If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
The foot cannot talk itself out of the body by saying it is not the hand, so having a different gift or work from someone else never makes a person any less a part of the body. God Himself has set each member in the body as He pleased, giving different gifts by the same Spirit for the good of the whole. The church is that body, many members joined in close harmony with all life and power centering in Christ as Head. No member can live to itself or tell another there is no need of it, because deficiency in one is supplied by another until diverse parts blend into a perfect whole. Even the lowliest service is indispensable, for worth is measured not by greatness but by love and motive, so the smallest believer is vital when humbly depending on God.
Words and Body Picture
The foot does not cease to belong to the body by saying it is not the hand, and having a different gift, work, or role from another member does not make a person any less part of the body. The body needs many different members, and God has placed them in it as He pleased, with each distinct function essential to the perfection of the work. Members must not compare gifts, judge one another, claim superiority, treat differing roles as grounds to deny one another's place, or exclude themselves because they are not like another. No one is qualified to bear the burden of the work alone, but men of different minds, experience, and abilities are joined together to counsel with and assist one another, so that deficiency in one is supplied by another. To be one with Christ in God they must unite with one another, uniting weakness to His strength, dying to self and living to Christ, until strong unchristlike traits are softened, subdued, and purified. Differing roles belong to instruction against division, for believers who separate into factions fail to show the truth's power, while all are needed, should respect one another, contribute to the good of the whole, and bring balance.
The human body from head and eyes to feet pictures variety with unity, for different members have different offices yet are all of the body. All the members depend upon one another to make a perfect whole, with harmonious action under one governing intelligence and in conformity to the laws controlling the being. Life is against uniformity, and the members of Christ's body all center in Christ as Head but have different gifts by the same Spirit. This diversity is in the economy of God to meet the varied organizations and minds in the world, for the strength of one servant of God is not the strength of another. Each is therefore to cultivate and develop the powers, qualities, and God-given traits given him, preserving individual identity and independent natural traits instead of being governed into sameness or molded to another's ideas. Every man must be left free for God to convict and operate upon his heart to obtain an experience founded in God, lest molding minds to human ideas spoil him for the special work God would have him accomplish, while all remain united in labor and, the more they drink in of the Spirit, the more they are animated and united by His surpassing love.
The hand or the foot stands for lowly service, and a person can render effective service for God even when he is not the head or the heart of the body. That lowly service is nevertheless important and indispensable, for the worth of the work is decided not by its greatness but by the love with which it is done and the motive underlying the action. Everyone who does what he can for God and is true and earnest to do good to those around him, to neighbors and associates, will receive the blessing of God upon his efforts. Feeling less important than other members does not make a person any less a member, for each belongs to Christ and is connected with the whole body and with God's human and heavenly agents, with duty not merely for personal interests but to strengthen others. Even the weakest saint who believes in Christ is a member of His body, and living in humble dependence on God that believer can become strong and has the privileges of a child of God.
The church needs gifts of every size and kind, each to be valued, encouraged, and used, and even the smallest can advance God's work when exercised in faith. Even the least or weakest member is vital, joined to Christ and connected with all the others, and can be strengthened by their gifts and experience. Members are to work in unity, love, humility, and mutual dependence, with every talent serving its proper place under the Holy Spirit, and each converted member's changed character can bless both church and world. Each part, however small, affects the usefulness of the whole, so misusing or weakening one part diminishes the whole body, and each person's gifts should be carefully preserved and faithfully used in service rather than dismissed as insignificant.
The twelfth and thirteenth chapters of First Corinthians should be committed to memory and written in mind and heart, so that those brought together in church capacity will be united understandingly and intelligently. The one grand necessity is to walk humbly with God in the path of obedience instead of coming together with contention and divisions. Members must study and apply those chapters for the continuous humbling of individual self and for taking self critically in hand, with self-examination as the beginning. The following teaching on love is instruction to believe and obey.
Gifts in the church are not to be slighted or neglected but are to live in the church, where they encourage the fainthearted and correct and reprove those who err. God has placed these gifts and members in the church because it needs them until Christ returns, with members depending on one another and working in harmony. An organ that serves only itself cannot live, and in Christ's body His love must be shared through every member, for a soul that refuses to give and impart to others will perish. As the heart sustains the hand and head by sending life-blood, Christians depend on and serve one another, with each part having a place and required to serve beyond itself. Separation from close union is painful like being torn limb from limb when affection and shared interests once closely united are lost. A professed Christian connected to the church only in name, without drawing life from Christ, is spiritually paralyzed, showing only fitful activity rather than lasting growth and fruit.
Church as Christ's Body
The church is one body with many members whose close and harmonious relationship comes through the Spirit, all centering in Christ as Head, Bridegroom, Shepherd, Center, Teacher, Ruler, and source of life and power. To believe on Christ and be united to Him is a living union like a limb united to the body, and connection with Christ involves connection with His church. A believer's different role or gifts do not make that person any less a member, so no member is to discount his own place because he is not like another, nor to cherish self-sufficiency or say to another member that there is no need of him because their work is not the same. Among the members there is to be no crowding, no judging, and no measuring of one gift by another, for many gifts are called for yet all are members of one body actively used together under Jesus Christ as head.
This diversity is in the economy of God to meet the varied organizations and minds in the world, giving different gifts by the same Spirit, so the strength of one servant is not the strength of another. Each is to cultivate and develop the powers, qualities, talents, and God-given traits given him, preserving individual identity and independent natural traits instead of being governed into sameness or molded to bend to another's ideas. No one is to govern others too much, destroy their will, or spoil them by human molding and training for the special work God would have them accomplish, but every person must be left free for God to convict and operate upon the heart to obtain an experience founded in God. God's people with varied gifts must be united as one body rather than divided into separate works, including the gospel ministry and medical missionary work together under Christ who redeemed them as acknowledged head and heavenly Leader, united in labor.
Every member, whether many or few together, has an appointed place, post, office, and work according to ability, and no one can be a member while inactive or exempt from serving. A member does not cease to belong because work differs from another's, for each part is indispensable to the harmonious work of the whole, with one Spirit moving it all while members depend on one another yet act distinctly and labor together for Christ. All are favored to serve in the ministry of reconciliation and to labor for souls, with sacred and secular callings, business lines, trades, and ministries all linked together under Christ, each controlled by divine power and putting forth undivided effort to draw those around him to Christ. The perfection of the church does not depend on each member being fashioned exactly alike, but God calls for each one to take his proper place, to stand in his lot, and to do his appointed work according to ability given him, hearts blending and moving like well-adjusted machinery. The church is a living, breathing, spiritual body in which every member belongs and has individual duties to show that life, including praying with and helping the lame and the sick and dependent, with order carefully preserved and with life in the churches themselves under spiritually-minded leaders looking after the spiritual good and with labor for souls outside by imparting received light, and faithful continued effort increases ability to work effectively and bear fruit.
The church is organized for service, and loyalty to Christ demands faithful performance of church duties, with connection with the church as one of the first steps in a life of service. This obligation of church relationship needs to be made plain, especially to youth awakened to the claims of Christ. In a church imbued with the Master's life this training leads directly to effort for the world without. As the outward human form is a complete structure pervaded by one life, with every part united to and dependent upon the other for life and each member having its special office to form a complete whole, so the Word of God is a complete body pervaded by one divine life. Every book and every portion of Scripture has its use and its lesson, adapted to the human being in every phase of life to secure a special result and to make the human family complete in Christ.
The health of the church depends on all its parts acting together in harmony, just as the harmonious action of all parts of the body promotes physical health and spiritual peace and harmony bring health to the church. A healthy church sends a vitalizing, healthful current to its institutional arm and branch, and standing in the counsel of God controls and corrects the errors in its branches. A sickly church that does not enjoy the favor of God nor the light of His countenance circulates a sickly, deathly influence through the whole living body until disease is apparent everywhere, and the moral darkness and spiritual death in the institutional arm come from the moral darkness of the church itself. God's work is a unit in which the different lines of work are sacred members of one body under God, including publishing offices by which truth is given to the world, sanitariums for restoration of the sick and relief of suffering, schools where children and youth are trained for God, General Conference affairs, and other branches for the last days. They must be governed by the same principles, with no kingly power perpetuated, no publishing institution or other institution set up as a kingdom of itself, no walls of partition or division between them, no territorial lines in God's cause, and no line pushed forward to the hindrance of another, while medical work is sacredly cherished and carefully conducted as the right hand of the body to open doors for the entrance of truth.
Diversity of Gifts and Places
God has set the members in the body as it has pleased Him, and He dispenses gifts as He pleases, giving one gift to one and another gift to another by the same Spirit, all for the good of the whole. This diversity belongs to His economy to meet the varied organizations and minds in the world, assigning different lines of service, including the work of teaching others for service. Because the foot is not the hand does not make it any less of the body, and no member is to compare gifts, judge another, measure one gift by another, crowd another out, cherish self-sufficiency, or deny another's place on account of a differing role.
The strength of one servant is not necessarily the strength of another, and each is to cultivate, develop, and faithfully use the powers, talents, and qualities given by God. Individual identity is to be preserved instead of being governed into sameness, with every person left free for God to convict and work upon the heart unto an experience founded in God. Unity never means consolidation into sameness, nor does it mean treating mere difference as a virtue, for believers differ in characteristics and experience and will not be exact duplicates in thoughts, words, and actions, even as leaves on the same tree differ in form yet belong to the same tree. Each is to be perfect in his own form and in his own development, and when each perfects his own traits of character all combine to make a complete whole moving in harmony.
Difference in gifts, character, expression, or way of presenting truth does not make one less precious or less a part of Christ, for all draw spiritual life from the same source and are worked by the same Spirit. As many stones, each with its own special light and message, were set in one breastplate to add to the beauty of the whole, and as sunlight falling on different objects gives a different hue, so different minds impressed with the same thought may express it differently without contradiction. Seldom will two persons view and express truth in exactly the same way, since each dwells on particular points which constitution and education have fitted him to appreciate, yet workers need not speak the very same things in the same words and style in order to have unity in diversity. Believers retain distinct individuality and dispositions, yet the same Spirit sanctifies them and joins them as different parts of one spiritual temple, and their harmony among diverse people evidences that God sent His Son to save sinners.
No one person has all qualifications, wisdom, or ability to be a complete whole, to carry the burden alone, or to give perfection to the work by his own effort. Varied gifts and different kinds of agencies are essential to build the work up strong and proportional and complete under the Lord's direction, with the deficiency in the experience and abilities of one supplied by the experience and abilities of another. Therefore no minister is to be conscience for others, mold other minds to his own ideas, destroy will and independent natural traits that would give access to a class others could not touch, or gather a party to think as he thinks. People with differing views and plans can work together when humble and teachable, counseling with and assisting one another rather than trying to carry the work alone.
God calls each one to take his proper place, to stand in his lot, and to do his appointed work according to the ability given him. Whether preaching the Word, teaching in schools, practicing as a physician, cultivating the soil, following a trade, acting in councils, or going to foreign lands, each remains within the domain of God and firmly united with the body, performing his several offices under the control of the Holy Spirit. Each keeps liberty of expression and personal identity with a sense of personal responsibility, yet all are to blend capabilities with those chosen, laboring harmoniously in unity and love without working out private invention alone. Fear of not being considered in harmony because of different abilities or approach does not determine place in the body, as seen in workers who held back from the work on that account. Those with a distinct work among the French that others could not do were to use their own abilities while depending on God rather than their own wisdom, instead of being pressed into others' ways, for their distinct work belongs to the shared work of the cause.
Mutual Need and Unity
All members depend on one another to make a perfect whole, for God has joined together people of different minds, experience, and abilities in reciprocal action and mutual relation, so that what is lacking in one is supplied by another. No one is qualified to bear the burden of the work alone or to work successfully alone, but diverse elements are blended with each adapted to the other, and contact of mind with mind quickens thought and increases capability. Each has an appointed place and work according to ability, whether many or few are brought together, and none is to be inactive, for God entrusts abilities to serve others and unselfish service develops them toward the intended purpose of the whole. Difference in gifts, minds, experience, and role does not remove anyone from the body, and members must unite with one another in order to be one with Christ in God, uniting weakness to His strength, dying to self and living to Christ until unchristlike traits are softened, subdued, and purified. Christlikeness blends every quality in harmonious proportion to present a symmetrical whole, with hand, head, ear, eye, and limbs each acting its distinctive part without antagonism.
Among members there is to be no self-sufficiency, crowding, judging, or measuring one gift by another, and no one is to say to another, I have no need of thee, because work is not the same. The claim of the foot that it is not of the body because it is not the hand is false, for God has placed many different members in the body as He pleased and differing roles give no ground to deny another's place. God gives one gift to one person and another gift to another as He pleases, appointing some to one line of work and others to other lines under the same Spirit, all for the good of the whole, including those called to teach others to fit them for service. Recognizing this order guards against rivalry, pride, envy, contempt, carnal emulation, and despising others' gifts, talents, and achievements, and it strengthens unity and mutual love. Each is therefore to develop his own abilities without envying another, respecting fellow members and contributing to the good of the whole rather than claiming superiority.
If one member suffers all suffer with it, and if one is honored all are honored, enlightened, and rejoice with him, so members are to care for one another's interests with kindly interest and Christlike sympathy. Hospitality and practical help allow brotherly love to bind members together, and they are to rejoice in helping fellow workers and in promoting one another's happiness. Even the least or weakest member is vital, joined to Christ and connected with all the others, and can be strengthened by their gifts and experience while working in unity, love, humility, and mutual dependence under the Holy Spirit. Grace is given to each according to the measure of Christ's gift for the perfecting of the saints unto unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of Christ.
Thinking a person can disconnect from the agencies God has appointed and work on an independent line in supposed wisdom and still succeed is a delusion of the enemy, for although such a person may flatter himself that he is doing God's work, he will not prosper in the end. Each person is only one member and can never be an independent whole, but must remain united to the body and work in his own appointed place and capacity, using his measure of ability where he can serve effectively. To claim independence, refuse to join in heart and spirit with God's chosen people, reject appointed channels of light and leadership, or regard one's own judgment as supreme violates the law of the body and creates discord and strife. To reject those channels is to reject means ordained for help, encouragement, and strength, leaving a person liable to be deceived and overthrown by Satan, whose studied effort is to separate individuals from the body unto ruin under himself as leader. God in wisdom arranged that by close relationship Christian shall be united to Christian and church to church, with every agency subordinate to the Holy Spirit, so that human instrumentality cooperates with the divine in organized effort, with no one shut up to himself to live for himself but all like-minded with God, pure, holy, and sincere.
Members of different minds are joined to counsel with and assist one another rather than bar the mind against counsel, sharing thoughts and receiving contributions in brotherly kindness. Each worker is part of a greater whole and should recognize that others also have work to do, consider the relation sustained to fellow workers, let mind blend with mind in planning, cherish confidence in the wisdom of brethren, and willingly take their advice and caution. No one has all wisdom or can bear sacred responsibilities alone, so those in trust must modestly regard others' opinions as worthy of respect and likely to be as correct as their own, having connected with them as helpers those who think differently. God teaches different people in different ways, and minds that do not run in the same lines supply each other's deficiency so that together they are a complete whole.
The more believers drink in of the Spirit the more they are animated and united by His surpassing love, for in all the variety of the body from eyes to feet there is harmonious action in conformity to the laws controlling the being, and life is against uniformity. Believers retain distinct individuality and dispositions, yet the same Spirit sanctifies them and joins them as different parts of one spiritual temple, and their unity in the things of God among diverse people evidences that God sent His Son to save sinners. God's people are to organize and combine all united elements sanctified through truth into one, with the divine cooperating with the human and the power of the future world brought into the present, revealing Christ and the cross to a world perishing in sin, with no kingly power of one man controlling the whole.
Medical Work Within Body
Medical missionary work is the arm and hand joined to the body, while the ministry of the Word with the third angel's message and present truth is the body and head under Christ. The arm belongs to the body and is to receive respect and interest, opening doors and preparing the way by breaking down prejudice. Neither part is complete without union of gospel preached and gospel practiced, for the body needs both head and arms to do active, aggressive work. The head and body direct the hand and arm, and the work has its place within the whole shaped by the gospel rather than treated as separate or superior. To separate the arm from the body or let it take the body's place makes the work unbalanced and leaves parts of the vineyard unworked.
Medical missionary work is only one member as the hand is to the body and must never be made all and in all, the principal and all-important line, the center, or the whole body. It must not eclipse, overshadow, belittle, extinguish, or ignore the ministry, the proclamation of Christ's soon coming, or the third angel's message, nor direct and absorb the ministry or separate workers in the ministry from their work. The body is not to become the arm, and if medical work is made the body in place of the arm it will result in great harm. It is an important, leading member that can open doors for the body and help its other members, but it is not the whole body. The general features of the cause are to stand clear and distinct with no change, with labor for the degraded and fallen combined with instructing the churches and teaching how to help the needy and outcast, and no line of faith weakened.
The ministry of the Word holds the first place among human agencies and must be sustained together with other essential lines and the ministry must not be neglected. Medical work needs the ministry to give it prominence and stability, and the ministry needs medical work to demonstrate the practical working of the gospel, with evangelical work and medical work blended in perfect Christian unity. No line is to be drawn between them and they are not to stand apart as separate lines, but joined in inseparable union even as the hand is joined to the body. It is not sensible or right for all the strength of the body to go into a hand, so it is not right for all the strength of the working agencies to be used in medical missionary work alone. To feel no interest in medical missionary work treats the right hand disrespectfully and calls for change, while genuine medical work kept in its place bears solemn dignity.
Separating medical work from the ministry produces flying arms and hands dispensing means without direction of the head. That separation makes an unbalanced, disproportionate work that unsettles minds, brings confusion, leaves many portions of the vineyard unworked, lets the hand take the place of the whole body, and leaves the ministry no standing room. Misusing strength by putting all strength into the hand becomes a barrier, and making everything of medical work while dropping preaching, tent labor, church planting, health work, and cooking schools destroys proportion. Exalting medical work into a center eclipses other important work including proclaiming Christ's soon coming, and one line must not be allowed to extinguish the rest. No branch when separated can be a perfect whole, for health work belongs to the great body of gospel work with present truth in health reform as truly as in other features, and each part doing its part moves the work solidly and brings means to send ministers elsewhere.
Remaining in proper place requires close union like hand and arm joined to the body, with every branch needed and firmly united in harmonious whole under capable management so no part is neglected or disproportionate. Religious work and medical work are body and arm of one undivided body with no division between them. Therefore tithes of workers in medical lines are not separated to support medical work by itself, but all tithes go to one treasury and the conference is liberal in sending ministers to work in connection with medical lines. Every phase however small stays coupled to the commandment-keeping people and joined to the whole work, not a separate or self-supporting enterprise, for separating health work from the larger work is not in order and treating it with indifference is an offense.
Cooperation and Character in Service
Each worker is only a part of a great whole placed in the church to be a help to others, and all are to work in their own capacity in concert with the whole agency, part acting in harmony with part. No one can be a member while inactive, for various lines of work are committed to different persons according to ability, whether preaching the Word, teaching in schools, practicing as a physician, cultivating the soil, following a trade, acting in councils, or going to foreign lands. All work done for the Master must stay connected with the great whole and firmly united with the body of commandment-keeping people, each controlled by divine power and by the Holy Spirit, hearts blending and moving like well-adjusted machinery where each part is dependent on the other yet distinct in action. Diversity of gifts makes a complete whole only through unity in their expression, with each keeping liberty of expression yet blending capabilities with those chosen, pledging equal interest by prayer and promise, refusing selfishness and launching out against another, and laboring harmoniously in unity and love with the glory of God in view unto holiness and perfection of Christlike character. Union is strength and variance is weakness and sin, so there is to be no counter-influence, disagreement, self-will or selfishness, no seeking control by men, but harmonious action exhibiting miracle-working power as a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men, with Christ in heaven as the one Master and only head.
Simple organization and church order are ordained for the unity and perfection of the church. The one who holds office stands as leader, adviser, counselor, helper and burden-bearer in carrying the burdens of the work and as leader in thanksgiving to God, but is not appointed to order and command fellow laborers, for the Lord is over His heritage and will lead His people. Position gives no kingly authority and no right to forbid a worker to go to a field or to withhold support, to dictate and control consciences, to strive selfishly for the chief place and mastery, to rank one physician first and treat another as an inferior learner to be directed, or to pick and choose and receive and discard laborers at will. Those carrying responsibilities must treat fellow laborers with the same consideration they would wish to receive, recognize their own weakness and the help God gives through others, daily subordinate the will to Christ, practice His meekness and lowliness, and preserve the precious freedom of the liberty of the children of God to act out bestowed grace. The church is composed of many members but is one body united to one Head, with part working as connected with part by the golden links of heaven, so workers in destitute fields are to go to the people, tell their necessities, draw all to work where a place can be found, go into waste places, learn to establish the work out of nothing, and build it up in every possible place with Christ dwelling in the heart by faith.
When coming together for counsel no member is to stand apart in self-confidence watching for opportunity to criticize and condemn, but to speak good words to help and strengthen the brethren. The tenderness shown to the people is unceasing, and the same tenderness is to appear in dealings with one another, with genuine faithfulness uniting in service and jealously guarding one another's interests even when mistakes are made. Each person has an appointed place and work and every gift and member is needed, so the church is strengthened when all work in harmony for the good of the whole under divine direction, respecting, encouraging and supporting one another without envy or harmful words and actions. No one should reject or oppose a fellow worker because service is rendered in a different way, and among members there is to be no crowding, no judging, and no measuring of one gift by another. This calls for special effort in union with the Holy Spirit to blend together, take time to understand one another, find points of resemblance, be a help with one supplying another's lack, accept keener perceptions by giving due credit to each ability, deal sternly with self through closest introspection of temperament and weakness, deal bravely with perverse disposition, and never place bars that keep any soul from courage in warfare against temptation.
God gives talents, mental and physical powers, and means to every man, woman, and child, fitting one for a certain work and another for a different work for which each is adapted, so that each is the complement of the others and no one is capable of being a complete whole alone. Every mental and physical power is essential and must be cultivated in right relation to make a perfect whole representing the wisdom and character of the Designer in the perils of the last days, with character formed by earnestly cultivating the mind as the Lord's garden unto the divine similitude. Highest usefulness lies not so much in possession of talents as in their use through the sanctified influence of the Holy Spirit, performing duties with exactitude, improving endowments to be and do good, trading on God-given talents, seeking Christ in earnestness and sincerity, and blessing others by Christlike example. These gifts are to serve God and benefit all by representing truth and uplifting the Redeemer rather than glorifying possessors or uplifting human beings, with each steward working for the Master with the prudence used for self and employing the treasure of the Word to God's glory in every circumstance of life. There is to be no division or contention over who shall be greatest, but one common interest in cooperating with Christ to restore the moral image of God, each working out personal salvation and that of family and associates, discharging God-given responsibility according to daily gained knowledge of righteousness, praying with and helping the lame and sick and dependent, laboring for souls outside by imparting received light, and serving faithfully, vigilantly and courageously, for refusal robs the Purchaser and Owner of His due and unfaithfulness leaves no place in the redeemed family.
Members remain bound to one another even if those ties are ignored, and neglecting divine purposes for relationships harms character and can ensnare others. Every member is closely connected to the whole and cannot become detached and independent, but must fill a proper place according to ability, with diverse gifts and operations sustained by Jesus as source of life and power. Each person's well-being affects the rest, each is needed for the welfare and happiness of the others, and influence reaches still more people. Each has individual responsibility to the whole body and individual power to devise and execute what is best for the many-sided life of people high and low, rich and poor, so men, women and youth of various temperaments, callings and positions are to be organized to bring God-given talents into solemn service, arousing dormant energies by daily connection with God and deep insight into self and others, enlarging the circle of influence, and serving as channels of light enriched with special gifts for catching, watching for and caring for souls as those that must give account.
Strength is in union when many workers combine different capabilities to do the Master's work in different lines. No worker with a single gift is a complete whole able to carry through a series of meetings and give perfection to the work alone, so varied gifts and agencies are essential to build the work strong and proportional under the Lord's direction without one mind molding all after special ideas. Cooperation must be harmonious, each doing God-given work in an appropriate position while supplying another's deficiency, with careful thought checking exaggerated action and without slowness and delay that loses precious time. Each must help the other with sympathy, forbearance and holy emulation, realizing personal weakness and applying to God as source of strength, and no one gains increase while seeking to be the head. Those who feel least yet work and pray and impart what they receive obtain more to share, thus becoming burden-bearers allied to the living Head and vitalized by the Holy Spirit, wearing Christ's yoke and lifting His burdens in well-organized effort for time and eternity, while sharing responsibilities with the church lifts burdens from ministers and adds years to the life of the worker who cooperates with God.
Distinct institutions and their workers should help and strengthen one another rather than act independently. All powers and parts of the organism must be brought into service rather than merely selected parts, for service of the whole being to God to be complete, and every line of work needs capable experienced management so no part is neglected or allowed to become disproportionate. The body is made of distinct parts that must work together as a harmonious whole, with difference of role never removing membership. The Spirit of Christ must circulate through the whole institution as blood circulates through the body, which requires true conversion of heart and mind and spirit, crucifixion of self, no half-way work, and united labor in true repentance, and then Christ and heavenly angels cooperate in daily labors.
The foot cannot talk itself out of the body by saying it is not the hand, so having a different gift or work from someone else never makes a person any less a part of the body. God Himself has set each member in the body as He pleased, giving different gifts by the same Spirit for the good of the whole. The church is that body, many members joined in close harmony with all life and power centering in Christ as Head. No member can live to itself or tell another there is no need of it, because deficiency in one is supplied by another until diverse parts blend into a perfect whole. Even the lowliest service is indispensable, for worth is measured not by greatness but by love and motive, so the smallest believer is vital when humbly depending on God.
Words and Body Picture
The foot does not cease to belong to the body by saying it is not the hand, and having a different gift, work, or role from another member does not make a person any less part of the body. The body needs many different members, and God has placed them in it as He pleased, with each distinct function essential to the perfection of the work. Members must not compare gifts, judge one another, claim superiority, treat differing roles as grounds to deny one another's place, or exclude themselves because they are not like another. No one is qualified to bear the burden of the work alone, but men of different minds, experience, and abilities are joined together to counsel with and assist one another, so that deficiency in one is supplied by another. To be one with Christ in God they must unite with one another, uniting weakness to His strength, dying to self and living to Christ, until strong unchristlike traits are softened, subdued, and purified. Differing roles belong to instruction against division, for believers who separate into factions fail to show the truth's power, while all are needed, should respect one another, contribute to the good of the whole, and bring balance.
The human body from head and eyes to feet pictures variety with unity, for different members have different offices yet are all of the body. All the members depend upon one another to make a perfect whole, with harmonious action under one governing intelligence and in conformity to the laws controlling the being. Life is against uniformity, and the members of Christ's body all center in Christ as Head but have different gifts by the same Spirit. This diversity is in the economy of God to meet the varied organizations and minds in the world, for the strength of one servant of God is not the strength of another. Each is therefore to cultivate and develop the powers, qualities, and God-given traits given him, preserving individual identity and independent natural traits instead of being governed into sameness or molded to another's ideas. Every man must be left free for God to convict and operate upon his heart to obtain an experience founded in God, lest molding minds to human ideas spoil him for the special work God would have him accomplish, while all remain united in labor and, the more they drink in of the Spirit, the more they are animated and united by His surpassing love.
The hand or the foot stands for lowly service, and a person can render effective service for God even when he is not the head or the heart of the body. That lowly service is nevertheless important and indispensable, for the worth of the work is decided not by its greatness but by the love with which it is done and the motive underlying the action. Everyone who does what he can for God and is true and earnest to do good to those around him, to neighbors and associates, will receive the blessing of God upon his efforts. Feeling less important than other members does not make a person any less a member, for each belongs to Christ and is connected with the whole body and with God's human and heavenly agents, with duty not merely for personal interests but to strengthen others. Even the weakest saint who believes in Christ is a member of His body, and living in humble dependence on God that believer can become strong and has the privileges of a child of God.
The church needs gifts of every size and kind, each to be valued, encouraged, and used, and even the smallest can advance God's work when exercised in faith. Even the least or weakest member is vital, joined to Christ and connected with all the others, and can be strengthened by their gifts and experience. Members are to work in unity, love, humility, and mutual dependence, with every talent serving its proper place under the Holy Spirit, and each converted member's changed character can bless both church and world. Each part, however small, affects the usefulness of the whole, so misusing or weakening one part diminishes the whole body, and each person's gifts should be carefully preserved and faithfully used in service rather than dismissed as insignificant.
The twelfth and thirteenth chapters of First Corinthians should be committed to memory and written in mind and heart, so that those brought together in church capacity will be united understandingly and intelligently. The one grand necessity is to walk humbly with God in the path of obedience instead of coming together with contention and divisions. Members must study and apply those chapters for the continuous humbling of individual self and for taking self critically in hand, with self-examination as the beginning. The following teaching on love is instruction to believe and obey.
Gifts in the church are not to be slighted or neglected but are to live in the church, where they encourage the fainthearted and correct and reprove those who err. God has placed these gifts and members in the church because it needs them until Christ returns, with members depending on one another and working in harmony. An organ that serves only itself cannot live, and in Christ's body His love must be shared through every member, for a soul that refuses to give and impart to others will perish. As the heart sustains the hand and head by sending life-blood, Christians depend on and serve one another, with each part having a place and required to serve beyond itself. Separation from close union is painful like being torn limb from limb when affection and shared interests once closely united are lost. A professed Christian connected to the church only in name, without drawing life from Christ, is spiritually paralyzed, showing only fitful activity rather than lasting growth and fruit.
Church as Christ's Body
The church is one body with many members whose close and harmonious relationship comes through the Spirit, all centering in Christ as Head, Bridegroom, Shepherd, Center, Teacher, Ruler, and source of life and power. To believe on Christ and be united to Him is a living union like a limb united to the body, and connection with Christ involves connection with His church. A believer's different role or gifts do not make that person any less a member, so no member is to discount his own place because he is not like another, nor to cherish self-sufficiency or say to another member that there is no need of him because their work is not the same. Among the members there is to be no crowding, no judging, and no measuring of one gift by another, for many gifts are called for yet all are members of one body actively used together under Jesus Christ as head.
This diversity is in the economy of God to meet the varied organizations and minds in the world, giving different gifts by the same Spirit, so the strength of one servant is not the strength of another. Each is to cultivate and develop the powers, qualities, talents, and God-given traits given him, preserving individual identity and independent natural traits instead of being governed into sameness or molded to bend to another's ideas. No one is to govern others too much, destroy their will, or spoil them by human molding and training for the special work God would have them accomplish, but every person must be left free for God to convict and operate upon the heart to obtain an experience founded in God. God's people with varied gifts must be united as one body rather than divided into separate works, including the gospel ministry and medical missionary work together under Christ who redeemed them as acknowledged head and heavenly Leader, united in labor.
Every member, whether many or few together, has an appointed place, post, office, and work according to ability, and no one can be a member while inactive or exempt from serving. A member does not cease to belong because work differs from another's, for each part is indispensable to the harmonious work of the whole, with one Spirit moving it all while members depend on one another yet act distinctly and labor together for Christ. All are favored to serve in the ministry of reconciliation and to labor for souls, with sacred and secular callings, business lines, trades, and ministries all linked together under Christ, each controlled by divine power and putting forth undivided effort to draw those around him to Christ. The perfection of the church does not depend on each member being fashioned exactly alike, but God calls for each one to take his proper place, to stand in his lot, and to do his appointed work according to ability given him, hearts blending and moving like well-adjusted machinery. The church is a living, breathing, spiritual body in which every member belongs and has individual duties to show that life, including praying with and helping the lame and the sick and dependent, with order carefully preserved and with life in the churches themselves under spiritually-minded leaders looking after the spiritual good and with labor for souls outside by imparting received light, and faithful continued effort increases ability to work effectively and bear fruit.
The church is organized for service, and loyalty to Christ demands faithful performance of church duties, with connection with the church as one of the first steps in a life of service. This obligation of church relationship needs to be made plain, especially to youth awakened to the claims of Christ. In a church imbued with the Master's life this training leads directly to effort for the world without. As the outward human form is a complete structure pervaded by one life, with every part united to and dependent upon the other for life and each member having its special office to form a complete whole, so the Word of God is a complete body pervaded by one divine life. Every book and every portion of Scripture has its use and its lesson, adapted to the human being in every phase of life to secure a special result and to make the human family complete in Christ.
The health of the church depends on all its parts acting together in harmony, just as the harmonious action of all parts of the body promotes physical health and spiritual peace and harmony bring health to the church. A healthy church sends a vitalizing, healthful current to its institutional arm and branch, and standing in the counsel of God controls and corrects the errors in its branches. A sickly church that does not enjoy the favor of God nor the light of His countenance circulates a sickly, deathly influence through the whole living body until disease is apparent everywhere, and the moral darkness and spiritual death in the institutional arm come from the moral darkness of the church itself. God's work is a unit in which the different lines of work are sacred members of one body under God, including publishing offices by which truth is given to the world, sanitariums for restoration of the sick and relief of suffering, schools where children and youth are trained for God, General Conference affairs, and other branches for the last days. They must be governed by the same principles, with no kingly power perpetuated, no publishing institution or other institution set up as a kingdom of itself, no walls of partition or division between them, no territorial lines in God's cause, and no line pushed forward to the hindrance of another, while medical work is sacredly cherished and carefully conducted as the right hand of the body to open doors for the entrance of truth.
Diversity of Gifts and Places
God has set the members in the body as it has pleased Him, and He dispenses gifts as He pleases, giving one gift to one and another gift to another by the same Spirit, all for the good of the whole. This diversity belongs to His economy to meet the varied organizations and minds in the world, assigning different lines of service, including the work of teaching others for service. Because the foot is not the hand does not make it any less of the body, and no member is to compare gifts, judge another, measure one gift by another, crowd another out, cherish self-sufficiency, or deny another's place on account of a differing role.
The strength of one servant is not necessarily the strength of another, and each is to cultivate, develop, and faithfully use the powers, talents, and qualities given by God. Individual identity is to be preserved instead of being governed into sameness, with every person left free for God to convict and work upon the heart unto an experience founded in God. Unity never means consolidation into sameness, nor does it mean treating mere difference as a virtue, for believers differ in characteristics and experience and will not be exact duplicates in thoughts, words, and actions, even as leaves on the same tree differ in form yet belong to the same tree. Each is to be perfect in his own form and in his own development, and when each perfects his own traits of character all combine to make a complete whole moving in harmony.
Difference in gifts, character, expression, or way of presenting truth does not make one less precious or less a part of Christ, for all draw spiritual life from the same source and are worked by the same Spirit. As many stones, each with its own special light and message, were set in one breastplate to add to the beauty of the whole, and as sunlight falling on different objects gives a different hue, so different minds impressed with the same thought may express it differently without contradiction. Seldom will two persons view and express truth in exactly the same way, since each dwells on particular points which constitution and education have fitted him to appreciate, yet workers need not speak the very same things in the same words and style in order to have unity in diversity. Believers retain distinct individuality and dispositions, yet the same Spirit sanctifies them and joins them as different parts of one spiritual temple, and their harmony among diverse people evidences that God sent His Son to save sinners.
No one person has all qualifications, wisdom, or ability to be a complete whole, to carry the burden alone, or to give perfection to the work by his own effort. Varied gifts and different kinds of agencies are essential to build the work up strong and proportional and complete under the Lord's direction, with the deficiency in the experience and abilities of one supplied by the experience and abilities of another. Therefore no minister is to be conscience for others, mold other minds to his own ideas, destroy will and independent natural traits that would give access to a class others could not touch, or gather a party to think as he thinks. People with differing views and plans can work together when humble and teachable, counseling with and assisting one another rather than trying to carry the work alone.
God calls each one to take his proper place, to stand in his lot, and to do his appointed work according to the ability given him. Whether preaching the Word, teaching in schools, practicing as a physician, cultivating the soil, following a trade, acting in councils, or going to foreign lands, each remains within the domain of God and firmly united with the body, performing his several offices under the control of the Holy Spirit. Each keeps liberty of expression and personal identity with a sense of personal responsibility, yet all are to blend capabilities with those chosen, laboring harmoniously in unity and love without working out private invention alone. Fear of not being considered in harmony because of different abilities or approach does not determine place in the body, as seen in workers who held back from the work on that account. Those with a distinct work among the French that others could not do were to use their own abilities while depending on God rather than their own wisdom, instead of being pressed into others' ways, for their distinct work belongs to the shared work of the cause.
Mutual Need and Unity
All members depend on one another to make a perfect whole, for God has joined together people of different minds, experience, and abilities in reciprocal action and mutual relation, so that what is lacking in one is supplied by another. No one is qualified to bear the burden of the work alone or to work successfully alone, but diverse elements are blended with each adapted to the other, and contact of mind with mind quickens thought and increases capability. Each has an appointed place and work according to ability, whether many or few are brought together, and none is to be inactive, for God entrusts abilities to serve others and unselfish service develops them toward the intended purpose of the whole. Difference in gifts, minds, experience, and role does not remove anyone from the body, and members must unite with one another in order to be one with Christ in God, uniting weakness to His strength, dying to self and living to Christ until unchristlike traits are softened, subdued, and purified. Christlikeness blends every quality in harmonious proportion to present a symmetrical whole, with hand, head, ear, eye, and limbs each acting its distinctive part without antagonism.
Among members there is to be no self-sufficiency, crowding, judging, or measuring one gift by another, and no one is to say to another, I have no need of thee, because work is not the same. The claim of the foot that it is not of the body because it is not the hand is false, for God has placed many different members in the body as He pleased and differing roles give no ground to deny another's place. God gives one gift to one person and another gift to another as He pleases, appointing some to one line of work and others to other lines under the same Spirit, all for the good of the whole, including those called to teach others to fit them for service. Recognizing this order guards against rivalry, pride, envy, contempt, carnal emulation, and despising others' gifts, talents, and achievements, and it strengthens unity and mutual love. Each is therefore to develop his own abilities without envying another, respecting fellow members and contributing to the good of the whole rather than claiming superiority.
If one member suffers all suffer with it, and if one is honored all are honored, enlightened, and rejoice with him, so members are to care for one another's interests with kindly interest and Christlike sympathy. Hospitality and practical help allow brotherly love to bind members together, and they are to rejoice in helping fellow workers and in promoting one another's happiness. Even the least or weakest member is vital, joined to Christ and connected with all the others, and can be strengthened by their gifts and experience while working in unity, love, humility, and mutual dependence under the Holy Spirit. Grace is given to each according to the measure of Christ's gift for the perfecting of the saints unto unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of Christ.
Thinking a person can disconnect from the agencies God has appointed and work on an independent line in supposed wisdom and still succeed is a delusion of the enemy, for although such a person may flatter himself that he is doing God's work, he will not prosper in the end. Each person is only one member and can never be an independent whole, but must remain united to the body and work in his own appointed place and capacity, using his measure of ability where he can serve effectively. To claim independence, refuse to join in heart and spirit with God's chosen people, reject appointed channels of light and leadership, or regard one's own judgment as supreme violates the law of the body and creates discord and strife. To reject those channels is to reject means ordained for help, encouragement, and strength, leaving a person liable to be deceived and overthrown by Satan, whose studied effort is to separate individuals from the body unto ruin under himself as leader. God in wisdom arranged that by close relationship Christian shall be united to Christian and church to church, with every agency subordinate to the Holy Spirit, so that human instrumentality cooperates with the divine in organized effort, with no one shut up to himself to live for himself but all like-minded with God, pure, holy, and sincere.
Members of different minds are joined to counsel with and assist one another rather than bar the mind against counsel, sharing thoughts and receiving contributions in brotherly kindness. Each worker is part of a greater whole and should recognize that others also have work to do, consider the relation sustained to fellow workers, let mind blend with mind in planning, cherish confidence in the wisdom of brethren, and willingly take their advice and caution. No one has all wisdom or can bear sacred responsibilities alone, so those in trust must modestly regard others' opinions as worthy of respect and likely to be as correct as their own, having connected with them as helpers those who think differently. God teaches different people in different ways, and minds that do not run in the same lines supply each other's deficiency so that together they are a complete whole.
The more believers drink in of the Spirit the more they are animated and united by His surpassing love, for in all the variety of the body from eyes to feet there is harmonious action in conformity to the laws controlling the being, and life is against uniformity. Believers retain distinct individuality and dispositions, yet the same Spirit sanctifies them and joins them as different parts of one spiritual temple, and their unity in the things of God among diverse people evidences that God sent His Son to save sinners. God's people are to organize and combine all united elements sanctified through truth into one, with the divine cooperating with the human and the power of the future world brought into the present, revealing Christ and the cross to a world perishing in sin, with no kingly power of one man controlling the whole.
Medical Work Within Body
Medical missionary work is the arm and hand joined to the body, while the ministry of the Word with the third angel's message and present truth is the body and head under Christ. The arm belongs to the body and is to receive respect and interest, opening doors and preparing the way by breaking down prejudice. Neither part is complete without union of gospel preached and gospel practiced, for the body needs both head and arms to do active, aggressive work. The head and body direct the hand and arm, and the work has its place within the whole shaped by the gospel rather than treated as separate or superior. To separate the arm from the body or let it take the body's place makes the work unbalanced and leaves parts of the vineyard unworked.
Medical missionary work is only one member as the hand is to the body and must never be made all and in all, the principal and all-important line, the center, or the whole body. It must not eclipse, overshadow, belittle, extinguish, or ignore the ministry, the proclamation of Christ's soon coming, or the third angel's message, nor direct and absorb the ministry or separate workers in the ministry from their work. The body is not to become the arm, and if medical work is made the body in place of the arm it will result in great harm. It is an important, leading member that can open doors for the body and help its other members, but it is not the whole body. The general features of the cause are to stand clear and distinct with no change, with labor for the degraded and fallen combined with instructing the churches and teaching how to help the needy and outcast, and no line of faith weakened.
The ministry of the Word holds the first place among human agencies and must be sustained together with other essential lines and the ministry must not be neglected. Medical work needs the ministry to give it prominence and stability, and the ministry needs medical work to demonstrate the practical working of the gospel, with evangelical work and medical work blended in perfect Christian unity. No line is to be drawn between them and they are not to stand apart as separate lines, but joined in inseparable union even as the hand is joined to the body. It is not sensible or right for all the strength of the body to go into a hand, so it is not right for all the strength of the working agencies to be used in medical missionary work alone. To feel no interest in medical missionary work treats the right hand disrespectfully and calls for change, while genuine medical work kept in its place bears solemn dignity.
Separating medical work from the ministry produces flying arms and hands dispensing means without direction of the head. That separation makes an unbalanced, disproportionate work that unsettles minds, brings confusion, leaves many portions of the vineyard unworked, lets the hand take the place of the whole body, and leaves the ministry no standing room. Misusing strength by putting all strength into the hand becomes a barrier, and making everything of medical work while dropping preaching, tent labor, church planting, health work, and cooking schools destroys proportion. Exalting medical work into a center eclipses other important work including proclaiming Christ's soon coming, and one line must not be allowed to extinguish the rest. No branch when separated can be a perfect whole, for health work belongs to the great body of gospel work with present truth in health reform as truly as in other features, and each part doing its part moves the work solidly and brings means to send ministers elsewhere.
Remaining in proper place requires close union like hand and arm joined to the body, with every branch needed and firmly united in harmonious whole under capable management so no part is neglected or disproportionate. Religious work and medical work are body and arm of one undivided body with no division between them. Therefore tithes of workers in medical lines are not separated to support medical work by itself, but all tithes go to one treasury and the conference is liberal in sending ministers to work in connection with medical lines. Every phase however small stays coupled to the commandment-keeping people and joined to the whole work, not a separate or self-supporting enterprise, for separating health work from the larger work is not in order and treating it with indifference is an offense.
Cooperation and Character in Service
Each worker is only a part of a great whole placed in the church to be a help to others, and all are to work in their own capacity in concert with the whole agency, part acting in harmony with part. No one can be a member while inactive, for various lines of work are committed to different persons according to ability, whether preaching the Word, teaching in schools, practicing as a physician, cultivating the soil, following a trade, acting in councils, or going to foreign lands. All work done for the Master must stay connected with the great whole and firmly united with the body of commandment-keeping people, each controlled by divine power and by the Holy Spirit, hearts blending and moving like well-adjusted machinery where each part is dependent on the other yet distinct in action. Diversity of gifts makes a complete whole only through unity in their expression, with each keeping liberty of expression yet blending capabilities with those chosen, pledging equal interest by prayer and promise, refusing selfishness and launching out against another, and laboring harmoniously in unity and love with the glory of God in view unto holiness and perfection of Christlike character. Union is strength and variance is weakness and sin, so there is to be no counter-influence, disagreement, self-will or selfishness, no seeking control by men, but harmonious action exhibiting miracle-working power as a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men, with Christ in heaven as the one Master and only head.
Simple organization and church order are ordained for the unity and perfection of the church. The one who holds office stands as leader, adviser, counselor, helper and burden-bearer in carrying the burdens of the work and as leader in thanksgiving to God, but is not appointed to order and command fellow laborers, for the Lord is over His heritage and will lead His people. Position gives no kingly authority and no right to forbid a worker to go to a field or to withhold support, to dictate and control consciences, to strive selfishly for the chief place and mastery, to rank one physician first and treat another as an inferior learner to be directed, or to pick and choose and receive and discard laborers at will. Those carrying responsibilities must treat fellow laborers with the same consideration they would wish to receive, recognize their own weakness and the help God gives through others, daily subordinate the will to Christ, practice His meekness and lowliness, and preserve the precious freedom of the liberty of the children of God to act out bestowed grace. The church is composed of many members but is one body united to one Head, with part working as connected with part by the golden links of heaven, so workers in destitute fields are to go to the people, tell their necessities, draw all to work where a place can be found, go into waste places, learn to establish the work out of nothing, and build it up in every possible place with Christ dwelling in the heart by faith.
When coming together for counsel no member is to stand apart in self-confidence watching for opportunity to criticize and condemn, but to speak good words to help and strengthen the brethren. The tenderness shown to the people is unceasing, and the same tenderness is to appear in dealings with one another, with genuine faithfulness uniting in service and jealously guarding one another's interests even when mistakes are made. Each person has an appointed place and work and every gift and member is needed, so the church is strengthened when all work in harmony for the good of the whole under divine direction, respecting, encouraging and supporting one another without envy or harmful words and actions. No one should reject or oppose a fellow worker because service is rendered in a different way, and among members there is to be no crowding, no judging, and no measuring of one gift by another. This calls for special effort in union with the Holy Spirit to blend together, take time to understand one another, find points of resemblance, be a help with one supplying another's lack, accept keener perceptions by giving due credit to each ability, deal sternly with self through closest introspection of temperament and weakness, deal bravely with perverse disposition, and never place bars that keep any soul from courage in warfare against temptation.
God gives talents, mental and physical powers, and means to every man, woman, and child, fitting one for a certain work and another for a different work for which each is adapted, so that each is the complement of the others and no one is capable of being a complete whole alone. Every mental and physical power is essential and must be cultivated in right relation to make a perfect whole representing the wisdom and character of the Designer in the perils of the last days, with character formed by earnestly cultivating the mind as the Lord's garden unto the divine similitude. Highest usefulness lies not so much in possession of talents as in their use through the sanctified influence of the Holy Spirit, performing duties with exactitude, improving endowments to be and do good, trading on God-given talents, seeking Christ in earnestness and sincerity, and blessing others by Christlike example. These gifts are to serve God and benefit all by representing truth and uplifting the Redeemer rather than glorifying possessors or uplifting human beings, with each steward working for the Master with the prudence used for self and employing the treasure of the Word to God's glory in every circumstance of life. There is to be no division or contention over who shall be greatest, but one common interest in cooperating with Christ to restore the moral image of God, each working out personal salvation and that of family and associates, discharging God-given responsibility according to daily gained knowledge of righteousness, praying with and helping the lame and sick and dependent, laboring for souls outside by imparting received light, and serving faithfully, vigilantly and courageously, for refusal robs the Purchaser and Owner of His due and unfaithfulness leaves no place in the redeemed family.
Members remain bound to one another even if those ties are ignored, and neglecting divine purposes for relationships harms character and can ensnare others. Every member is closely connected to the whole and cannot become detached and independent, but must fill a proper place according to ability, with diverse gifts and operations sustained by Jesus as source of life and power. Each person's well-being affects the rest, each is needed for the welfare and happiness of the others, and influence reaches still more people. Each has individual responsibility to the whole body and individual power to devise and execute what is best for the many-sided life of people high and low, rich and poor, so men, women and youth of various temperaments, callings and positions are to be organized to bring God-given talents into solemn service, arousing dormant energies by daily connection with God and deep insight into self and others, enlarging the circle of influence, and serving as channels of light enriched with special gifts for catching, watching for and caring for souls as those that must give account.
Strength is in union when many workers combine different capabilities to do the Master's work in different lines. No worker with a single gift is a complete whole able to carry through a series of meetings and give perfection to the work alone, so varied gifts and agencies are essential to build the work strong and proportional under the Lord's direction without one mind molding all after special ideas. Cooperation must be harmonious, each doing God-given work in an appropriate position while supplying another's deficiency, with careful thought checking exaggerated action and without slowness and delay that loses precious time. Each must help the other with sympathy, forbearance and holy emulation, realizing personal weakness and applying to God as source of strength, and no one gains increase while seeking to be the head. Those who feel least yet work and pray and impart what they receive obtain more to share, thus becoming burden-bearers allied to the living Head and vitalized by the Holy Spirit, wearing Christ's yoke and lifting His burdens in well-organized effort for time and eternity, while sharing responsibilities with the church lifts burdens from ministers and adds years to the life of the worker who cooperates with God.
Distinct institutions and their workers should help and strengthen one another rather than act independently. All powers and parts of the organism must be brought into service rather than merely selected parts, for service of the whole being to God to be complete, and every line of work needs capable experienced management so no part is neglected or allowed to become disproportionate. The body is made of distinct parts that must work together as a harmonious whole, with difference of role never removing membership. The Spirit of Christ must circulate through the whole institution as blood circulates through the body, which requires true conversion of heart and mind and spirit, crucifixion of self, no half-way work, and united labor in true repentance, and then Christ and heavenly angels cooperate in daily labors.