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Many leading brothers never realize how crucial and even how precious it is to be a piece of acacia wood. So they get involved in a lot of works and activities. Then they become concerned over success or failure, but they have no ability to bear either. When they are successful, they become proud. When they are defeated, they become depressed. Eventually the whole church suffers under their care. These brothers are faithful, these brothers love the Lord, but their humanity becomes a real problem to the church. Their humanity has a lack of solidity and firmness. When they are burdened, the whole church goes forward with them. Then all of a sudden they are not burdened, and the whole church doesn’t know what to do. What is the reason? The wood. The humanity. With some churches, a leading brother can be so burdened and charged that everyone in the church operates. Then when a little frustration comes in, the brother is defeated and the church goes nowhere. This is because there is a lack in the brother’s humanity. Eventually it is not the gold, but the wood that stands. If the wood cannot stand, then the church will suffer.
This is why, when we serve the Lord, and especially if we are full-time, we must never be alone. When we are by ourselves, with no one to oversee our labor, no one to watch over our schedule, and no one to coordinate with us, then we can easily be ruined by our disposition. We must labor together with a group of brothers. We can never be by ourselves. Eventually we not only stand, but we are built up into the tabernacle, which is a corporate testimony. We must remember that every board of the tabernacle was joined to another board. Every piece of wood must be joined to another. No matter how much we get bothered and frustrated by the brothers who serve with us, we need them. Without them we cannot survive, and we cannot be built up.
