Co-operation
In the establishment of institutions in new fields it is often neces-
sary to place responsibilities upon persons not fully acquainted with
the details of the work. These persons labor at great disadvantage,
and, unless they and their fellow workers have an unselfish interest in
the Lord’s institution, there will result a condition of things that will
hinder its prosperity.
Many feel that the line of work they are doing belongs solely to
them and that no one else should make any suggestions in regard to it.
These very ones may be ignorant as to the best methods of conducting
the work; yet, if one ventures to offer them advice, they are offended
and become more determined to follow their independent judgment.
Again, some of the workers are not willing to help or instruct their
fellow workmen. Others who are inexperienced do not wish their
ignorance to be known. They make mistakes, at a cost of much time
and material, because they are too proud to ask counsel.
The cause of the trouble it is not difficult to determine. The work-
ers have been independent threads, when they should have regarded
themselves as threads that must be woven together to help form the
pattern.
These things grieve the Holy Spirit. God desires us to learn of one
another. Unsanctified independence places us where He cannot work
with us. With such a state of things Satan is well pleased.
There should be no secretiveness, no anxiety lest others gain a
knowledge possessed by the few. Such a spirit gives rise to constant
suspicion and restraint. Evil thinking and evil surmising are indulged,
and brotherly love dies out of the heart.
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Every line of God’s work has a connection with every other line.
Exclusiveness cannot exist in an institution where God presides; for
He is the Lord of all tact, all ingenuity; He is the foundation of all
correct methods. It is He who imparts knowledge concerning them,
and no man is to look upon this knowledge as exclusively his own.
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