Watchman Nee, “What Shall This Man Do?” (Kingsway, 1961; Tyndale, 1978—I read the
1986 printing), 269 pages.
This book comes out of a number of
sermons Nee delivered in China
during the period 1938 to 1942, which was a tumultuous time due to World War II , Japan
invading China , and
Communist rebels acting in such a way that forced the government of Chaing-Kai
Shek to Taiwan
There are
11 chapters to the book, and the order of presentation is the editor’s, not
Nee’s. The personal callings of Peter,
Paul, and John represent the framework of the book, and represent the three
main historic emphases of God to his people for all time—evangelism (fishers of
men), building the church (tent making), and restoration (mending the nets)
guiding/repairing us back.
Chapter 2
concerns itself with some situations involving Peter in which Jesus or the
Spirit intervened to teach Peter and others beyond where Peter would have on
his own.
In Chapter
3, Nee’s message is about what an unsaved person needs to have to be saved, and
what the Christian worker needs to be a vessel God can use in a situation. Nee’s presentation on this idea is different
from the other things I have heard and read on this topic.
Chapter 4
goes back to the introductory analogy of Paul and the tent making ministry of
helping build the church. In the latter
part of the chapter, Nee deals with the phrase “Be angry but sin not” and how
so many of us will not rebuke and why. I
do not remember if I have ever read or heard someone teach on what this
practically means. If you read this and
come to disagree with Nee’s conclusions, one will have to think hard on this
matter to know exactly why.
Chapter 5
is on the idea that we are both individuals who are servants of God’s will and
parts of the Body of Christ at the same time.
He also speaks on the initial general vision of God’s will for
us—salvation and a specific vision, with the believer moving through times of
greater consecration.
In Chapter
6, Nee deals with the relationship between specific calling and a person’s, a
generation’s, and the Church’s character.
Much of the chapter is built around comments on Ephesians 1, 2, and 5.
It is of
note for those of us involved in simple/organic/house church here in North
America that we implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) look at the revival of
faith in China during the Mao years as an example of simple church working
properly (rightly or wrongly). From
that, we see the work and writings of Nee as a precursor to that explosion of
faith, especially in his discouragement towards denominations or groups that
divide believers from working together.
In this book, it is clear Nee personally, at the time of these speeches,
spoke in a mode that saw “preachers and workers” in a different class, or if he
did not, it appears that way from the way certain ideas are phrased.
Possibly
because this book was developed out of transcripts of speeches, and possibly
because Chinese language and culture is so different from ours, on a number of
sentences, one might easily disagree with an idea stated. This may be because it is an accessory
thought to a main point being discussed, and it would not fit to develop the
details of the point in a speech setting, as opposed to in a book where one
might be able to struggle with the fine points of a written teaching. On the other hand, this is somewhat easier
reading than Nee’s intentional books exactly because a speech, in and of itself
(as opposed to a college lecture which is given, in part, to supplement texts)
is less in depth than a writing.
Chapter 7
examines 1 Corinthians 12:15-25, on Paul’s body analogy to the variety of
giftedness in the church and, therefore, in we who are members of the
Body. One thing he speaks on is how we
need to function as God has chosen to gift us, and not how we might prefer to
be gifted, as that is a part of submitting to God’s direction for each of us in
ministry. Personally, I found that,
beginning in this chapter, the reading gets slower as the teaching begins to
present practical conclusions that I needed to stop and consider before moving
on.
Chapter 8
is titled, “Ministering Life” and moves on to 1 Corinthians 13. God’s strength through a believer remains
God’s, but love is for the long term building up of the church. From this, he discusses the difference
between ministering through gifts, as opposed to ministering through one’s life
of serving God through what he calls “the formation of Christ” within. At this point, the book begins to move from
being a series of teachings to the presentation of practical points for the
believer to apply in being God’s called person in the situations we walk
through.
Chapter 9
begins with the difference in the use of the word “church” versus the word
“churches” in scripture, and continues with the role of all believers in
restoring another to right relationship with the church, i.e. other believers,
and brings insight from verses not normally seen in our part of the world as concerning
this matter.
Then comes
what seems to be a jump to the subject of prayer, God’s self limitations, and
the role of the believers as a group in minimizing those self limitations. What is said here is different in attitude,
but excellent. He finishes the chapter
with an exhortation for one to see the Church as more than those caught in the
evangelistic net, but that all believers together, as the Church, have a fuller
purpose that we are to grow into. One
can see in it a precursor to what more current writers have written on eternal
purpose.
Chapter 10
is about the connection of John’s writings:
the last gospel, the last letters, and Revelation—the last book, and the
common theme of restoration and God’s view of time, eternity, and divine
reality.
The last
chapter begins by discussing what the scriptures mean by “overcomer” and its
connection to spiritual warfare. The
book concludes with a section that addresses the question of the book’s title,
“What Shall This Man Do?” Upon reading
the last 15 pages, it is clear that the whole preceding part of the book was
edited to prepare the reader for the conclusions there. I believe that any normal person can look
back on one’s life and feel that, at times, one did not do the optimal thing. The final conclusion is both motivating and
comforting that even our self-perceived failures are a part of what is in us,
for the purpose of walking in God’s call upon one’s life, provided that one is
willing.
I wish I
had read this forty years ago, but possibly I would have been too immersed in
the traditionalism I had grown up with to have caught on to what Nee was
saying.
