PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

Living in the Light of God's Economy

The stated purpose of parenthood is the strengthening of the function of parents "according to the vision in the Lord's recovery". Briefly, we in the Lord's recovery are living according to the vision of God's purpose as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. The Bible reveals that God made man in His own image so that God would be able to dispense Himself into man thus transforming man to be the same as God in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead. Furthermore, God plans to build His redeemed and regenerated people into a corporate entity called the church, His Body (cf. Ephesians 1:3-22).

Within this vision, the family is an important entity, but it must never become the all-absorbing focus. Our families must fit into and contribute to the building up of the Body of Christ for the fulfillment of God's heart's desire. If the family becomes our prevailing focus, we will lose the blessing of the Lord. Then our family may become, at its best, a distraction (perhaps pleasant, sanctified, successful, and godly yet taking our attention away from the Lord's interests and goal) and at its worst, a tragedy (divided, unsanctified, broken, and ungodly).

Witness Lee, a minister of the Word for nearly 70 years, was unwavering in pursuing the goal of God's economy. In 1977 he gave a series of messages in Taipei (recently translated into English and published as The Ultimate Significance of the Golden Lampstand). Here we have printed excerpts that emphasize the preeminence of the church life over the family life as the focus of our living and practice.

This portion of his ministry also calls the people in the Lord's recovery to labor to bring their children and young people into the practical church life. Calling for the Lord's people to "rise up and take action," he urged us to care for our children by holding neighborhood children's meetings in our homes on Saturdays or weekdays. In this way, after six or seven years we will have many "seeds" of the Lord's recovery in many high schools. At the same time we should labor in the high schools and colleges. May the Lord be gracious to us that we may rise up and take action for the care of our children with a view to the Lord's recovery!

The church is God's ultimate goal. God's plan is from Christ through the Spirit to the church. If there is Christ yet not the Spirit, God cannot carry out His plan; if there is Christ with the Spirit yet without the church, God has not yet reached the ultimate goal of His economy….

One day after I gave a message in Houston, Texas, a married woman came to me and said, "Brother Lee, your message was very good, but why do you speak only about the church life and not the family life?" I replied, "There are enough people speaking about the family life, so there is no need for me to speak about it. Because no one speaks about the church life, I have to make up the lack and speak specifically about the church life." I continued, "Seriously speaking, which is more precious, the church life or the family life? Which is high and which is low? Which is weighty and which is light?"

I kept speaking and eventually I said, "If you do not have a proper church life, it will be hard for you to have a proper family life." That woman was separated from her husband, so she was hoping that I would say something about the family life to help them be reconciled. Actually, she did not realize that the reason for their separation was that they did not have the church life. I do not believe that any family who practices the church life will have a separation. We can boast and say that today in the practical church life there is no divorce or separation! After a quarrel, a husband will first blame himself, confess his sins, shed tears, and then go to his wife to say, "I am sorry; please forgive me. The church life compels me to confess and apologize!" Therefore, I said to that woman, "Today you need the church life. I came here because I have been commissioned by the Lord to tell you that you need the church life."

THE GOLDEN LAMPSTAND BEING FOR THE CHURCH

All these precious truths [concerning Christ, the Spirit, and the church in God's economy] are in the Bible, but because we are too shallow, we have not seen them or entered into them. The golden lampstand is ultimately not for Christ or for the Spirit but for the church. Where does the church come from? The church comes from Christ with the Spirit. Never forget that Christ with the Spirit is the church. (Witness Lee, The Ultimate Significance of the Golden Lampstands, pp. 20-21; 25-26)

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