We thank the Lord for His mercies that we can be in His recovery today. The Lord’s recovery is God’s central work to build up the church as His Body for the producing of the new man and the preparation of the bride to hasten His return. Because it touches what is deep in God’s heart, the enemy hates it to the uttermost and will do his best to damage and destroy it. Throughout our history, we have passed through many turmoils. These have resulted in much damage and loss, but at the same time have purified His recovery while strengthening our faith in the Lord and in taking this way. In this respect, our history matches the history of the people of God in both the Old and New Testaments (Elder’s Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (2), Ch. 1).
When faced with the periodic turmoil, desolation, and satanic chaos in the church life, what should be our attitude? In Acts 20:29-30, Paul told the elders in the church in Ephesus that they would face opposition from without and dissent from within. Moreover, in his epistles to Timothy, Paul foretold the decline in the church and the opposition that would arise (1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1; 4:3). He charged Timothy—and this charge is unto us as well—to fight the good fight of the faith (1 Tim. 6:12). We must be ready to contend for the faith (Jude 3; 1 Pet. 3:15) and combat the different teachings that are contrary to God’s economy in faith (1 Tim. 1:3-4).
Indeed, we need to fight; but what is the proper way to fight? We need to respond, but what is the proper response? Second Timothy 2:5 says that a contender must do so lawfully, and in 1 Corinthians 9:25, Paul tells us to exercise self-control in contending. We may find ourselves with a strong and righteous desire to defend the Lord’s recovery and push back against those who oppose, but we must learn to first stop ourselves and pay close attention to the kind of contender we are. Herein we present a few principles and the proper ways to deal with storms in the church life.
Engaging in Spiritual Warfare
Dealing with opposition or dissent involves spiritual warfare. In these days there is a great need for those who would fight the battle for the truth. We should realize that times of turmoil are allowed by the Lord for us to learn to cooperate with Him in this warfare. To engage in spiritual warfare is a preparation to be a part of the Lord’s overcoming army at His return (Rev. 17:14; 19:14).
According to Ephesians 6, spiritual warfare is a Body matter. For that reason we must avoid becoming isolated from one another and from the Body as a whole. Furthermore, Ephesians 6 shows us that to engage in this warfare we need to be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength and be equipped by putting on the full armor of God (v. 10-11, 13). It is significant that nearly all of the items of armor that are mentioned in Ephesians 6 are defensive. This means that we must first take care to protect ourselves from Satan’s attacks. We must have our loins girded with truth, which is not mere doctrine but the reality of God in Christ in our daily living (v. 14a). We need to put on the breastplate of righteousness to cover our conscience from Satan’s accusations by trusting in the blood of Christ and dealing with any offense toward God or man (v. 14b). We need to take the gospel of peace, which peace Christ made between all men through the cross, as our firm foundation for our standing (vv. 15; 2:15-17). We will then be able to take up the shield of faith to quench all the flaming darts—the accusations, questions, lies, insinuations, etc.—of the evil one (6:16), as well as the helmet of salvation to protect our minds against the threats and anxieties assailing us (v. 17a).
If we are so equipped, then we will be able to use the sword of the Spirit effectively to slay God’s enemy (vv. 17b-18). This sword, which is the word of God, is the only offensive weapon in God’s armor, and we wield it by praying. The best way to fight is to pray. Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and authorities and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies (Eph. 6:12). Hence, our weapons must be spiritual as well. We need the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, and we wield this by means of prayer and petition (Eph. 6:17-18). When we pray strong prayers based on the Word of God, we are able to stand against the devil and even inflict a crushing blow to him. We may think that opposers need to be struck down, but the real enemy is Satan who dwells in man’s flesh and has injected himself into a person’s mind to speak and do things that would damage the church. Do you realize that Satan dwells in our flesh? (Rom. 7:17-18, 20, 23). In reality, turmoils in the church are not instigated by men but by Satan. We cannot defeat him using our fleshly efforts; the only way is to pray fighting prayers. In the midst of a turmoil, let us be watchful in prayer (Matt. 26:41; Luke 18:1; 1 Thes. 5:17), not only minding the flesh or others, but our own flesh as well.
Not Being Contentious
First Timothy 2:8 says, “I desire therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and reasoning.” Prayer cannot be done alongside wrath and reasoning, for these kill our prayer. If we see the real spiritual warfare, we will realize that outward contention does not solve anything. Contending for the faith does not mean that we become contentious. To be contentious is to debate and dispute and to argue and reason, which results in envy, strife, slanders, and evil suspicions (1 Cor. 11:16; 1 Tim. 6:4; 2 Tim. 2:14, 23). Titus 3:9 tells us to “avoid foolish questionings and genealogies and strifes and contentions about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain.”
In the midst of a storm, a person might have strong opinions about what is right and wrong, and he may desire to speak out and dispute with others. It is easy to speak negatively of others; we may even do so indirectly. Today, social media is a powerful tool to spread a message and still remain anonymous. We may speak one contentious word to a person and it may spread to a hundred or a thousand others within a day like a virus. Such speaking damages the saints. Even if we are “right,” our speaking will not bear any positive result. If we are reviled, we must not revile in return (1 Pet. 2:23, 3:9; 1 Thes. 5:15). A rebellious spirit is contagious. If we revile in response to others’ reviling, we lose the proper standing in our spirit to render any help to the saints (Luke 9:55; Heb. 4:12; 1 John 4:1).
Instead of being contentious, the Bible tells us to be meek (Titus 3:2; Matt. 5:5; 11:29). Second Timothy 2:24-25 reminds us to “be gentle toward all… bearing with wrong; in meekness correcting those who oppose, if perhaps God may give them repentance unto the full knowledge of the truth.” Moses is a pattern of someone who was meek and humble (Num. 12:3). When Aaron and Miriam spoke against him in Numbers 12, Moses did not say or do anything to defend himself. He had the right and position to justify himself as the person whom God had appointed to lead His people, yet he did not do this. Instead, Moses prayed for Miriam (v.13). In the end, it was God who came in to vindicate Moses and exercise His governmental dealing on those who opposed him. In the same way, we should not care for vindicating ourselves. Rather, we care for upholding God’s name, government, righteousness, and glory; and we pray for those who oppose to be released from the blinding work of God’s enemy.
Not Vindicating the Self
The pattern of Moses leads us to another very important principle, that is, to deny the self and not to vindicate the self. When others rebuke, oppose, and attack us, we must not vindicate or avenge ourselves. Romans 12:19 says, “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” Vengeance belongs to God (Deut. 32:35; Heb. 10:30).
It is God’s responsibility to execute His righteousness and governmental dealing on our behalf; hence, we do not need to avenge ourselves. Aaron’s priesthood was confirmed and vindicated by God through the budding rod (Num. 7:1-13). Moses’ leadership was vindicated by God in the midst of the people’s rebellion (Num. 12; 16). Throughout their history, the children of Israel were continually vindicated by God before all the nations who opposed them (Deut. 32:43, footnote 1). The Lord Jesus Himself never did anything to vindicate Himself, but it was the Father who did so throughout His earthly ministry and even in His crucifixion and resurrection (Matt. 3:16-17; 17:5; Acts 5:31; Rom. 1:3-4; 1 Tim. 3:16). When He was being tried, He said nothing to defend Himself. He simply stood as a sheep before His accusers (Matt. 26:62; 27:12; Mark 15:5). The apostles also followed the Lord’s pattern that when they were reviled, they did not revile in return (1 Pet. 2:23). Vindication and justification comes from God. We need not vindicate ourselves.
The Pattern of Watchman Nee
We are not without patterns in church history regarding how to deal with turmoil. Our brothers Nee and Lee practiced to wait before the Lord to allow Him to work and use time to vindicate His work.
As early as the 1920s, when Watchman Nee began his ministry, he already experienced opposition. He was excommunicated by his co-workers because of his decision to leave the denominations and opposition to the pastoral ordination of one of them. Throughout his ministry, he was continually misunderstood, misrepresented, criticized, and attacked. Evil rumors about him were spread. Yet, he never vindicated himself or contended with anyone. He did not even say anything to clear up the misunderstandings. He took all of these things as dealings from the Lord and continually sought the Lord’s leading
In the 1940s, a turmoil arose in the church in Shanghai where Watchman Nee was misunderstood and vilified by an overwhelming number of co-workers, elders, and saints. Still, his response and attitude was to take up the cross, to pray, and to allow the Lord to deal with the situation. As a result, Brother Nee’s ministry was stopped for six years. In the midst of this turmoil, he told Brother Lee, “Witness, we have to learn never to say anything to vindicate ourselves. We should just tell people the truth.” He even told Brother Chang Yu Lan that he felt he would never be able to resume his ministry. It was not of himself but completely by the Lord’s hand that his ministry was eventually restored in 1948, and many churches were raised up in China in the succeeding years.
The Pattern of Witness Lee
Brother Witness Lee also experienced much opposition, and he followed Brother Nee’s pattern in dealing with turmoil. In the 1950s, a group of young co-workers influenced by Brother T. Austin Sparks caused a great turmoil in the churches in Taiwan. This turmoil lasted for eight years and even affected the churches overseas, including the church in Manila. Brother Lee did nothing to vindicate himself or to deal with the situation or the dissenting workers in a natural way. It took nearly a decade of waiting before the Lord and the Lord’s unmistakable hand to clear up the situation.
During the storm in the church in Manila in 1961, certain opposers hired armed guards to prevent the elders and saints from coming into the meeting hall. Simply put, the loving seekers of the Lord had been kicked out of their own meeting hall. Because of the strong-handed actions of the opposers, the elders of the church sent telegrams to the brothers in Taiwan and Hong Kong seeking for fellowship. Brother Lee’s response was not to immediately meet in a separate place but to still try to talk to the opposers. Clearly, Brother Lee tried his best to be longsuffering and patient toward the opposers until the very end.
In the late 1980s, certain leading co-workers conspired in a rebellion in the Lord’s recovery that extended to four continents, including the church in Anaheim where Brother Lee met. Brother Lee’s response was to be quiet and prayerful, even allowing the opposers to do everything they could to tear down the work. His attitude in all these situations was always to be prayerful and wait before the Lord. Time and again when faced with turmoil in the church, he said, “If this is my work, it has to be torn down; but if this is the work of the Lord, you cannot tear it down. The more you tear down this work, the more this work will be resurrected.”
In his fellowship on the way to take care of problems in the recovery, our brother emphasized the need to have a genuine concern for the Lord’s recovery without mixing it with our self-interests:
“To take care of the problems in the recovery, we must have a genuine and sincere concern for the Lord’s recovery, without any biased view concerning any matter. Furthermore, we should not have any element of self-interest, self-plotting, self-esteem, and self-consideration. We must be unbiased, fair, and pure, without any background that would affect us. We must abandon our self-esteem and self-consideration. We all have our own prestige, and we like to highly esteem ourselves. We also expect that others will esteem us highly. As long as we seek self-esteem in the church life, we become a problem. Perhaps we are always considering, ‘What about me, my position, my future, and my interest?’ If we are considering ourselves all the time in this way, we are unable to take care of problems in the Lord’s recovery. In order to take care of the problems, we must be pure, tested, and checked by the Lord. When we have a pure, genuine, and sincere concern for the Lord’s recovery, we are qualified to take care of the problems. Otherwise, we become a problem.”
(Elders’ Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (2), Ch. 1)
Saints, let us fight for the sake of the Lord’s recovery, but do not fight for the sake of the self. In caring for the Lord’s recovery, let us learn to deny the self and bear the cross (Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34). If we do this, then the Lord will do the rest. The recovery belongs to Him and He will be faithful to preserve His interest on the earth. On our part, let us consider it a joy and glory to us if we endure suffering on the Lord’s behalf and for the sake of the church (1 Pet. 2:20; 3:17; 4:2; James 1:2). Remember that “if you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you (1 Pet. 4:14).” In this way, we may experience Christ and know the power of His resurrection as we participate in His sufferings for the sake of the church, His Body.
Ministering the Healthy Teachings—Life with Truth
How then do we help fellow believers who are also affected by the storm? Should we stay silent and speak nothing while they are being damaged or stumbled? Titus 1:9 says, “Holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles, that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose.” In 2:1 Paul continues, “But you, speak the things which are fitting to the healthy teaching.” We clearly see in his Epistles to Timothy and Titus that Paul charges us to speak and faithfully teach the healthy teaching in the midst of the degraded situation (1 Tim. 1:3; 4:6, 12; 2 Tim. 1:13; 2:2). The healthy teachings are the words that are according to the apostles’ teaching which help carry out God’s economy. This means that we must be equipped with and speak the Word of God and minister Christ positively to the saints! When the objective truths become our subjective experience, we can minister the truth as life, light, and reality to the saints, and the truth that conveys the divine realities will swallow up all the deadness and negative things. If we are faithful to minister Christ, the saints will receive the supply of the divine life necessary to stand against the death situation around us. In the midst of turmoil, Brother Lee would simply continue to speak life to the saints and churches. He did not carelessly and directly address the accusations but simply spoke words of life. We too must learn to speak words of life whenever we meet with the saints. In this way, the saints will be richly supplied and helped; even those who oppose will be convicted and put to shame (Titus 2:8).
The healthy words are the opposite of foolish questionings, contentions, strifes, vain babblings, and opposition (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 2:16, 23; Titus 3:9). These all belong to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and result in the deadening and killing of those who hear. We must not speak the negative things of the tree of knowledge. Instead, we must speak the positive things of the tree of life, which are the things of the Triune God in His attributes and virtues, including His divine actions and His eternal salvation. These are the healthy words, which are profitable for the saints (1 Tim. 4:8; 2 Tim. 3:16, Titus 3:8). We must speak about Christ, the Spirit, and life! Saints, we must never tire from speaking the things of life. The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of life. Hence, in order to be preserved in this way, we must faithfully continue in the things that our brothers taught us and entrusted to us (2 Tim. 3:14). Let us stay away from the tree of knowledge and cling to the tree of life in simplicity and singleness of heart.
Having a Pure Heart
Following his charge to faithfully teach God’s economy, Paul said 1 Timothy 1:5, “But the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and out of a good conscience and out of unfeigned faith.” While different teachings result in envy and discord among the saints, keeping the healthy teaching requires love out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and unfeigned faith. In dealing with any kind of turmoil, we must have love for the saints. Even in dealing with someone who opposes us, we must remain pure in loving them. We do not wish to condemn or put anyone to shame. We do not wish to cause any offense. We want to avoid factions or divisions at any cost. Even the practice of quarantine as revealed in the Bible is not for excommunication but for the recovery and restoration of the unclean one (Lev. 13:45-46, Num. 5:2; 12:10, 14). For this, we must have a pure heart of love toward the saints (John 13:34; 2 Tim. 2:22; Matt. 5:8; 1 Pet. 1:22). Our goal is not any of these negative things. Our unique goal must be to spread the Lord’s recovery, to keep the oneness, and to build up the Body of Christ. For this, love is still the most excellent way (1 Cor 12:31; 13:1-13).
Testing our Faith and Purifying the Lord’s Recovery
Finally, we must realize that in this age, the church is destined to suffer turmoil. In the history of the Lord’s recovery, Brother Lee estimated that every ten or so years, we experience a storm. We should not be surprised when opposition comes, because the Lord’s recovery is God’s move on the earth today. There will be slanders and accusations made against us. The churches, the saints, and even families will experience much suffering. Satan will do all that he can to frustrate this move. But according to our history and experience, contrary to our concepts, turmoil actually serves to purify the Lord’s recovery:
“Turmoil is the destiny of the progressing church, the pilgrim church. While the church is journeying on the earth as a corporate pilgrim, it is destined to suffer turmoil. We need such turmoil for our purification. According to our point of view, turmoil is not very good, but according to our real situation, turmoil is needed.”
(Elders’ Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (2), Ch. 1)
Every storm is an opportunity to be purified by the Lord. Hence, we must check within ourselves what our standing is before the Lord: “Do we love the brothers? Is our heart pure toward His recovery? Is our conscience clear? Or is there something within our being that is wrong?” We must check with the Lord in all these matters and allow Him to purify us. We should never assume that we are proper and that others are not. We must deal with the self and consecrate ourselves to the Lord again to stand for His recovery with a pure heart. Through such dealings, we will see how much the Lord can work Himself into our being in the midst of turmoil.
During times of suffering and turmoil, we can all learn an important lesson from the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah the priest-prophet was the son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo (Zech. 1:1). In Hebrew the name Iddo means “at an appointed time”; the name Berechiah means “Jehovah will bless”; and the name Zechariah means “Jehovah will remember.” Hence, the significance of the three names is that at the appointed time Jehovah will bless and Jehovah will remember. When facing a storm, turmoil or desolation in the church, we wait on the Lord for “Iddo”, for God’s appointed time. God’s promise is faithful: “Yet those who wait on Jehovah will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and will not become weary; they will walk and will not faint” (Isa. 40:31).
We must not lose heart when we encounter turmoil. Remember that this is the Lord’s recovery. Let us not stumble. When our faith grows weak, we must look to the faithful One. We must have faith that the Lord will preserve us and even strengthen His recovery to pass through such storms. He is the One who is able to keep us and preserve us (1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Thes. 3:3; Jude 24). He is also the One who will build up His church according to His promise in Matthew 16:18. Let us not focus on the turmoil before us but on Christ who will bring us safely through to the other side. Psalm 107:29 reminds us, “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were calm.” May we all be strengthened and encouraged to go on in the way of life and truth in the Lord’s present recovery.