GOD BEING UPON EVERY SAINT

When Western missionaries first came to China, they worked as if they were running a school.
The Chinese church members were similar to students who merely listened to sermons and
donated money. God, however, does not want His children to serve Him in this way. God does
not want a few men to run the church; rather, He desires that every one of us would serve Him.
The responsibility of the church to serve God rests with every saint, not with just a few people.
Recently, when I visited a church in southern Taiwan, I was so delighted to see the brothers and
sisters serving God corporately. I have seen the same thing in the churches in northern Taiwan.
Rather than a few saints doing everything, all the saints are serving corporately. All the saints in
the localities are keeping the principle of serving God corporately. In each locality the saints are
rising up to serve God corporately.

GOD DESIRING TO RECOVER THE SERVICE

OF ALL THE SAINTS

In order for God to have a way to go on, all the saints in all the localities must rise up to serve
God corporately. In the early days there was the service of the apostles as well as the service of
the saints; the apostles were in the midst of the saints. Today God has to recover the service of
the saints, which is the corporate service of the saints. From the time of Martin Luther until now,
the recovery of the church has been moving toward the recovery of this matter.

In 1943 the saints in the church in Chefoo were willing to migrate to the northwest to serve, and
the church made arrangements for this. There were over one hundred people in the first group
who went, consisting of tailors, shoemakers, rickshaw drivers, and other saints who were
common laborers. Most of them went to the regions of Paotou and Shanpa; now there are four to
five hundred saints serving God there. Today there are dozens of places in Suiyuan that have the
Lord’s table. This was not the work of a few individuals or preachers; rather, it has come out of
the corporate service of the saints. Hence, the service of God is not just a service of a few
preachers but a service of all the saints. Since 1943 God’s hand has confirmed this matter of
service through migration. Due to the political situation, many saints from mainland China came
to Taiwan. This environment was arranged by God, and it caused the saints to migrate to Taiwan
in great numbers and in different ways.

GOD’S BLESSING BEING UPON THE SERVICE

OF THE SAINTS

The service of the saints involves more than preaching the gospel, helping people, and perfecting
people. Even miscellaneous affairs, such as cleaning chairs, sweeping the floor, and preparing
meals, are part of the service. Even if there are specific people serving in relation to specific
items, there should always be an opening for other saints to serve. There is a spiritual element in
every kind of service. The heart and prayer of the saints for the service will always bring in
God’s blessing.

For example, the responsibility to preach the gospel does not rest upon a few brothers who
preach or the responsible brothers in the church; it rests upon all the saints because the gospel is
a corporate service of the saints. In 1942 there were only about one hundred and thirty brothers
in the church in Tsingtao. After two months of all the saints serving, the number increased to
over two hundred; in the second year there were more than six hundred. This shows the blessing
upon the corporate service in a locality.
God’s work in China is to raise up saints to serve Him and to have the saints rise up corporately
to serve God. In order to serve God, we must learn the lessons of being dealt with and being
broken. A person who has learned the lessons in the Holy Place is a person who has learned the
lessons in the church, and he is also a person who has learned the lessons in the service. In the
service of the church, God does not require us to be efficient; rather, He requires us to be dealt
with, to be broken, and to learn to be submissive, being able to be subject to authority and to
obey His leading.

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