How to Conduct Ourselves in the House of God: Headship of Christ and Healthy Teaching

As believers in Christ, we know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God; we need to love the Word of God, respect the headship of Christ, bear the truth, take care of the healthy teaching, and live and act in our spirit so that God may be manifested in the church as the living God. Amen!

This week we come to the topic of, How to Conduct Ourselves in the House of God – Exercising Ourselves unto Godliness.

As we are learning how to live and serve according to God’s economy in the church life, we need to see how we need to conduct ourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.

The unique thing we should stress and focus on in the church life in the Lord’s recovery is the heavenly vision of the eternal economy of God.

This vision is that in Christ God became man to partake of the human nature, with the purpose that He may make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead for the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem.

This is the highest peak of the divine revelation.

We have such a high vision in the church life, but how much does our living and serving match this vision?

Do we conduct ourselves in the house of God according to the truth we have seen?

We need to realize what is our need today and what we should do, in the light of the Lord’s shining.

Everything we do and say in the church life, in our family life, and in our personal life should be according to God’s economy so that we may build up the church as the Body of Christ.

The entire world situation today is negative toward God’s economy; we, however, are learning to live and serve according to God’s economy concerning the church.

We live in a world whose ways, living, and going on are completely contrary to God’s economy.

What predominates on earth among the people is Satan, sin, the self, darkness, and worldliness.

The glory of God is insulted, Christ is rejected, the Holy Spirit is frustrated, and the church is desolate.

On the other hand, the self is corrupt, and the whole world is evil, even lying passively in the sphere of the evil one’s influence.

If we look around in Christianity, degradation is everywhere, and there is a deviation from God’s economy.

Christians are drifting away from the central line of God’s economy to build up the church; there is a decline in the church situation.

Even in the church life today, degradation comes in, and it is so easy for us to be conformed to the world or to the situation in Christianity.

We need to take heed to Paul’s word to his co-worker Timothy so that we may know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.

Knowing how to Conduct Ourselves in the House of God, the Church of the Living God

In 1 Tim. 3:15 Paul wrote to his young co-worker Timothy so that he may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.

May the Lord save us from thinking we know how to conduct ourselves in God’s house.

May we be saved from the sin of presumption.

May we be unloaded in our spirit, poor in spirit, willing to learn something more from the Lord so that He may teach us how to conduct ourselves in the church life.

May we be willing to receive some fresh impressions from the Lord concerning what it is to live and serve according to God’s economy in the church life.

What Paul ministered to Timothy was entirely concerning how to conduct himself in the church (1:3-5, 18-19).

First of all, the way to conduct ourselves in the church is by becoming those who love the word of God (John 6:63, 68).

We cannot just behave the way we want, being free to do whatever we want to do, and speaking whatever we want to speak in the church as the house of God.

Especially in a situation of degradation, as we see it happening in the church today, if we want to be those who are useful to the Lord, we need to love the word of God.

We need to care for what the Bible says.

We need to remain in the word of God, read the Bible, and abide in the Lord by abiding in His word.

We need to care for the word of God, and be clear concerning the divine revelation in God’s word, and then we will know how to help others also.

When we come to the full knowledge of the truth, we will also be able to help the saints to do this.

The man of God cares for the Scriptures; he cares for the word of God and eats the Lord in His word.

We want to be such men of God with the living word of God, taking in the word of God by means of all prayers and petitions (Eph. 6:17).

Lord Jesus, teach us how to conduct ourselves in the church as the house of God. We open to You. We do not want to presume that we know. We come to You in Your word to be renewed in our mind. Thank You for bringing us into the church life for us to enjoy You in Your word with all the saints. Grant us to be poor in spirit, willing to learn from You how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God. Amen, Lord Jesus, impress us in a fresh way what it means to live and serve according to God’s economy in the church life! May our living and serving with all our daily activities be an expression of Christ! We love You, Lord, and we love Your Word. We want to abide in You by abiding in Your word! Your word is spirit and is life to us!

Respect the Headship of Christ and Bear the Truth in the Church Life

Two governing principles that we must follow in order to know how to conduct ourselves in the church life are respecting the headship of Christ and bearing the truth.

First, we must respect the headship of Christ (Col. 2:19).

Christ is the Head of the Body, and out from Him all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.

Too often we think that we hold to Christ as the Head, but in reality, we are the head.

In our dealings with others, in our shepherding the saints, and in our interaction with those around us, we are so eager to offer our own opinion and feeling, not what the Head thinks and feels.

Sometimes the saints come and ask us what should they do in this or that situation, or we may be put into a position of hearing someone’s situation, and we’re eager to tell them to do this or that.

How much do we hold the Head?

Do we just offer advice to others or do we lead them to know the headship of Christ and honour Him as the Head?

We may have a lot of experience in the church life and with the Lord and we may think that we can do this or that or we may have the maturity to tell others what to do, but do we usurp the headship of Christ as we do this?

Do we take the place of Christ in telling others what to do or in offering them our good advice? Oh, Lord Jesus!

May we hold Christ as the Head and honour His headship.

May we also help others not to mainly seek solutions to their problems but even more honour the headship of Christ.

In God’s economy, nothing is more serious than insulting the headship of Christ.

Oneness is very important and life is crucial, but without the headship of Christ, the church is not safeguarded.

God gave Christ to be the Head of the church.

There are many problems in the church life and among the saints because the saints disregard the headship of Christ.

When others open up their situation to us and something rises up in us to give them some advice or help them in this or that way, we need to realize that the best advice is to help them contact the Lord and be under the headship of Christ.

Furthermore, we need to hold to the truth in love.

The church is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15) and we need to hold to the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).

We need to hold to truth and bear the truth because there are winds of teaching, and the enemy wants to toss us and carry us by these winds of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness, with a view to a system of error.

May we hold to Christ as the Head and may we hold to truth in love.

Holding to truth in love enables us to grow up into Him in all things, and out of Him the whole Body is knit together and joined together through the operation in the measure of each one part.

We need to hold to truth in love; this love is not our love but the love of Christ in us, by which we love Christ and the fellow members of His Body.

In such a love, the love of God in us, we hold the truth, and we are kept by being influenced by the winds of teaching and from bringing in any elements that are foreign to the Body.

This is how we need to conduct ourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.

Many scriptural things can be used by the enemy to cause us to depart from God’s economy, which is in faith (1 Tim. 1:3-4).

If a teaching sounds good and scriptural but does not dispense life and does not lead us to Christ for the building up of the church, it is a wind of teaching.

May we hold to truth in love so that we may build up the Body in reality.

Lord Jesus, we hold to You as the Head; You are the Head of the Body. We want to respect the headship of Christ and never insult Your headship by trying to be the head. Save us from doing things and saying things out of ourselves without holding You as the Head. Head us up in our daily living. Head us up in our personal life and in the church life. We want to respect the headship of Christ so that we may be safeguarded from many kinds of mistakes in the church life. Amen, Lord, we hold to truth in love so that we may grow up into Christ, the Head, in all things! Keep us in the teaching of God’s eternal economy concerning Christ and the church. We want to remain in the truth so that we may be saved from any winds of teaching and from being tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching. Amen, Lord, our focus is Your economy and nothing else!

Take Care of the Healthy Teaching and Live and Act in our Spirit for God to be Manifested

In order for us to properly conduct ourselves in the house of God, which is the church, we need to take care of the healthy teaching (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

We live in the age of the degradation of the church when the healthy teaching is not tolerated.

Paul prophesied concerning it when he wrote to Timothy, saying, The time will come when they will not tolerate the healthy teaching; but according to their own lusts they will heap up to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they will turn away their ear from the truth and will be turned aside to myths.

Today people do not tolerate the truth and they do not accept the healthy teaching; rather, they seek a teaching that they like, something that is pleasant and tickling to their ears. Oh, Lord.

To some Christians, the healthy teaching is something that they tolerate but do not focus on.

May we be saved from having itching ears.

May we learn to conduct ourselves in the house of God not according to our preferences but according to the healthy teaching.

The teaching in the church life must be healthy.

Especially in this age of degradation among the believers and in the churches, we need the healthy teaching of God’s economy, the healthy words of the faith, and the healthy speech among the saints (1 Tim. 1:10; 6:3; 2 Tim. 1:13; 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1, 8).

May we not be bored of the healthy teaching and may we not consider God’s economy as something that we have heard of so many times and now we need to focus on something else. Oh, Lord Jesus!

May we learn to conduct ourselves not according to our opinions, likes, dislikes, or preferences but according to the healthy teaching.

Thank the Lord that in the church life, we have the rich speaking of the Lord, the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy.

As we place ourselves under the hearing of faith, we are infused with a rich dispensing of life.

The healthy teaching infuses life into us.

May we discern and understand what is the healthy teaching from what are the winds of teaching.

If something does not encourage us to enjoy and experience Christ and does not inspire us to love the Lord, that is not a healthy teaching.

May we reject any teaching that is not healthy, no matter how pleasant it may sound, and may we remain in and take care of the healthy teaching so that we may know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God, the church of the living God.

The healthy teaching is God’s eternal economy; anything else can lead to division and arguments, but God’s economy is in faith, being what builds up the Body of Christ.

God’s economy is to dispense Himself in Christ into us, His chosen people, so that He may produce the church, the Body of Christ, for Him to have a corporate expression on the earth.

In order for us to know how to conduct ourselves in the church as the house of God, we must live and act in our spirit.

When we live and act in our spirit, the living God is manifested in the church of God (John 4:23-24; 1 Cor. 6:17; 1 Tim. 3:15-16).

On one hand, we need to know the truth and remain in the healthy teaching of God’s economy; on the other hand, we need to live and act in our spirit so that God is manifested among us.

Lord Jesus, we want to learn how to conduct ourselves in the house of God, which is the church as the living God. Thank You for the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy in the Word of God. We want to take care of the healthy teaching and not deviate from it. Amen, Lord, keep us in Your economy, receiving the divine dispensing so that we may be filled with You to express You as the church. Dispense Yourself into us a little more today. Make Your home in our heart. Do what You want to do in us. Cause us to aspire to live a life that matches Your economy. Amen, Lord Jesus, gain more ground in our being! We want to live and act in our spirit so that God may be manifested in the church as the house of God! Yes, Lord Jesus, be the unique One who is manifested among us today!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 2, “Crucial Principles for the Christian Life and the Church Life,” ch. 8, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living and Serving According to God’s Economy Concerning the Church (2023 fall ITERO), week 5, entitled, How to Conduct Ourselves in the House of God— Exercising Ourselves unto Godliness.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The healthy teaching, a portion from, The Speciality, Generality, and Practicality of the Church Life, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
  – Hold a pattern of the healthy words, via, a Faithful Words.
  – Receiving All Believers but Not Different Teachings, article via, Shepherding Words.
  – The Proper Response of the Believers when Facing Turmoil in the Church Life, article via, Healthy Teaching.
  – Experience the Flow of the Spirit Daily, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – 6 Functions of the Living Word of God, article via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Enjoy Christ’s Riches in 3 Aspects Every Day, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The pillar and base of the truth, a portion from, Life Messages, Vol. 1 (#1-41), Chapter 18, by Witness Lee.
  – Being Constituted with the Truth for the Church to be the Pillar and Base of the Truth with All the Saints Being Responsible to Uphold the Truth, outline via, The Local Church in Toronto.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Take time to behold Him, / The world rushes on; / Spend much time in secret / With Jesus alone. / By looking to Jesus / Like Him thou shalt be; / Thy friends, in thy conduct, / His likeness shall see. / Take time to behold Him, / Let Him be thy guide; / And run not before Him / Whatever betide; / In joy or in sorrow / Still follow thy Lord, / And, looking to Jesus, / Still trust in His Word. (Hymns #643 stanzas 2-3)
  – It is not the outward action— / Pure behavior, conduct good, / Proper poise and perfect manners, / Doing what we think we should; / But it’s Christ, a living Person, / Mingled thus with us within, / Spreading into all our being, / So that we might live by Him. (Hymns #1136 stanza 2)
  – This outline of the healthy words, / In faith and love we’ll hold; / All different teaching, fruitless talk, / Reject with spirit bold. / Oh, healthful teaching, wholesome words: / The truth of godliness! / Oh, good deposit, common faith, / And life of holiness! (Hymns #1285 stanzas 4-5)