… I’m very burdened for this group of saints, and as one of the brothers pointed out, the working saints, it is really a reality that the working saints are the backbone of the Lord’s recovery. And in my observation of the saints and of the churches, many times the the young people are very active: the high school, the college students have a lot going on. They have college trainings and internships and college conferences, robust church life for the college students and even the younger than college students. And they can be very active in the church life. And then you look at the older saints — at least in the locality where I am — faithful older saints who serve in the practical service, day in and week in and week out. When we have our prophesying meeting, often the first ones to prophesy are the older saints, who have been around for 30 years, 40 years in the recovery.
But it is conspicuously obvious that there is a group that is at least not fully employed in the church life, and it’s the working saints. The ones who should be the backbone of the church life and should be bearing the bulk of the burden among the churches are somewhat retired. It’s strange how, very active is young people, active is older saints, but this period of time that we call working saints, often there is a kind of a retirement, a spiritual retirement that goes on. Or at least an under-employed situation among the working saints.
And I tell you I don’t think this is an accident. I believe the enemy knows this as well, that this group is really the critical and crucial group in the Lord’s recovery, the working saints. You know we have a lot of blessings in the Lord’s recovery. We’ve been blessed a lot, the Lord has blessed us with some wonderful factors in the Lord’s recovery. One is, like we’re enjoying this weekend, the word in the Lord’s recovery is so rich. The ministry is open to us, the word is open to us, there’s no shortage with the word, no shortage in the ministry. Besides just the plethora of ways to get the ministry: the books, electronically, songs, there’s all kinds of ways to enter into the ministry, it’s all in our hands. Besides that, we have such a oneness in the Lord’s recovery. I’ve been in the church life since I was eight years old and in my years I’ve never seen such a oneness among the churches. The blending really works! Certainly we need more blending, but we have some blending that has resulted in a oneness. There’s a oneness among the coworkers that is maybe unprecedented. There’s a oneness and blending among the leading brothers in the churches. We have a lot of positive things in the Lord’s recovery.
But if we have all of these positive things, saints, we have to ask ourselves — why is the Lord’s recovery not more prevailing in the United States? Why is it not? If we have the Word, we have oneness, we have the riches. We don’t have persecution in the United States to preach the gospel, we don’t have persecution to practice the church life. All this is so well laid out for us to flourish in the United States. Why have we not flourished? Why are there still too few churches? And why are churches so small?
I don’t claim to be the expert to answer this, but I have considered this: I think it has to do with the working saints as being one factor at least. There is a great, great temptation when you’re working, I know. I worked for 28 years and I know it is a great temptation. Everything that you will give to your job, they will take. Every hour you give them they’ll take two. There’s no limit to what you can give to your profession. And frankly the tide of the age is such that there is no limit to what you can give to your family, to your children! To practices and sports and music and all that goes on and on and on. And eventually what does that do to a person? Your job is demanding everything from you, your family’s demanding everything from you, well what’s left over for the church life? Go to church on Sunday morning?
And so for the next 30 years you’re around, you’re positive, you’re not against it, but the consecration isn’t there. And brothers and sisters I just say this because I know this from my own experience: unless we reconsider our living and reconsider — what are we doing here? What is our family for? What is our job for?
When I was in high school, Brother Lee shared the messages from Genesis about the pillar builders, and that was a big wake-up call in the Lord’s recovery because at that time I remember a lot of brothers — you know the stories, they were pool cleaners and yard maintenance guys, because they wanted to be available for the trainings and the conferences. This was the heart of the brothers. And Brother Lee said, “No, you need to get the best education, the best training the world has to offer you, and then lay it at the Lord’s feet.”
Well, we got the first part of it. A lot of brothers got educated, got the best jobs. But maybe we didn’t take the last part of his fellowship and then lay it down, and let our Tyrenean father die. We forgot that part of it. And we ended up with good jobs, making lots of money, with a nice house, and good family and children, living the American dream. And the Lord’s house lies waste.
Brothers and sisters, I realize we’re probably here talking to the choir, so to speak. Because if you’re at this conference you paid a price to be here, and if you’re here in this meeting today I’m sure you paid a price to be here as well.
But this group of saints in the Lord’s recovery must reconsider your living. This is just my feeling. You must reconsider: what are you living for? What is your family for? What is your job for? Between a husband and wife, to sit down and… you know sometimes we get so busy and the world is spinning so fast around us, you never stop and say, “Wait a minute! Is this the life we signed up for? We’re running to practices, we’re running to soccer and piano and this and that and working overtime. We can’t make the prayer meeting, we certainly can’t serve on Saturday morning, we can’t get to the ministry meeting because we just have too many….”
Is that the life that we dreamed about when we were in college? I don’t think so. I just don’t think that that is what we were aspiring to. We were aspiring to live to the Lord! We were aspiring to give everything to the Lord, we had patterns in front of us who did that, who gave everything to the Lord.
I just hope as a response, at least, you would reconsider your living today before the Lord in a very sober-minded way: how am I spending my time? I know when you’re young it doesn’t seem like it, but time is fleeting. The years start clicking by, and pretty soon you’ll be saying I retired last year.
Brothers and sisters, consider your participation in the church life, your function in the church life, your participation in the church meetings. I won’t ask, but I’d like to know: how many are in the prayer meeting of the church every week? Brothers and sisters, this is not a small thing. This is where the church is doing battle and fighting for the Lord’s interest on the earth.
I’ll just end with this: in a very practical way to respond, certainly to reconsider and re-consecrate your life to the Lord, and your family’s life, your children’s life to the Lord. But on top of that, saints, consider this:
Migration is a wonderful way to have a restart. It is a wonderful way to go from under-employed to fully employed overnight, to migrate to a new city. And I believe in the coming year even, and coming years, there’s gonna be more opportunities for migration to good cities, good places to live and raise families, but good places to go fishing. Good places to gain people.
And some of us, you’re young, but you’re already set, settled, and occupied. You’re already immovable. Don’t become immovable! Be available to the Lord’s move. Be available to migrate, to be uprooted, to leave all the things that are occupying you and have a restart, where you’re moving there not to make money. Yes, you’ll find a job, you’ll get a job — you’re moving there for the Lord’s interest.
There are two ways to move: you can move for a better job, or you can move for the Lord’s interest. And many of us have no qualms about moving for a better job. Oh of course, that makes total sense. Move to start the church in another city?! Why would I do that? I can’t do that! I have a job, I have kids.
Well, in the beginning, it was not so. That’s not our history. That’s not where we came from. That wasn’t the generation that I saw ahead of me. My parents, we migrated… my dad never met a migration he wasn’t burdened for. We moved and moved and moved. I went to a different school every year of my life until 11th grade. Not one move was for a better job. Not one move was for a better house. Not one move was for better schools. It was for the Lord’s move. That’s our history. That’s my history, but that’s your history as well.
Brothers and sisters, don’t let this age suck you in. Don’t let it occupy you. The tide of this age is strong one way. We are against the tide. We’re not living here to make more money. We’re not living that our kids would have every single perk available to them! That’s not what our life is about! We are here for the Lord’s recovery! We’re here for His interest on the earth and there’s a battle for you in this stage of your life. Amen.
Livingly Wrong 