Whom Shall I Send?

by Watchman Nee, Stephen Kaung (Translator)

Does God work alone or does He work with man? Let us see that aside from the work of creation which He performs alone, God always works with man and works in man. If He does not obtain the man He looks for, He will not do the work He plans but will wait until He does obtain His man, and then His work shall be done. Such knowledge reveals the unspeakable love of God towards man, but it also places upon man a tremendous responsibility.  Throughout the various chapters of this present volume, Watchman Nee. and his close associate Dr. C. H. Yu (in Chapter 2), present God's need of man conclusively. Although it is God himself who indeed does the work, nevertheless He will not work without the cooperation of man. He will first work in man and then work through man.  So that what the author discusses in the book at the very outset is the kind of man whom God can use in His one who is redeemed and fully yielded, one who knows his absolute incompetency, and who has only one desire of pleasing the Lord. Then is explained the nature of how the man of God must serve the Lord in the spirit, how his service needs to be towards the increase of spiritual value, and how his service today is but a preparation for the service in eternity.  Finally, two illustrations from the Old Testament are presented for the purpose on the one hand of exhorting the man of God to keep always the "freshness" of the spirit through constant communion with the Lord and on the other hand of instructing the servants of God as to the way of corporate guidance in the church. The cry of the triune God is, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" May our response be, "Here am I; send me" (Is. 6.8).

89 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Watchman Nee (Chinese: 倪柝聲; pinyin: Ní Tuòshēng; Foochow Romanized: Ngà̤ Táuk-sĭng; 1903–1972) was a Chinese Christian author and church leader during the early 20th century. He spent the last 20 years of his life in prison and was severely persecuted by the Communists in China. Together with Wangzai, Zhou-An Lee, Shang-Jie Song, and others, Nee founded The Church Assembly Hall, later which would be also known as the "Local churches" (Chinese: 地方教會). or more commonly as (聚會所) meaning "assembly hall"

Born into a Methodist family, Watchman Nee experienced a religious revival, and joined the Church of Heavenly Peace, Fuzhou in 1920 at age 17 and began writing in the same year. In 1921, he met the British missionary M. E. Barber, who was a great influence on him. Through Miss Barber, Nee was introduced to many of the Christian writings which were to have a profound influence on him and his teachings. Nee attended no theological schools or Bible institutes. His knowledge was acquired through studying the Bible and reading various Christian spiritual books. During his 30 years of ministry, beginning in 1922, Nee traveled throughout China planting churches among the rural communities and holding Christian conferences and trainings in Shanghai. In 1952 he was imprisoned for his faith; he remained in prison until his death in 1972.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

all work for the Lord is for increase in spiritual value in all our lives. if there is no spiritual growth or lesson learned, God is not there. holy ground is where your true self is revealed, because in the presence of a perfect God you gain self-awareness of your sin, weakness, and deep need before God. that is an indicator of His presence in your work.

I also liked the distinguishing between being led by the mind vs. the spirit in work. we need to be mindful of where our spirit leads bc that is how the Lord leads (and requires faith), not just what is justifiable/explainable in the natural world.

one thing I hope to experience more is work done as the body of Christ. nee touched on how revelation to an individual (eg. Abraham) is different from revelation to a nation/community (eg. Israelites, specific churches like in Epistles). to properly discern this we need to invite God to shine His light and give us spiritual knowledge of people’s conditions to read them correctly, then speak God-inspired words accordingly to touch their heart.

[Judith Brans - Donker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because of the title, I expected this book to be a missionary kind of book. This book is about how to live a Christian life close to God. Not in a religious manner, but in a heart-to-heart relationship with God kind of way. A very practical and insightful book.

[Daniel Audi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy reading Nee (this is my fourth book of his), but this was not his strongest work. I was going to rate it two stars until I read the final chapter. There were some good points, but I was initially turned off by the first chapter, in which he talked about God's needing the cooperation of man to work on the earth. While God chooses to daily give us the joy and privilege of partnering with Him, I believe it's a mistake to speak of this as His "need".