The Church and the Work

The Relationship between the Church, the Work, and the Apostles

Concerning the workers who are raised up from within the churches, Watchman Nee states that they should not be considered as another class of persons in the church. He mentions that there ought to be only three categories of persons in a local church: the believers, the serving ones, and the elders. The workers are not another group unto themselves, occupying a superior position in the church, but function within the first three categories. Watchman Nee further details the responsibilities for each group:

According to the Bible, every meeting should have three kinds of people. First, there are believers in the church. This is the basic group in a meeting. There is, at least, this first kind in every church. Second, there are those who serve in the material things. All of their responsibilities relate to business affairs, such as helping the brothers and sisters to do things, managing the arrangement and affairs concerning the meeting, etc. The Bible calls these people deacons, of whom some are brothers and some are sisters. Third, in addition to the above two kinds, there are a few brothers whose responsibilities are to take care of the main activities in the meetings, such as taking the lead in the meetings, making decisions, corresponding with those outside the church, and caring for the saints. The Bible calls these people elders.

A meeting should involve all of the above three types of people. There are no workers. Workers do not occupy a superior position in the church. Since a worker does not belong to another group of people, he must be in one of the above three groups. The workers do not become a fourth group in a meeting; they are within one of the other three.

The relationship among these three groups of people can be illustrated by an example. Suppose the brothers in a certain locality need to build a meeting hall. In the beginning, the elders make a proposal and decisions. After the matter has been decided, they will inform the brothers and assign various responsibilities to the deacons. The deacons, in turn, will ask all the brothers and sisters to provide the necessary labor. The workers can only do their share of the work. They can only fulfill their part of the work; they cannot control the whole work. The only difference between them and the other believers is that they bear a little more burden. This is the relationship between the workers and the local churches.

The position of the workers is similar to the position of the early apostles. They do the work of the apostles, but they do not have the authority of the apostles. On the other hand, if a worker has a certain commission, burden, or assignment from the Lord, the church should show its sympathy in the matter and support his endeavors. We cannot find one example in the Bible where the apostles had a burden and the church did not agree with it or where the work was under the control of a church. If this is the case, God’s work will be greatly hindered.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 1, Vol. 11, 865-866)

Concerning the meetings, Watchman Nee also states that only these three groups—believers, serving ones, and elders—ought to be represented. The workers, whether local or extra-local, should exercise no control over any church, but rather, ought to simply bear more of the burden of service than other believers in the church. Here Watchman Nee explains the relationship of the workers with the local churches:

A meeting should involve all of the above three types of people. There are no workers. Workers do not occupy a superior position in the church. Since a worker does not belong to another group of people, he must be in one of the above three groups. The workers do not become a fourth group in a meeting; they are within one of the other three.

The relationship among these three groups of people can be illustrated by an example. Suppose the brothers in a certain locality need to build a meeting hall. In the beginning, the elders make a proposal and decisions. After the matter has been decided, they will inform the brothers and assign various responsibilities to the deacons. The deacons, in turn, will ask all the brothers and sisters to provide the necessary labor. The workers can only do their share of the work. They can only fulfill their part of the work; they cannot control the whole work. The only difference between them and the other believers is that they bear a little more burden. This is the relationship between the workers and the local churches.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 1, Vol. 11, 865-866)

Finally, Watchman Nee describes the normal, harmonious relationship between the apostles (or, the workers) and a local church wherein the church supports the burden of the apostles, yet without exercising any control over it:

The position of the workers is similar to the position of the early apostles. They do the work of the apostles, but they do not have the authority of the apostles. On the other hand, if a worker has a certain commission, burden, or assignment from the Lord, the church should show its sympathy in the matter and support his endeavors. We cannot find one example in the Bible where the apostles had a burden and the church did not agree with it or where the work was under the control of a church. If this is the case, God’s work will be greatly hindered.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 1, Vol. 11, 865-866)

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