PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

II. IN SPIRIT

To be an authority, one must not only be in love, but must be in spirit as well. We all know what it is to be in spirit….We must learn to live in the spirit. The judgment and handling of every matter must be carried out in spirit….

…If you need to say a few words of rebuke, you should do so in spirit. If you need to speak a few words of comfort, you also need to be in spirit. If you need to speak a few words of praise, you need to be in spirit. In handling all the affairs…, you have to turn to your spirit. If there is no sense in the spirit and no move in the spirit, it would be better for you to drop the matter. Brothers, this is not a doctrine. In order for the [family] that you are overseeing to be in life and with anointing, every arrangement you make…must be made in the spirit.

To be in spirit is to be in God's presence. It is to allow God to rule within us. Once we are in spirit, there is no need to be an authority any longer; we become an authority automatically. Where there is God's presence, there is authority. Never forget that authority is simply God Himself. Without God's presence, we will lose this authority. Hence, all the time we have to learn to live in the spirit, to touch the sense of the spirit, to act in the spirit, and to speak in the spirit.

We have mentioned before that we have to be in love and that love is authority transformed. Now we are saying that we have to be in spirit and that life is authority transformed. When you learn to touch the affairs…in spirit and to handle the affairs…in spirit, you will impart to others a sense of life. Once you touch something, you handle something, others will feel that there is life. Once you stand up to speak or make an announcement, others will feel that there is life. Once you explain something or make some arrangements, others will also feel that there is life. This is because you are doing everything in spirit. Life is authority transformed. When there is life with a person, authority is surely with him also. When life comes to an individual, or a group, or an environment, authority is there also. Life is authority transformed.

III. IN RESURRECTION

To be in resurrection means that all of our actions have to pass through the cross. [Whenever you feel to do something]; you must first put this matter to the death of the cross, to test it and to filter it. Many times, after such filtering, there may be nothing left to say. Originally, you may be one who would say whatever there is to say. This is to be in the natural realm. It is not in resurrection. Now when you filter what you are going to say, along with all your thoughts, intentions, motives, and goals, through the death of the cross, you are filtering out everything natural. Only that which is left after the testing of the cross can be presented. If you do this, you are speaking in resurrection….

Many times we feel that there are…things we have to say, matters we have to take care of, and opinions we have to express. But after the test of the cross, these things are all gone; there is no more need…to say the words, to deal with the matters, or to express the opinions. We feel that there is no more need to do all these things because they are all seen as being natural. Sometimes we will find out that they are not merely natural, but fleshly as well. They are our own inclinations and preferences. None of these can pass the test of the cross. Once these things meet the cross, they are through. When the world says that a person has to think twice before he acts, it means that he has to consider the pros and cons, and to consider if the matter is suitable or not. Such is not the case with us here. Every time you need to do something…, to express some attitude, or to voice some opinion, you have to take the principle of the cross. You must first place these things in the death of the cross and test them to see if they can stand the cross.

…Hence, for those things that we are not sure whether they have passed through the cross, it is better for us not to do them. Anything we do or say must pass through the test of the cross. Only those things that have passed through the cross are in resurrection. (Witness Lee, The Elders's Management of the Churches, pp. 87-95)

APPLICATION

1. Why do we say that "the amount of love a person has is the amount of authority he possesses"?

2. What is the meaning of being an authority by doing all things in spirit?

3. How can we apply practically the burden of being an authority by doing all things in resurrection?