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Concerning the formation of small groups, a few points need to be explained clearly. First, a small group is the gathering of a small number of neighboring believers; it is not a unit of organization. Hence, instead of designating the coming together of a small group as a meeting, it would be more appropriate and accurate to call it a gathering. There is a slight difference between a meeting and a gathering. When a few saints gather for fellowship, it should not be considered as a meeting.
A small group is a gathering, not an organized entity. In the church life, organization kills the saints, but the absence of organization enlivens the saints. Therefore, for the sake of convenience, a brother or sister must be able to attend any small group according to the Lord’s leading. It is very important for us to see that the small groups are not organized units. If we consider a small group as an organized unit, the saints will be restricted in their ability to gather with a group according to their schedule and responsibilities. Small groups are not units of organization; they should be formed for the convenience of the saints. Hence, the saints should not be limited to one group. Nevertheless, the convenience of a saint does not mean that natural preferences and fleshly choices are acceptable. Natural preferences and fleshly choices must be avoided.
If we do not attend a small group because there is a brother or sister whom we dislike in the group, this is the flesh. The works of the flesh will result in corruption. We should not do anything according to the flesh. Furthermore, if we choose to join a group that has a “spiritual giant,” rather than a group composed of seemingly “ordinary” saints, we will gain very little. God is not mocked. We should trust in God instead of putting too much trust in the condition of a small group. Often God’s blessing can be restricted if the saints in a group are too strong. God is the God of orphans and widows. We need to humble ourselves before the Lord, looking to Him as if we were infants. Those who think that they are capable are denied His blessings, but whenever we sincerely say, “Lord, I do not know what to do; I truly am nothing,” the blessing comes. We must trust in the Lord’s blessing.
In following the Lord’s leading, we should not feel as if we are restricted to fellowshipping with only one group. After a period of time, the Lord may lead us to fellowship with a different group. There are no rigid rules in this regard. However, we should not make a change based on natural likes and dislikes, much less based on the flesh. Choices based on preferences and the flesh violate a spiritual law, and once a spiritual law is violated, there can be no blessing.
Second, the small groups are not religious organizations; therefore, no responsible ones should be assigned to take the lead. The practice of having no one assigned to take the lead is to not take the way of organization. Every organization depends upon a leading one, a responsible one, but based on our experience, a leading one often replaces the saints and kills their organic function. This is not profitable. When the Lord Jesus appointed twelve apostles, He did not designate a leader. When the names of the apostles are listed in the Bible, Peter is usually mentioned first (Matt. 10:2; Mark 3:16; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13). In Galatians 2:9, however, James is mentioned first. Therefore, we cannot say that Peter was always the leader. Hence, in our small group gatherings, no one has been given the responsibility to take the lead. Under normal circumstances, the grace that one has at the time of the gathering is the source of the group’s leading. According to grace and fact, there will always be a leader, but this leading will not be based on a position or title. Everyone should be a leader in a small group because everyone has the same obligation and same opportunity to supply others.
Third, a small group should not pay attention to religious rituals. Today in the Sunday worship “services” in Christianity, hymns are sung, prayers are offered, the Word is read, and sermons are preached according to set procedures; these procedures are religious rituals. Even though these practices are not sinful, they kill the spirit within the believers and virtually annul their organic function. Overcoming this deadening condition is a focus of the Lord’s recovery. The Lord’s recovery is to recover the exercise of the spirit and the organic functioning of the saints. Therefore, when we come together, we should not be concerned with religious rituals; as long as someone has a burden to pray or sing, he should function accordingly.
I began meeting in Christianity when I was a child. For over seventy years I have seen many different situations. A considerable number of believers wait for a meeting to begin, but the Bible does not tell us when a meeting should begin. Although we have set a time to gather together, there is nothing wrong with coming early and beginning to pray. This is to have the fact of a beginning but not the formality of one. A small group recently testified that they met from 8:30 P.M. to after 11 P.M., with different saints coming at different times. This is a real break from religion and a genuine group gathering. We need to be flexible in the time of our group gatherings; otherwise, some saints may be shut outside the door.
We need to cast off the old ways that we have been following for decades, and the best way to cast them off is to gather in small groups. In practicing to gather in small groups, we should focus on exercising to touch spiritual reality. If we exercise in this way, there will surely be a blessing.
Fourth, the small groups are for fellowship in order to shepherd, teach, and mutually care for one another. When I go to different places to meet, the saints all think that I do not need any shepherding. Little do they realize that I also need to be shepherded. Whenever I go to a place, I truly look forward to the mutual shepherding. We all need mutual shepherding. None of us should be so proud as to think that we do not need any shepherding or teaching. Lambs are not the only ones in need of shepherding; even old sheep need to be shepherded. In fact, the older a person is, the more he needs to be cared for and shepherded.
Furthermore, we need to have a mutual concern and care for one another. Christians are members one of another. When one member suffers, all the members suffer. We need to have a concern and care for one another. This cannot be accomplished in large meetings. Even if only one hundred people gathered together, it would be hard to show much concern and care for others. However, the concern and care that a member needs is easy to find in a group of ten or less saints. When a small number of saints gather together, it is easy to understand the conditions and situations of the other saints, which brings in true concern and care. This gives the Holy Spirit a great opportunity to grant us grace.
Fifth, we need to avoid worldliness in the small groups, especially in matters of eating, drinking, and pleasures. In a gathering of a certain group, everyone sat around the table eating from a hot pot. They chatted as they ate, and a newly saved sister was stumbled and no longer wanted to gather with the small group. This is eating, drinking, and having pleasures. Pleasures in the Bible is not a good word. James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive because you ask evilly that you may spend it on your pleasures.” If a small group occasionally has a love feast, it should be simple. A small group also should avoid celebrations. In a small group, those who gather together will become quite familiar with one another after a short period of time, and in their effort to render care to one another, some may think that occasions such as birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries should be celebrated. However, we need to avoid mixing these occasions with the gathering of a small group. A small group gathering is not an occasion for celebrations. We are members of Christ; hence, our coming together is for the purpose of fellowshipping with one another. We should avoid worldly things.
Sixth, we need to avoid socializing. There is no place for vain talk or personal friendships in a small group, and even our fellowship should not be based on personal attachments. There should only be fellowship and love in the Lord.
Seventh, a small group is not an independent entity; it is only a small part of a local church. According to experience, some people like to be first, and they form small parties. In his third Epistle, John spoke of Diotrephes, who loved to be first among them (v. 9). Using a small group to form a small party or a faction is not acceptable; there is only one Body. A small group is not an independent entity, a “body”; it is only a small part in a local church. It can never become an independent entity. A small group must be according to the following principles: The saints in a small group are under the leadership of the elders in a local church. This is the only leadership. Even if there are eight hundred small groups, they are all still under the leadership of the elders. Furthermore, every small group must be open to the other groups in a local church, welcoming and accepting brothers and sisters from any other small group. In addition, the saints in a small group should not exclude other brothers and sisters or compete with other small groups.
In order for a country to be strong, there is the need for strong family units because only strong families can produce strong young people. In addition to the nurturing in the family, there is a need for education. There is a need for nurturing and teaching. According to the revelation in the Bible, the gatherings of the church reflect these two aspects. In Acts those who were saved gathered in the temple (5:42); this was in the principle of a big meeting for teaching. However, they also broke bread, prayed, preached the gospel, and taught from house to house (2:42, 46-47); this was in the principle of a small group gathering for nurturing. Christian meetings involve two aspects: nurturing and teaching.
Christianity has been on the earth for over nineteen hundred years, and its way of meeting has changed over time. Currently, its way is centered on a big gathering in a chapel with a pastor preaching a sermon. A large gathering, in principle, is not wrong, but it addresses only one aspect. We must not neglect the other aspect — gathering in the homes. I was in Christianity when I was young, but I never knew that Christians could gather in small groups.
In 1949 we began the work in Taiwan. At that time, approximately one hundred saints began to meet; at the end of the year approximately nine hundred saints were meeting. After six years there were close to fifty thousand on the whole island. Because of the rapid increase in the number of saints, we felt that there was a need for small groups. This was the first time that we gathered in groups, and we did not have much experience. The development of this practice was eventually interrupted by turmoil. As the small groups were gradually neglected, we began to depend on big meetings. This caused us to suffer loss. This shows that we need small groups in the homes in addition to joint meetings in a hall.
Joint meetings and small group gatherings are completely different in function. The nature of a joint meeting is related to teaching, whereas the nature of a small group gathering is related to nurturing. As soon as a child is born, he is fed at home by his mother so that he can grow. In addition to feeding, he also receives other forms of nurturing from his parents at home. A small group, like a home, provides a nurturing environment for the saints. We need to recover this aspect of the church life.
The nurturing function of the small group gatherings involves four matters. First, a small group should build up and support new believers. Without a small group, there will be little support for those who are saved and baptized. By analogy, a newborn child needs a place where he can be nourished, cherished, and supported in order to survive. We must recover and strengthen the small groups so that they can build up and support those who are newly saved as well as those who are already in the church.
Second, a small group should shepherd the young believers and take care of the weak saints. A strong church, like a strong family, will still have ones who are young, sick, or weak. If there are only big meetings and no small group gatherings, it will be difficult to care for the saints who are young, sick, or weak. When a small group is formed with ten or twelve saints, it is quite easy to see who is young, sick, or weak, and the saints will immediately begin to care for them. If every small group would shepherd and care for two or three saints in this way, four hundred groups would be able to easily bring in approximately one thousand people. We need to pay attention to this matter.
Third, a small group should help recover brothers and sisters who have not met for a long time or who have been lost. This requires much effort because a great number of the saints have disappeared. Recently, the brothers who are studying the information cards found at least two hundred cards with the names of people who could not be located. We should duplicate and distribute these cards to all the districts so that the brothers and sisters can make inquiries. These “missing” ones are our spiritual children, our brothers and sisters; it is worth our effort to locate them. Many were lost in the past because this was not part of our work. We believe that many of them are still in Taiwan; only a few have gone abroad. We must learn about their situation and then contact and recover them.
We have heard many testimonies that the dormant saints, who have been recovered by the small groups, are very seeking. This shows that they only lacked support and nourishment in the past. Therefore, we should exercise to contact the dormant saints and recover those with whom we have lost contact. Their hearts really desire the church life. One sister was afraid to go into the meeting hall because she had not been meeting for a long time, but after she was contacted by the saints in a small group she became quite living and was attached to the church again. This is a great function of the small group gathering.
Fourth, a small group should preach the gospel to the relatives, friends, and neighbors of the saints who are gathered together.
The way to have the small group gatherings involves six items.
First, a small group needs to keep the teaching of the apostles. Today a majority of Christians do not know the content of the apostles’ teaching, and even fewer know of the apostles’ fellowship. Acts 2:42 says, “They continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Although the wording of this verse is plain and easy to understand, it is difficult to translate. We need light from God in order to see the emphasis in these words. Verse 42 speaks of four things: the teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. When Luke wrote this verse, he was precise in his grammatical pairing of these words. In this verse the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles are joined as one group by the conjunction and, and the breaking of bread and the prayers are joined as another group also by the conjunction and.
According to common rules of grammar, when objects are listed in sequence, a conjunction can be added after each object. For example, the four items can be listed as “the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship and the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Alternatively, a conjunction can be used in front of the last object. For example, the four items can be listed as “the apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers.” However, Luke wrote in a different way in Acts, separating the four items into two groups using the conjunction and twice. This is because the teaching and the fellowship are related to the apostles, but the breaking of bread and the prayers are related to all the saints, not only the apostles.
In the history of Christianity the first group who saw this light was the Brethren in the nineteenth century. Before the Brethren, no one, not even the church fathers, could explain the significance of the wording in Acts 2:42. The Brethren saw that the teaching and the fellowship are of the apostles; that is, there is only one teaching, the unique teaching, and there is only one fellowship, the unique fellowship, both of which are brought in by the apostles. In 1934 Brother Nee spoke concerning these four matters. He said that the teaching and the fellowship are of the apostles, whereas the breaking of bread and the prayers are not. This was new light to me.
Today all the divisions in Christianity are due to different teachings. The Presbyterian denomination has Presbyterian teachings, the Baptist denomination has Baptist teachings, the Catholic Church has Catholic teachings, and other denominations have their respective teachings. Once a different teaching comes in, Christians are divided. Therefore, in 1 Timothy 1:3 Paul exhorted Timothy to remain in Ephesus in order that he might charge certain dissenting ones not to teach different things. Teaching different things means to teach things that are different from what the apostles taught.
The Old Testament speaks of the law and the prophets. When the Lord Jesus came, He spoke concerning Himself and eventually concerning the church. He appointed twelve apostles, who then preached what the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit revealed to them — Christ and the church. Christ and the church are God’s New Testament economy. The word economy is relatively difficult to understand. God’s economy is God’s intention, plan, and arrangement. In Christ God was manifested in the flesh and passed through human living, crucifixion, death, and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit. Now He can dispense Himself into those who believe in Him so that they may become the members of Christ. Corporately speaking, they become the church, the Body of Christ. Christ is the mystery of God, whereas the church is the mystery of Christ. Together these two mysteries are a great mystery. This great mystery — Christ and the church — is God’s economy.
The twenty-seven books of the New Testament speak of God’s New Testament economy; the teaching of the apostles also speaks of God’s economy. In the apostles’ time, however, some Jewish Christians would not drop the law in the Old Testament; they were concerned with genealogies and their forefathers. Their speaking led many New Testament saints away from Christ and the church to Moses, David, and the law. In their speaking, they were teaching different things.
Some of us were in Christianity for many years and never heard the pure word concerning God’s New Testament economy. Instead, Christian preachers focused on doctrines related to foot-washing and baptism. Disputes concerning the method and place of baptism have been the source of many divisions among Christians. To insist on a particular form of baptism is to speak different things. Today even the Pentecostal movement teaches different things by focusing on the matter of speaking in tongues. It is rare, however, to hear them speak concerning Christ, much less the church. This is to teach different things.
The speaking of the apostles was centered on Christ and the church — Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ. These two mysteries constitute the great mystery, which is referred to in 1 Timothy 3:16: “Great is the mystery of godliness: / He who was manifested in the flesh.” Flesh in this verse refers not only to Christ but also to the church. In the Lord’s recovery today, particularly when gathering as a small group, we must speak concerning the economy of God — Christ and the church.
In the apostolic age, teachings related to Greek philosophy, the so-called teaching of the Gnostics, entered into the church in addition to Judaistic things. Paul wrote Colossians to tell the saints that Christ is everything and that they did not need Greek philosophy, just as they did not need the Jewish law. Today Christianity is full of confusion, and there are many methods of biblical interpretation, some of which are not trustworthy. In the Lord’s recovery we need to return to the Bible and speak only the apostles’ teaching, which is God’s New Testament economy. The small group gatherings must hold on to this matter. We should not think that we can speak whatever we like in a small group.
We have to pay attention to this point, because once a small group is formed, there will be a wide-open door. Four hundred small groups will equal four hundred doors. If we are not clear concerning the truth, these open doors will result in disaster. In just a few years many different teachings could be brought into the church. Therefore, the first crucial matter in the way to have a small group is to keep the teaching of the apostles.
If we speak concerning such things as head covering, baptism, or speaking in tongues, there will be endless disputes. Those who are in a small group must not open a door for disputes. We desire only the teaching of the apostles, which is God’s New Testament economy concerning Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ. In the churches of the Lord’s recovery, we should not emphasize unimportant matters; we should stress only God’s New Testament economy, which is the teaching of the apostles.
Second, a small group must hold fast to the fellowship of the apostles. First John 1:3 says, “That which we have seen and heard we report also to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” The fellowship of the apostles is their fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. The New Testament believers also have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. This fellowship was brought in by the apostles; hence, this fellowship is a fellowship of the Body of Christ. Like the teaching of the apostles, the fellowship of the apostles is uniquely one in the universe. We cannot have another fellowship outside the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
Even though there are many benefits in forming a small group, there is also the potential problem of opening a door. If we are not cautious, many different teachings can come in once a door is open. A different teaching will produce a clique. For example, if some teach concerning speaking in tongues, some will receive it, and a clique will be formed by those who teach and those who receive. We cannot have a small circle of fellowship inside the universal fellowship; neither can we have a small fellowship outside the fellowship of the apostles. In other words, we cannot have a fellowship that is apart from the fellowship of the church. A small fellowship is always the basis of a sect.
Before the nineteenth century no one saw this light, but when the Brethren were raised up in England, they saw the light and released it. From that time onward, the words in Acts 2:42 have been clear. The three thousand who were saved all remained steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles; they did not depart from the teaching and the fellowship. The teaching and the fellowship of the apostles are still with the church today. A person with a dissenting idea, who leads others astray and forms them into a small circle of fellowship, is not remaining steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles. They have left the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles.
Third, a small group needs the breaking of bread. The breaking of bread is for the remembrance of the Lord. At the Lord’s table, on the one hand, we enjoy the Lord, and on the other hand, we offer up our adoration to Him. We love Him and honor Him. The Chinese speak of “reverence and love,” but reverence before love is religious, whereas loving and honoring are experiential. When we are saturated with God’s love, there is a response in us of love toward Him, and then out of this love, honor and respect come forth.
Fourth, a small group should pray, petitioning the Lord related to the needs of the saints and the church and for the carrying out of God’s will.
Fifth, a small group must preach the gospel. We should preach the gospel beginning with our family, then to our friends and neighbors, and then to all those whom we know.
Sixth, a small group must teach the truth. Paul lived in Ephesus for three years, and he not only taught the saints publicly but also from house to house. The phrase from house to house is mentioned in Acts 2:46; 5:42 and 20:20. This term in Greek means “from one house to another house.” Paul taught publicly and from house to house; his gatherings from house to house were small group gatherings.
In conclusion, when we study the Bible, we can see that the way to have a small group involves six items: speaking according to the apostles’ teaching, living in the unique fellowship of the apostles, breaking bread to enjoy the Lord with both love and honor, praying to meet the needs of the saints and the church and for His will to be done, preaching the gospel, and learning the truth and teaching the truth for the edification of others.
