Why Building the Church Requires Absolute Consecration?

 

Why Building the Church Requires Absolute Consecration?

Gal. 4:19 "My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you"

Matt. 16:24 "If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me"

 

Reasons	Path Characteristics	Examples	Applications	Related Scripture
Incomplete consecration brings difficulties in service	Narrow - No way to have both; must choose between the Lord or the world	Apostle Paul suffered for the gospel yet was willing and joyful	Those who serve must make a clear choice between the Lord and personal interests, without compromise	Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple"
Reduced consecration prevents building work	Absolute - No room for compromise, moderation, or accommodation in service	Early apostles preferred persecution over compromise	In church service, the Lord's work must be primary, everything else secondary	Col. 1:24 "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for His Body, which is the church"
Cannot serve both God and mammon	Difficult - Consecration brings suffering; no consecration brings ease	Yu the Great passed his home three times without entering during flood control	Responsible brothers must sacrifice their own homes for God's house; cannot have both	Matt. 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon"
Caring for one's own house prevents caring for God's house	Sacrificial - Must sacrifice personal reputation, family, and career	A responsible brother with five children serving over 100 saints cannot manage both	Western missionary-style comfortable service cannot produce genuine building	2 Tim. 2:4 "No soldier on active duty entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier"
Seeking human help is shame for servants	Poor and suffering - Walking a path of poverty and hardship without seeking human help	Early servants would rather go three days without food than let people know	Full-time servants should not receive directly from human hands but only from God's hand	2 Cor. 12:15 "I will most gladly spend and be utterly spent on behalf of your souls"
Truly following Jesus means being 'destroyed' by Him	Destructive - Destroying reputation, honor, family, strength, and natural man	Sister Yu Cidu decided to return home at Marseille port instead of studying medicine	Young people truly following Jesus cannot study smoothly or succeed in careers	Matt. 10:39 "He who finds his soul-life shall lose it, and he who loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it"
All paths of consecration defy normal reasoning	Abnormal - Everything cannot be measured by common sense; all beyond the so-called normal	Early apostles and Christians throughout history all had abnormal circumstances	Career, marriage, family, studies cannot be measured by common sense; once normal, it's not consecration	1 Cor. 1:27 "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world that He might put to shame those who are wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world that He might put to shame the things that are strong"

 

Core Truth Summary:

Fundamental reasons why building the church requires absolute consecration:

• God's house and one's own house cannot be managed simultaneously
• The Lord's work and personal interests have fundamental conflicts
• Genuine building requires complete dedication
• Incomplete consecration cannot produce spiritual building

Conclusion:

Building the church is divine work requiring absolute consecration from workers. Any reservation or compromise will affect the building's effectiveness. Though this path is narrow and difficult, it is the only way to allow Christ to gain His building.

 

*Please refer to Chapter 7 of The Governance of the Church and the Ministry of the Word: Building the Church Requires Absolute Devotion