——一段关于信仰、边界与交托的反思

文 / HuSir

　　顾弟兄曾在一个家庭教会中服事，也一度承担负责人角色。在与我交谈中，他提到：我们信仰相同，所读的经文相同，口中承认的也是同一位主。但随着时间推移，他越来越清楚地意识到：即便在同一信仰之下，每个人所处的生活阶段、承受的现实压力、面对的家庭处境与内心呼召，仍然存在真实而深刻的差异。

　　这些差异，最终会体现在信仰的侧重点与追求方式上。不是谁更属灵，也不是谁更偏离，而是生命轨迹不同，回应神的方式也不同。

　　两年前，他曾花了很多心力，反复表达自己对信仰、教会方向和属灵操练的理解。并非出于好胜或掌控，而是因为自己蒙神恩典已二十多年，磕磕绊绊走过许多道路，却始终觉得对信仰的真义理解有限。每当在生命中有一点新的体会，便迫不及待地想分享给教会里的弟兄姐妹。

　　然而他后来逐渐意识到，停留在个人感受层面的分享，终究是有限的。每个人所处的环境、承担的压力、经历的伤痛都不相同，自己以为真实而深刻的领受，往往只是属于自己的那一部分，并不能替代他人回应神的道路，也无法解决他人生命中的具体问题。

　　这些表达固然出自真诚，对他个人而言也是真实而重要的，却并不天然适用于所有人。正是在这一过程中，他慢慢明白：真实，并不等同于适用于所有人；清楚，也不意味着此刻必须被理解。

　　当沟通开始变得吃力，当解释逐渐变成消耗，当彼此的理解空间越来越窄，他选择离开负责人的位置，也离开了那一阶段的事奉现场。他没有争辩，也没有对立，更没有否定任何人的信仰。只是逐渐意识到：继续用力，只会让关系承受它本不该承受的重量。

　　他并没有完全离开那段群体，仍保持着基本的礼貌与交往。因为在他心里，弟兄姐妹从来不是“立场的对立面”，而是一群正在各自人生中摸索、挣扎、前行的人。

　　随着这两年对信仰认识的不断加深，一个曾经并不那么容易接受的事实，反而越来越清晰：在神面前，每个人都是平等的，也是自由的。
　　没有人需要活成另一个人的版本，也没有人必须用某一种理解来证明自己的忠心。神并不需要追随者彼此替祂把关，祂更关心的，是每一个人在真实生活中，是否仍愿意与祂同行。

　　当他真正接受这一点时，内心反而得着了安慰与释放。他不再纠结于“如果当初不离开会怎样”，也不再担忧“教会是否会因自己的退出而受损”。渐渐明白：教会的生命，并不系于某一个人的去留，而在于神是否仍在其中工作。

　　事实上，每一位弟兄姐妹，本就会沿着各自的人生轨迹继续向前。有的人会留下来深耕，有的人会在不同阶段走向新的形态；有的人承担更多事奉，有的人则需要在家庭、工作与内心修复中慢慢调整。这些差异，并不构成信仰的高低，而是生命真实展开的方式。

　　回望这段经历，他越来越确信：教会真正的使命，并不是把人牢牢聚拢在某一种组织形态中，而是让福音被真实地活出来，并自然地扩散。当福音进入人心，它必然走向家庭，走向日常生活，也会在不同的关系网络中，孕育出新的家庭式信仰群体。
　　只有以家庭为信仰单元的群体，才是这片土地上可持续传承、充满生命力的细胞，尤其在阴霾国，更是如此。

　　从这个意义上说，教会本就不该、也不应依赖“中心人物”来维系，而应成为一个不断发散、不断更新的生命网络。因为教会真正的“中心”，不是任何人，而是神，是圣灵。当一个人能够安心离开某一阶段的位置，却仍然祝福其中的人与神同行，这本身就是福音正在起作用的标志。

　　如今，他更愿意把自己看作一位同行者，而非负责人。不是站在前面指引方向，而是在人群之中，与弟兄姐妹一同学习信靠、学习顺服，也学习在真实处境中与神同行。

　　他也常常为仍在其中的弟兄姐妹祷告，衷心祝愿：无论每个人此刻身处怎样的环境、承担怎样的压力，都不要怀疑神是否与你们同在。信仰并不取决于谁留下、谁离开，而在于你是否仍在真实生活中回应祂的引导。

　　愿每一个信靠主的人，都能在不同的位置上，走同一条路——不是彼此复制，而是各自在神面前，活出自由而真实的生命。

From Leader to Fellow Traveler

— A Reflection on Faith, Boundaries, and Entrustment
By HuSir

Brother Gu once served in a house church and for a time took on a leadership role. In conversations with me, he shared that although they held the same faith, read the same Scriptures, and confessed the same Lord, over time he became increasingly aware of something important: even within the same faith, people live in very different seasons of life, bear different real-life pressures, face different family situations, and respond to God’s calling in deeply different ways.

These differences eventually reveal themselves in one’s spiritual focus and direction of pursuit. It is not a matter of who is more spiritual or who has gone astray, but simply that different life trajectories lead to different ways of responding to God.

Two years ago, he devoted a great deal of effort to repeatedly articulating his understanding of faith, the direction of the church, and spiritual practice. This was not driven by competitiveness or a desire to control, but by the fact that he himself had received God’s grace for more than twenty years. He had stumbled through many seasons of life, yet still felt that his grasp of the essence of faith remained limited. Whenever he gained even a small insight along the way, he felt an urgent desire to share it with the brothers and sisters in the church.

Over time, however, he gradually came to realize that sharing rooted primarily in personal experience has its limits. Each person lives in a different environment, bears different pressures, and carries different wounds. What he regarded as genuine and profound insights were, in the end, only his own—insufficient to replace how others respond to God, and unable to resolve the concrete struggles in their lives.

Although these expressions were sincere and deeply meaningful to him personally, they were not naturally applicable to everyone else. Through this process, he slowly learned an important truth: what is real is not necessarily suitable for all, and what is clear does not always need to be understood at this moment.

When communication became increasingly difficult, when explanation turned into exhaustion, and when the space for mutual understanding continued to narrow, he chose to step away from the role of leader and from that particular phase of ministry. He did not argue, oppose, or deny anyone’s faith. He simply realized that continuing to exert force would place a burden on relationships that they were never meant to carry.

He did not completely withdraw from that community, but continued to maintain basic courtesy and interaction. In his heart, fellow brothers and sisters were never “opponents in position,” but people who were each navigating their own lives—searching, struggling, and moving forward.

As his understanding of faith deepened over these two years, a truth that had once been difficult to fully accept became increasingly clear: before God, every person is equal, and every person is free.
No one needs to live as a version of someone else, and no one must prove their faithfulness by adhering to a single interpretation. God does not require His followers to police one another on His behalf; what He cares about is whether each person is still willing to walk with Him in the reality of everyday life.

When Brother Gu truly accepted this, he found comfort and release in his heart. He no longer wrestled with questions such as, “What if I had not stepped away?” nor did he worry about whether the church would suffer because of his departure. Gradually, he came to understand that the life of the church is not bound to the presence or absence of any individual, but to whether God is still at work within it.

In fact, every brother and sister naturally continues forward along their own life path. Some remain and put down deep roots; others move into new forms at different stages. Some are able to take on more ministry, while others need to focus more on family, work, or inner restoration. These differences do not indicate levels of faith, but rather the genuine unfolding of life.

Looking back, he has become increasingly convinced that the true mission of the church is not to tightly gather people into a single organizational form, but to allow the gospel to be lived out authentically and to spread naturally. When the gospel truly enters the human heart, it will inevitably move into families and daily life, and will give rise to new forms of house-based faith communities within different relational networks.
Only communities that take the family as the basic unit of faith can become living cells that are sustainable and full of vitality in this land—especially so in the Land of Shadow.

From this perspective, the church should not—and indeed must not—depend on any “central figure” for its survival. Rather, it should become a living network that continually spreads and renews itself. For the true center of the church is not any person, but God—His Holy Spirit. When someone can step away peacefully from a particular role or season and still sincerely bless those who remain to walk with God, that itself is a sign that the gospel is at work.

Today, Brother Gu prefers to see himself not as a leader, but as a fellow traveler. Not someone standing in front to direct the way, but one who walks among others—learning together to trust, to submit, and to walk with God in real-life circumstances.

He continues to pray for the brothers and sisters who remain, sincerely wishing that no matter what environment they find themselves in or what pressures they bear, they would never doubt God’s presence with them. Faith is not determined by who stays or who leaves, but by whether one continues to respond to God’s guidance in the reality of daily life.

May every person who trusts in the Lord walk the same path from different places—not by copying one another, but by living out a free and authentic life before God.