CARING FOR OTHERS IN A SMALL GROUP IN THE SPIRIT AND LOVE

CARING FOR OTHERS IN THE SMALL GROUPS IN THE SPIRIT AND IN LOVE

Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 12:25 ; Eph. 2:22 ; 4:15-16

The main burden in this chapter concerns the small groups. Some saints have formed small groups in their neighborhoods and have begun to experience something positive. In these groups there is a need of concern for others. First Corinthians 12:25 says, “That there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same care for one another.” The phrase the same care for one another indicates mutual concern. The basic need of small groups is mutual concern.

The church is like a large family. In a family we do not expect everyone to have the same level of concern for others. The parents, older children, and younger ones have different levels of concern for one another. In a healthy, normal family the adults have the most concern for others. Similarly, in the church life we should not expect that all the saints in a small group will have the same level of concern for others. If at least two or three in a small group have a genuine concern for the others, much can be accomplished.

We should not expect to see a quick work in the small groups. These groups should not grow quickly like a mushroom but slowly like an orchard. We need to be patient and spend time week after week. If we labor consistently for six months, the “orchard” will be cultivated and produce growth—all the saints in the group will be revived. Like the growth of children, the progress among the saints in our small group will not be visible from day to day, but after six months there will be an evident difference. Therefore, we must be patient and not expect quick results.

Based on much experience, I do not have confidence in anything that comes about quickly. We should not have much confidence in the situation if the dormant ones in our neighborhood are quickly stirred up after we visit them. It is normal if nothing happens after our first visit, and the second visit should be about the same. Some visits may even seem worse than earlier ones; there may be no response or signs of life from those we are visiting. However, if we know life, we will not be disappointed. For two years I was seriously ill and under the care of a medical doctor who was a brother. He was very skilled in medicine and in caring for people, and I learned much from him. I was anxious to be healed, but it took more than two years to recover. Day after day, week after week, and month after month I remained about the same. I bothered the doctor with many questions because I expected to see signs of recovery quickly. He always told me, “No, you cannot go that fast. You have to progress in the normal way according to the law of the natural life.” My anxiety did not help but rather prolonged my recovery. The slow way brought me through.

                                                                  In the Spirit

If there are brothers in our neighborhood who are spiritually dormant and rarely attend our small groups meetings, we need to be concerned for them, pray for them, and be patient with them. The two keys we need in caring for such ones are spirit and love. These two keys are hidden in Ephesians, the book concerning the church. All six chapters of Ephesians mention the human spirit ( 1:17 ; 2:22 ; 3:5 ; 4:23 ; 5:18 ; 6:18 ). In the small groups our cleverness does not mean anything. The more we exercise our cleverness, the more we will offend others. Instead of exercising our cleverness, we need to be in our spirit, because when we are in the spirit, we open the way for the Holy Spirit to do something. If we exercise our cleverness, our clever talk will waste the time, close the door to the Holy Spirit, and damage the Spirit’s work. The most honest, true, real, faithful, and sincere part of our being is our spirit. Whatever we say, we must speak from our spirit, and whatever we do, we must do in our spirit. In contacting people the most touching thing is sincerity. If we are not sincere, our contact with someone will have no effect. Sincerity, which comes from our spirit, strengthens our contact.

Whatever part of our being we exercise will stir up the same part in others. If we exercise our emotion, others’ emotion will be stirred up. If in contacting others, we are cheerful, those we contact will spontaneously be cheerful. If we are sorrowful, our sorrowfulness will influence them to be sorrowful also. In this way we will keep ourselves and others in the realm of emotions, where nothing can be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can operate only in the realm of the spirit. If we exercise our spirit, it will stir up others’ spirit. Then we will all be in the realm of the spirit, where the Holy Spirit can accomplish something.

We should not expect to see quick results, and we need to learn to stay in our spirit. We may know this doctrinally, but to actually be in our spirit requires much more than knowing. We were not born in the spirit, nor were we raised or educated in the spirit. We have been conducting ourselves for many years not in the spirit. Therefore, to stay in the spirit requires much practice. If we consider our real situation, we will probably realize that we are in the spirit for less than half a minute each hour. When we try to practice remaining in the spirit, we will find that it is not easy. I have often judged myself when I found how difficult it was for me to remain in the spirit. Our spirit is the most neglected part of our being. To be in our mind, emotion, or will does not require any effort. Moreover, we are in the flesh as long as we are alive. Actually, we are the flesh. To be in the spirit is difficult because our spirit is weak from neglect. We are often disappointed in contacting others because we do not realize that to take care of others is a matter in the spirit. Only in the spirit can we open the way for the Holy Spirit to do something.