Watchman Nee on Constitution

Here is a quote from Watchman Nee that I bookmarked a few months ago. The more the truth is constituted into us, the more we attract others to pursue the truth! As this occurs, the Body of Christ will grow. 

This excerpt is precious to me. Enjoy...

The work of God's overcomer is to stand upon Christ's death so that others can gain life. The words of the Bible must first be realized by us before we can preach them. The light of the truth must first become life to us before it will become light to others. God makes His overcomers first see a truth and confirm such truth before He gains some others to obey this truth. Truth must first be constituted in us and become a part of our being. We ourselves must first have the experience of faith, prayer, and consecration before we can tell others what faith, prayer, and consecration are. Otherwise, we will only have the terms without the content. God wants us to go through death first after which He will give others life. We first must pass through the sufferings and the pain before others can have the life. The reason the church cannot gain the victory by crossing over to the good land is that there is a shortage of priests who will stand in the bottom of the Jordan. Those who stand in the bottom of the Jordan will create a seeking heart in others. If a truth is deeply constituted in us, it will attract others to pursue the truth. Today, many of God's truths need to be constituted in man. When we allow a truth to be constituted in us, we are allowing the Body of Christ to grow one more inch. The overcomers are those who receive life from above to supply the Body. 

What is the church?

In the past all the churches tried to invite gifted co-workers to work, preach the gospel, and edify their saints. But I would ask a question: What is the church? The church is where everyone rises up to serve. The church is not just a few people like Witness Lee, Watchman Nee, and Peace Wang. Only when the entire Body rises up is there the church. The church is the Body of Christ, and everyone is useful. We should never think that we have the church as long as we have a wooden table to conduct the Lord's table or that we have the church as long as we have a few strong members. The church involves all the material, that is, all the one-talented ones coming together to serve. Not everyone has to be like Brother Lee before he can be a piece of material. The church is not a conglomeration of five-talented ones; it is not a corporation of two-talented ones. It is a Body composed mainly of one-talented ones. When men like you and I come together to serve, we have the church. When all the one-talented ones are coordinated together, that will be a potent force. Only by serving this way will we have a strong church.

You should not put your hope on better and stronger ones coming to join you. You can gospelize the place where you are with the number you have now. In a strong church a great evangelist would be treated just like one of the brothers. Suppose there is a church with two or three hundred people. There may not be any five-talented and two-talented ones. Perhaps all the saints are one-talented ones. You may think that something is lacking, but if all these so-called "untalented" ones would coordinate together, God would have a way to go on. Never think that you are too short. A person like yourself is more than qualified. I believe that the age of giants is over in the church life. Perhaps in the next generation, the so-called "giants" that we have now will disappear altogether. Today is the end time forgiants. What God wants today is the service of the whole Body. Today God forbids any member from becoming too strong. What He wants is a strong church.

(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 3) Vol. 62: Matured Leadings in the Lord's Recovery (2), Chapter 2, Section 4)