Appendices
A flexible life
Scripture Reading: Matt. 11:16-19; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; 9:19-22; 2 Cor. 6:4-10; Phil. 4:11-13
(The following message was given by Watchman Nee in Kuling on July 17, 1948, as part of the “New Believers” series. It was later excluded from the published version of the series. This abbreviated record is compiled from notes taken by Brother K. H. Weigh.)
I. Two philosophies
The church of Christ has been on this earth for two thousand years. As a result of the spread of the gospel to many nations, men have developed different views concerning Christianity. We can group these views into at least two categories. The first category suggests that all things should follow their own natural course of action. Those with this view realize that the created man has many needs, needs which have been planted by God in man. Since God has prepared many things in man’s environment that are pleasing to him and which match his many needs, man should do his best to enjoy all these things in life. The second view is that of the ascetics. They think that man should deny all the demands of his body. They think that man is sinful, and that all of his needs are related to sin. Man should not enjoy any pleasure which is derived from sin. Instead, he should suffer and suppress his natural demands. Each of these two views are quite complicated; they are not simple at all.
II. The Christian life — a flexible life
A. Not a matter of eating and drinking
At the beginning of the New Testament, John the Baptist came. He was a forerunner of the Lord Jesus. We can say that John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus together give us a complete pattern of the New Testament. The two combined give us a full picture of the Christian life. Matthew 11:16-19 says, “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like little children sitting in the market places, who call to the others and say, We have played the flute to you, and you did not dance; we have sung a dirge, and you did not mourn. For John came neither eating nor drinking; and they say, He has a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking; and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by her works.” The New Testament has not laid down a strict code of outward conduct for Christians. The Lord Jesus said that John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, yet He came eating and drinking. This is the Christian life. The Christian life is one that mourns as well as plays the flute. Its emphasis is not on outward eating and drinking. The Lord Jesus acted in exactly the opposite way of John the Baptist, yet He was not opposed to John the Baptist. We can say that the Lord Jesus behaved like a Christian, and John the Baptist also behaved like a Christian. A Christian does not believe in the suppression of natural desires, nor does he believe in hedonism. A Christian can mourn, and he can play the flute. A Christian is a flexible person; he can act either way. This is what a real Christian is. Some Christians believe in enjoyment, while others believe in suffering. The two views are two “isms.” In the end one turns to hedonism while the other turns to asceticism. But between these two extremes, we have a flexible life, the life that a Christian should have. We should turn our attention to different things. Our attention should not be on matters related to eating and drinking.
B. Being able to do all things through the discipline of the Holy Spirit
Now let us consider the life of Paul. He served God in a very flexible way. He became all things to all men (1 Cor. 9:19-22). This is the basic qualification of a servant of the Lord. If a Christian does not behave this way, he cannot be a servant of the Lord, because the demand of the Christian life is deeper than the outward issues of the outward man. The Christian life has nothing to do with the outward man. It has to do with the inward man. The Christian life is not a matter of eating and drinking but a matter of inner fellowship. The Christian fellowship that goes on within is more important than any outward activity. To a Christian eating does not destroy anything, nor does the abstinence from it frustrate anything. We are concerned with something deeper than these things. Eating and drinking are issues involving the outward man. But the Christian life revolves around the inward man. To God, issues that are related to the outward man are minor. The important and crucial thing is for the Son of God to be life within us. To Paul, the emphasis of the Christian life is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). All other matters such as eating, drinking, and clothing are minor and unimportant. Paul’s life was flexible.
In Philippians 4:11-13 Paul said, “I have learned, in whatever circumstances I am, to be content. I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack. I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.” Paul said that he could live in abundance or abasement. He could be filled or be in hunger. These are all outward things; they are very minor. We have to remember that a worker of the Lord does not necessarily live in fullness or in hunger. He is not necessarily in lack or in excess. He is not necessarily in abasement or in abundance. Our life must be flexible. It must be under the discipline of the Holy Spirit. A worker has to go through strict discipline before he can be a flexible person.
It is actually more difficult to live a flexible life than to live either in poverty or in abundance. Being flexible means that we can travel either in economy class or in first class when we are on a boat. If we can only go first class, or if we can only go economy class, we are not a servant of God. God’s servants are flexible. We have a secret within us — the Christ of glory as the empowering One. Some people hold on to the little outward things that they have, but they have nothing within them to back them up. When things go a little contrary to their ways, they immediately stumble. Many of God’s servants cannot adapt to many situations because they are inflexible. As God’s workers, we must give ourselves to strict dealings. The Chinese are reserved, the Americans are free and uninhibited, while the British are conservative. As a worker, we have to be able to work among all kinds of people. This is what it means to be a servant of the Lord. A worker must be able to deal even with children and elderly people. We must be flexible in all outward things.
C. Transcending all outward things
First Corinthians 7:29-31 says, “But this I say, brothers, the time is shortened. Henceforth both those who have wives should be as though they had none, and those who weep as though they did not weep, and those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, and those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use the world as though they did not abuse it; for the fashion of this world is passing away.” Paul’s word was very peculiar. In view of the greatness and glory of the indwelling Lord, all outward things had dwindled in significance. If we are filled with Christ, we will transcend all outward things. To a Christian, having a wife is as though having none, and those who do not have a wife need not ask for one. Weeping or not weeping does not matter. Those who rejoice do not have to worry if they are acting out of place. Those who possess are like those who do not, and those who use the world are like those who do not. God’s servants have to be flexible in all outward things. A Christian is one who transcends all outward things.
D. Dealing with the self, and not being bound by any mode
In Luke 10:38-42 Mary was quiet, while Martha labored. Both were right in their services. The Lord rebuked Martha, not because she was laboring, but because she was too busy; she even implored the Lord to send her sister to help her. She was too busy. It is right to labor, but one must be able to become calm as well. A worker of God should learn both to be quiet as well as to labor. It is not that easy to live a flexible life.
In all the lessons we learn related to our flesh, flexibility is probably the most difficult of them all. Some people have a hard time eating simple food; others have a harder time eating good food. These things are problems for them because they have made the kingdom of God a matter of eating and drinking. Paul said that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). We have to learn to be a broad person, one who can accommodate everything. Madam Guyon once said that a man who is in perfect union with God is a teacher to the elderly and a friend to children. In 2 Corinthians 6:4-10 Paul went on a long discourse to show how flexible he was as a servant of the Lord: “As having nothing and yet possessing all things” (v. 10). This is the standard of God’s worker. Only those whose self has been thoroughly dealt with are able to live such a flexible life. It is difficult for some Christians to live a flexible life because they still live by their self. The self has its own concepts and ideas, and it always considers itself to be right. It will not submit to the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. These Christians are lopsided. We should allow God to deal with our self. As soon as the self is gone, we can become flexible.
Hence, we must go through fundamental, thorough, and strict dealings before we can run a straight race before us. Only then will we be able to embrace the proper spiritual “contradictions” within us. God’s servants should always bear in mind that God’s way is never a single-track line, but a two-track line. Muslims are for the enjoyment of life. Buddhists are for suffering. But a standard Christian is not biased toward any side. He lives according to God’s sovereign arrangements, transcending the outward man. Paul’s outward man was alive, yet his inward man was hidden in God and was forever unshaken. Our true person is the one that lives in God; the outward man is merely a performance. It is a glorious thing for the inner man and the outward man to be separated from each other. The inner man should be hidden in God, while the outward man should be thoroughly broken. This is the basic qualification for working for God. Anyone who is bound in just one mode has not passed through the basic dealings.
E. The outward man needing the dealing, while the inner man needing to be strengthened
Whenever a worker of the Lord goes to a place, he has to live the same way that the people in that place do. His clothing and food have to be the same as the people’s. If the gospel is confined by things like eating, drinking, and clothing, our faith will not be much different from that of the worldly religions; we will not convey the right flavor that is in our faith. Our Lord did not bring anything with Him when He came to the earth. He ate and drank. He was genuinely a man. The servant cannot be greater than the master. Our inner man has to be strengthened, while our outward man should not insist on anything. It should be happy to go along with anyone. For this reason, our outward man must be dealt with. The Christian life is neither a matter of eating nor of not eating. It is neither hedonism nor asceticism. The Christian life is flexible. What is within us is far greater and more glorious, and we should not be affected by the outward mode of living in any way.