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Scripture Reading: Rom. 12:1; Acts 2:46; 4:31; 5:42; Matt. 28:18-19
Prayer: Lord, our heart does not hope that we would be great or successful in this age; rather, our wish is to humbly serve You today so that we may gain Your praise in that day. Lord, give us such a heart and such a spirit. This prayer comes from our heart. This is our desire and supplication, and it is the way we desire to take. Lord, may You have a way to continually flow out from within us. Lord, visit us. Be with us. Speak to us. Remind us, and show us what we need to see. Amen.
We now come to a practical point; that is, the elders need to lead the saints to practice the way ordained by the Lord. After several years of investigating, we have found that in order to practice the way ordained by the Lord, we need to pay attention to four main points: first, to visit people and preach the gospel to gain new ones; second, to lead the new ones to establish home meetings; third, to lead the new ones to join the small group meetings; and fourth, to participate in the district meetings. We must spend time and effort to fellowship and study these four points thoroughly so that we can carry out the new way practically. The elders in every locality should gather the saints together to fellowship and pray specifically regarding every item and every point. According to our observation, the main points in the practice of the new way have not yet become our habit. If they become our habit, it will be easy for us to go on in the new way. To build up this habit, we need to continue promoting this way.
The elders should take the lead not only to knock on doors and preach the gospel but also to gather the saints together to provide them with some fellowship and explanation, encouraging them to visit people and preach the gospel. To carry out the new way, at least one-fourth to one-third of the brothers and sisters need to exercise to visit people and lead them into the home meetings. In regard to home meetings, the percentage of those who participate in the new way needs to be higher. This means that at least forty percent of the saints in a locality should participate in some aspect of the new way. In other words, if one hundred saints are meeting as the church, at least forty, preferably fifty, would be involved in the new way. Perhaps twenty-five to thirty would knock on doors, while ten or more would take care of the home meetings. Of course, our greatest hope is that more than half the saints would be involved in visiting people in their homes. They would not only deliver the gospel to people and lead them to salvation but would also bring the meeting to them in order to help them grow and be perfected so that they might be brought into the practical church life. For this reason we need to gather all the saints together in order to fellowship and to pray much regarding taking this way. Going out to visit people in order to preach the gospel and lead home meetings for the perfecting of the saints requires us to pay a price.
According to our study, in the past we have been truly lacking in our gospel preaching. In other words, after we baptized people, we did not have a proper way to keep them. For instance, a great number of people were baptized every year in the church in Taipei, yet very few have remained. The situation in other churches is probably the same. It is not easy for us to invite people to listen to the gospel, and it can be said that we have exerted a great deal of effort to help people to believe and be baptized; however, after several months only a few remain. Hence, all the churches must study how to improve and keep people in the church life.
Concerning the district meetings, we have changed the big meetings from the way that they were in the past. Now the brothers and sisters are learning the way of all speaking and all listening. However, as far as the practical situation is concerned, it will be a great loss if the church meetings continue to lack in the ministry of the word. If we do not try to make up for this lack, soon it will be difficult to maintain the meetings. This requires us to spend time to seek the Lord. In any case, the future of the church is promising; however, the question is whether we are all willing to be in one accord.
Few professionals in Taiwan work only according to office hours. The system of nine-to-five office hours is no longer adequate to meet the need. Often the important personnel in prominent, large-scale firms and factories need to work beyond the scheduled time. They cannot leave the office until they finish the urgent matters at hand. If the bosses and employees worked for only eight hours, their companies would surely lose money. This is the situation both in Southeast Asia and in the United States. Take the Japanese as an example. A world-renowned Japanese automobile factory has a branch in Los Angeles. Most employees in the company are Americans, who work according to office hours. When it is time to be off, they leave. However, behind the office, some are still working in a small room; they are Japanese, and they work until midnight. This is the spirit of the Japanese people.
The Jews are another example. If you go to New York, people will tell you that the Jews work constantly. No one knows what time they go to work in the morning and what time they go home at night. Besides working diligently, they are also very frugal. They value every cent they earn; this is why they are so successful. The elders should be like this in regard to administrating the church; they should not consider it merely as going to work and keeping regular office hours. If we keep regular hours in our service, the church under our care is finished. We must serve twenty-four hours a day.
In the past few years of experimenting, we have discovered several factors that are important and effective in regard to preaching the gospel. The first factor is door-knocking. Compared to the traditional way of preaching the gospel, door-knocking requires us to pay a higher price. In the past, when we preached the gospel, all we needed to do was make a few phone calls to invite people. Now we need to go out personally to knock on people’s doors. The experienced ones know that it is difficult to knock on the doors of strangers. Even if a stranger welcomes us into his home, it is not easy to begin a conversation. This requires that we pay a price; nevertheless, paying the price to knock on doors is guaranteed to be effective.
A team of three saints may visit people by knocking on doors. On average, out of twenty homes, they will be able to baptize at least one person. This is certain. Suppose that there is a church with one hundred saints meeting regularly. If twenty-five of them are divided into eight teams that consistently visit people for two hours every other week, they will be able to spend twenty-six weeks per year visiting people. If every team gains an average of one person each time they preach the gospel, they will gain two hundred eight people within one year. This would be wonderful! When a person engages in business, teaching, or a profession, he cannot succeed if his labor is inconsistent and intermittent. To be successful one must be regular, consistent, and continual.
In the process of door-knocking, we should not aim at being fast. Sometimes the Lord may be merciful to us and give us a son of peace, one who has a very good response, at the first door we knock on. In this case, we should not leave too quickly but should talk with him for as long as two hours. We can talk with him about heaven, earth, God, the Spirit, the Savior, or any other matter. As long as we do not annoy him, we should talk with him earnestly. According to the saying, we should “strike while the iron is hot.” We must grasp the opportunity to work. Our experiments have produced fruit; this is why we have the assurance to endeavor to go on.
If a team of three gains one new one every week, the team should take care of these new ones. It is easy for three people to take care of a home meeting. After a second week they may gain another one. Then there will be two new ones. A week later they may gain another one, and thus there will be three new ones. As they gain more and more people, there will be a need for them to bring other brothers and sisters with them, who can begin to take care of the home meetings. In a church of one hundred people, twenty-five may knock on doors, and another fifteen to twenty-five may go with the door-knocking ones to take care of the home meetings. This should be easy for the saints to do because the price is relatively small. Moreover, since a home meeting has a fixed time and place, the saints simply need to join themselves to those who have been door-knocking.
After those who knock on doors have gained a good number of people, they should then bring some brothers and sisters who can take care of the home meetings. In this way they can have face-to-face fellowship with the new ones who need the care. The door-knocking saints can introduce their brothers and sisters to the new ones by saying, “These are our brothers and sisters in the church. We three have gained many people through door-knocking, and we cannot take care of everyone. As a result, we have asked these brothers and sisters to help us. We want to introduce you to them. They will take care of you from now on.” In this way those under their care will be handed over to others. This is truly feasible.
One matter we need to pay attention to is that the first home meeting should be longer. If possible, within the first month we should have ten home meetings with the new ones; we may visit them every three days for ten times. These ten visits will be truly effective. After the first month we may be able to reduce our visits to once a week; then after approximately three months they will be brought into the church life. If three months are not enough, half a year may be sufficient. The new ones should first be brought into the home meetings; then through the small group meetings they may be brought to the district meetings. This can be done within half a year.
We need to realize that if we are able to bring a person into the church life within half a year, this will have a very positive impact on the church life. In this way we will save much manpower so that many can continue to knock on doors and gain many more people. Based on these figures, if we are consistent, we will reap a hundredfold increase; that is, we will double our number within one year. Even if we do not double our number, a thirtyfold increase would be very good.
After much study and discussion, we can say that we have come to the definite conclusion that preaching the gospel by visiting people and knocking on doors is the proper way. The result of preaching the gospel in this way depends upon how we labor; this way definitely works and is by comparison the most effective way. After people have been visited and baptized, there is no other way that will cause them to grow in life as steadily as the home meetings. Consequently, we need further study in this matter. Human beings are living; they are not pieces of wood. If this way does not work, we will step back and find another way. Whatever the case, we will gradually find a way. All of us need to practice in our localities according to what has been fellowshipped. Regardless of the way we use, we need to be flexible; that is, we cannot be rigid and unchangeable. For instance, if what we practice this week does not work well, we will need to adjust our way the following week. Even after we have adjusted to the right way, we still need to observe it over a period of time.
In short, the responsible brothers in all the churches need to promote this matter; however, they should not force the brothers and sisters but should exhort, lead, and encourage them. Not everyone in the church needs to be involved in visiting people. It is good if twenty, thirty, or even forty are able to go out, while the rest bear the responsibility to pray much for the saints visiting the new ones. In this way they can give themselves in prayer to the way that God has ordained. We need to let the saints know that if they do not go out to visit people, they can still participate; we are in one corporate move. Those who stay behind to pray need those who visit the new ones, and those who visit the new ones need those who stay behind to pray. This can be likened to the time of David in the Old Testament when some went out to fight on the battlefield, while others stayed home for defense; both aspects are necessary. In this way the whole church will be brought into one practice, which will gradually become the “family tradition” of preaching the gospel among the churches in the Lord’s recovery.
This does not mean that this is the only way to preach the gospel. There are many ways to preach the gospel, but in comparison, this way is the most effective. As long as we are willing to pay the price and spend time and energy, we will surely gain people. While we are not sure if any other way is effective in gaining people, this way is definitely effective in gaining people; however, this way also demands paying the greatest price. Other ways to preach the gospel do not require as high of a price; this way surely requires paying a high price.
I hope that when the elders fellowship with the saints regarding this matter, they would fellowship with them in a thorough manner, and at the same time they would work out a definite way for the saints. At the beginning they should explain to the brothers and sisters that their going out to visit people and preach the gospel is to consecrate themselves not only to the church but also to the Lord and that the responsible brothers in the church will assist them, help them, and perfect them. In this way everyone will gradually be on the right track, and the way that God has ordained will become the atmosphere among us. If all the churches work hard in this endeavor, this practice will certainly become our “family tradition” within a year.
The churches in the different localities can set the time for the prayer meeting and home meetings according to their particular need. These matters can be determined in accordance with the particular situation of a locality. The important thing is that there must be a group of saints who knock on doors. This group of saints is a crucial link without which hardly anyone will be added to the church. If we want the church to have an increase in number, there must be this link, and among those who are brought in by this group, at least one-third will remain. If one hundred people are gained in this term, at least thirty will remain in the church life. If we are more diligent, even more people will remain; the percentage of people who remain altogether depends upon our diligence.
If we visit and take care of people continually, it will be rare for people to make excuses and withdraw. This way is certain and workable, and it guarantees an increase and multiplication. This way must be built up among us. I hope that we will constantly pray for the churches in Taiwan to practice and promote this matter. We desire to see that the number of people in the churches in the Lord’s recovery will have a significant increase from 1988 onward and that this matter will build up a kind of atmosphere, a “family tradition,” in the Lord’s recovery.
