A Mentor Who Could Say No

“they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” — Isaiah 40:31 (ASV)

Near Fuzhou lived an English missionary named Margaret E. Barber. She wasn't famous. She had no big platform and built no big institution. She lived quietly, depending on God for her needs, and she prayed, counselled young believers and put good books into their hands. She became one of the most important people in Nee's life.

In 1921 Nee and his mother decided that the infant baptism they had received was not enough for them, and they were baptised as believers. Around this time Nee came under Barber's influence. He and other eager young workers would bring her reports of their activities and successes. Her replies could be searching. Had God started this work? Had they waited on him? Were they after visible success or after obedience?

Those questions sank deep. The biography puts the lesson this way: Christian work can be done for God without being done from God. Jesus said the Son “can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing.” If even the Son lived in dependence on the Father, Nee reasoned, Christian workers had no business acting on their own.

Barber also taught him to wait. For an energetic young man, waiting felt like wasted time. But a good idea is not automatically God's command for today. Some people stay extremely busy precisely because they are afraid to trust God. Waiting isn't laziness. It is refusing to let activity take the place of guidance.

Faith, he came to believe, is not the same as feeling confident. It is trusting the character of God. If you keep asking, “Do I have enough faith?” you may be looking at your faith instead of at God. Your security rests on how faithful he is, not on how strongly you manage to believe.

Her corrections could be severe. The point is not that she was always right. The point is that Nee learned to let his confidence be examined. Gifted young people especially need someone who is not impressed by their gifts. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend,” says Proverbs.

Barber also opened a library to him. Through her and others he read Andrew Murray, Jessie Penn-Lewis, D. M. Panton, Robert Govett, J. N. Darby, T. Austin-Sparks, George Muller, Hudson Taylor and many more. He soaked them up, adapted them and combined them in new ways. From Muller's story and others like it he learned to look to God for practical provision rather than make money the thing that decided his ministry. Later critics would ask how much of his teaching he borrowed. The fair answer, the biography says, is that he was neither a lone genius nor a mere copier, but a gifted interpreter who brought many streams together.

There is a question here for later. As Nee's own influence grew, did he keep people around him who could say no to him, the way Barber once had? The biography asks it gently, and it is worth asking of every strong leader.

Who in your life is allowed to tell you the truth? Not someone who flatters you, and not someone who tears you down, but someone who cares about you enough to say, “I'm not sure that's from God,” or, “You were wrong there.” If you have that person, they are a gift. If you don't, ask God for one.

One thing to do this week: ask one older person you trust, a parent, pastor, teacher or coach, this question: “Is there anything you see in me that I should work on?” Then listen without defending yourself. Thank them, even if it stings.