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We need to divide the gospel into four lines. The first line is the gospel in the homes, which we should promote in the small groups. We need to encourage every brother and sister in the small groups to open their home. We should encourage all the saints, whether they are strong, weak, or only occasionally attend a meeting, to open their homes for the preaching of the gospel. Some small groups have already begun to promote this. We are not promoting the preaching of the gospel in the small groups; we are encouraging every saint in a small group to open his home and preach the gospel in his home. There may be two to four families in a small group. We are encouraging the brothers and sisters to preach the gospel in their homes.
According to my observation, many small groups have already begun preaching the gospel as a group. Our initial intention in promoting the opening of the homes was to preach the gospel. The small group has many functions. First, it maintains the existing brothers and sisters. It also recovers the dormant saints. Finally, it encourages the saints to preach the gospel in the small group, in their homes, and in their daily living. We should not be mistaken and think that we are promoting the preaching of the gospel as a group. Our intention is to encourage the saints to preach the gospel in their homes. Suppose there are nine saints in a small group from five homes. We should encourage each of these homes to open for the preaching of the gospel.
Do not be concerned whether our promoting will be successful. We should simply promote this matter; we will consider the next step if our promoting does not work. In our leading of the small groups, we are promoting every home to open and preach the gospel. How long it will take for this to be successful is another matter. Every home will not open immediately. It may be that out of five homes none will be willing to open, or it may be that only one home is willing to open. We should not be discouraged. We only need to keep the principle in the Lord’s work.
In Matthew 25 the Lord spoke of a slothful slave who managed his master’s possessions. When the master returned, the slave said, “Behold, you have what is yours” (v. 25). He boasted to his master that he did not lose any money. The slave thought that he had done a good thing because he guarded his master’s money and did not lose anything. However, his master reproached him as an evil and slothful slave. The slave said, “Master, I knew about you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow. And I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the earth” (vv. 24-25). The master replied, “You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not winnow. Therefore you should have deposited my money with the money changers; and when I came, I would have recovered what is mine with interest” (vv. 26-27). Every person who serves the Lord should know that the Lord desires us to reap where nothing was sown and to gather where there was no winnowing. We might think that the Lord Jesus is unreasonable. Yes, the Lord is unreasonable. The Lord does not reason according to our reasoning. He has His own reasoning. One day we will stand before the judgment seat, and our excuses will not be accepted. The more excuses we give, the more we will be condemned. The Lord will reprimand us as evil and slothful slaves.
We should not say that we have already spent our energy to bring the brothers to the meeting, and now it is too difficult for us to spend more energy to promote preaching the gospel in the homes. Asking the saints to open their homes may not be as difficult as it seems. We should encourage them. We do not lose anything by encouraging the saints to open their homes to preach the gospel. We do not suffer any loss.
In carrying out the Lord’s commission, we should not bargain with Him. I have negotiated with the Lord in the past, telling Him that this or that could not be done. Eventually, I discovered that when I did not negotiate, I spent only ten percent of my energy, but the more I negotiated with the Lord, the more I had to labor. Eventually, I still had to do everything according to Him. Later, if the Lord asked me to do something, I did it without any bargaining. The least costly way is to accept the Lord’s command and put it to practice. We are good at bargaining, but the Lord is never bothered with our bargaining. The Lord does not bargain. Rather, the more we bargain, the more we pay. Those who know the Lord understand this. If the Lord says to do something, we should do it quickly. It does not matter whether we succeed or not. Our attitude should be that we go when the Lord wants us to go, and we do what the Lord wants us to do. This is the spirit of a serving one.
We need to encourage the saints to open their homes. The homes may not open immediately, but we should not be discouraged. There is still time. If no home opens this week, we will encourage the saints next week. There are fifty-two weeks in a year, and as long as we are steadfast, every home will be open one day.
The second line of the gospel is the gospel in the schools. According to statistics, the city of Taipei has about one hundred ten thousand college students and two hundred sixty thousand students in junior high school and high school. This is a total of three hundred seventy thousand students. We must work on these three hundred seventy thousand students. The third line of the gospel is the community gospel, and the fourth line is the children’s work. We should not only preach the gospel to the children but also labor on the children with weekly children’s meetings. Hence, there are four lines related to the gospel: the homes, the schools, the community, and the children.
Two full-time co-workers are willing to promote the gospel in the community. In order to begin, we need statistics concerning the number of working saints. In the medical field there are forty-five medical doctors and eighty-two nurses. Fourteen saints are associated with the police force, thirty-four work either with the post office or the telephone and the telegram offices, four are lawyers, and eleven are engineers. Three saints are factory managers, fourteen are company presidents, and twenty-four are general managers. Eighteen saints own companies, and twenty-two are directors. Six saints are representatives in the National Assembly, and one is a legislator. These are general statistics of the employment situation of the brothers and sisters.
In preaching the gospel in the community we should not go to a police station or a factory to preach the gospel; neither should we hold a gospel conference in a hospital. Instead, two responsible brothers who take the lead in the community gospel need to learn the skill of preaching the gospel. Then they should not preach the gospel directly but teach others to preach the gospel. Therefore, the two brothers need to contact the working saints. For example, the two co-workers need to contact the forty-five saints who are doctors, one by one. They can go to one brother’s home to fellowship and pray with him and encourage him to open his home for the gospel to people in the medical field. The co-workers can encourage him to invite his doctor colleagues and their families to his home so that he can preach the gospel while the full-time brothers assist him. This is the way that we preach the gospel to people who work. The working saints should preach the gospel to their fellow workers, that is, to those in their occupation. Their colleagues may be more receptive to them because they have something in common.
In the past preachers gave sermons, but our present leading is completely different. The full-timers should prepare what the brothers and sisters need. If they need Bibles and gospel tracts, the full-timers should prepare them. If they need chairs to be arranged, the full-timers should arrive early to help arrange the chairs. Then the saints should preach the gospel themselves. If a saint does not know how to speak, the full-timers should teach him how to speak.
This way of leading is not a dream; it comes from our observation and personal experience. I studied the way believers preach the gospel in every country that I visited. When I was in Brazil, I spent quite some time observing the largest Christian group there. In America I even studied the method that the Mormons use. Mormonism is heretical because it teaches that the Lord Jesus is not God. However, in America no Christian group can surpass the Mormons in their work. This success confirms the leading we had thirty years ago concerning practicing the small groups. It is regrettable that we later neglected this practice. The success of the Mormons depends on their practice of small groups. The Mormons do not have great evangelists who concentrate on the small groups. Instead, in the small groups they study what should be done and make a plan to be carried out by the small groups. Their way is altogether practical, not theoretical. For this reason, they are more successful than many Christian groups.
At the international airport in Los Angeles, California, there are young Mormon men in teams of two, dressed in suits. They approach Chinese students arriving from China, and in fluent Chinese they offer to give the newcomers a ride to their destination. They can even sit down and engage in a long conversation on world politics in beautiful Chinese. Many new Chinese students who are not familiar with the surroundings are gained by the Mormons, because of their zealous help. This is the reason that many Chinese join the Mormons. The training that the Mormons receive is practical. They learn not only to greet others but also to converse about world politics, and they can speak in good Chinese. After observing them, I feel that our work has not been practical.
The leading in this fellowship is based on our observation and study of both others and ourselves. For example, after considering and studying various aspects of other groups, we discovered that their success depends on the use of small groups. This principle cannot be changed.
In practice, if the saints open their homes for the gospel, they should invite people with the same occupation. There is no need to invite people from other occupations. This is the way we should take if we want to preach the gospel to working people. For example, we can fellowship with a sister who is a nurse to see whether it is suitable for her to open her home. If it is suitable, she can open her home and invite her friends in the nursing occupation to hear the gospel. We should also ask the sister to preach the gospel. There are many advantages to taking this way. Suppose a brother who is a doctor and who does not usually preach the gospel receives the leading of the church and invites his colleagues to his home. His colleagues would be shocked, and their interest would be stirred up when they hear him singing gospel songs and explaining verses from the Bible to them. However, if a full-time brother gives the message, he might display an air of preaching, which would not be interesting to the doctors.
The two kinds of Chinese boxing are an example. One is called fancy boxing, which is mainly for show and cannot inflict any harm. The other is solid boxing, which has the ability to kill. We cannot do the Lord’s work as if we are merely doing fancy boxing to dazzle the eye but not devastate. We should work as if we are doing solid boxing and hit the target with every blow. This is the burden that the brothers who take the lead to promote the work must receive. This burden will bring results, no matter how heavy it may seem. If we can have thorough fellowship with the working saints in the twenty-one halls in the church in Taipei so that they open their homes to preach the gospel to their colleagues at work, the church will flourish, prosper, and bear new fruit every month. Moreover, this kind of fruit often comes in clusters, like grapes.
Not only should we preach the gospel in the medical field in this way, but we should do the same with the policemen. If a brother, who is a policeman, is willing to open his home for the gospel, he can invite his fellow police officers to his home and preach the gospel to them. We do not have to go to the police station to preach the gospel. Similarly, there is no need to go to the courthouse to preach the gospel to those in the legal field. We first need to pray and ask the Lord to give us a brother who works as a judge and is burdened to invite his colleagues to his home for the gospel. In this way the door to the legal field will be opened. The most effective way is to encourage the working saints to open their homes and to invite their colleagues to hear the gospel.
There are many brothers and sisters who have consecrated themselves to be full time, and about two-fifths of them are over thirty years old. There are also saints who are over seventy and are retired, and their children are either overseas or married with their own families. The best bargain for these older saints is for them to consecrate themselves to serve the Lord full time. There are still other saints who are willing to serve the Lord part time. We decided that all the full-timers and part-timers who are over thirty years old will be assigned to the community gospel. This is about two hundred serving ones. However, not all of them will go to the homes of the working saints.
Here are some suggestions for preaching the gospel in apartment buildings. There may be an older sister who lives in an apartment building and is burdened to serve full time. She should first care for the people living in her building. She should not advertise what she is doing, because this will close people. She can discreetly find out who lives in each apartment, their occupation, whether they are young or old, and their schedules. She should be clear concerning these matters.
Then once a week she can distribute gospel tracts to every home, giving a different tract each week. This is the principle. In the beginning, we should not knock on our neighbors’ doors but rather place a tract in their mailboxes. One of our neighbors might be an older lady who stays at home to look after children. After two or three weeks of distributing tracts, we can find a morning suitable to knock on her door and visit her. When the older lady opens the door, we can gracefully and politely inquire if she has seen the tracts that were in her mailbox. We should be as bold and thick-skinned as a salesman but also polite and keen. After talking with her for a while, we can ask to enter into the home and chat with her. We can use this simple method in every apartment building in Taiwan. After we cover the building we live in, we can go on to the next building. If we would continue in this way for one or two years, all the people in the apartment buildings will know that we love Jesus. They will like us as their neighbor, and they will welcome us if we visit them again. Most of the older sisters can consecrate their time to preach the gospel in this way if they are retired and do not have grandchildren to care for.
This is not impossible. If three thousand can take this way, it will reap a significant result. The way for increase is through the gospel in the community, the gospel in schools and homes, and the children’s work. Most Christian groups that are successful in the gospel take this way, and this way is most suitable for older sisters. Today everyone is afraid of being robbed, but old ladies do not look like robbers, nor do they act like robbers. They are harmless and do not arouse fear in people. If the older sisters are willing to take this way, their neighbors will know the gospel after six months to one year. Not only so, if some other brothers and sisters, who live in the same area as an older sister does, also practice this, the gospel will be spread in a short while.
The older sisters can also participate in distributing tracts, booklets, Bibles, audiotapes, and videotapes. These can be distributed gradually over time. Our main burden is for the leading ones to encourage the working saints to open their homes and invite their fellow workers to hear the gospel. At the same time, the leading ones should teach the saints how to preach the gospel. Furthermore, the full-timers and part-timers over thirty years of age should participate in the community gospel by visiting families and distributing gospel tracts.
We need to encourage all the working saints to open their homes. This includes not only those working in the medical field, in education, in commerce, on the police force, and in the legal field but also those in politics. There are some saints who hold high positions in the government. We need to pray and ask the Lord to touch these saints to also open their homes and invite their colleagues to hear the gospel. We should also encourage the saints who are school principals to open their homes and invite people in the educational field, such as other principals or well-known people in the academic fields, to hear the gospel. For the community gospel all the saints scattered in various occupations should open their homes and invite their colleagues to hear the gospel. This approach is very profitable. If the church in Taipei is able to break through in this matter, it will cause the rest of the island to rise up.
All the full-timers and part-timers over thirty years old should take the lead to open their homes. Since you serve full time, this is your occupation. This can be compared to owning a store; you cannot work only once a week. To “open your store” is to preach the gospel. If the church assigns the older sisters who are full time to preach the gospel, they should first pray for people, then go and distribute tracts to their homes, and then visit them. In addition, they should open their own homes to preach the gospel to their neighbors. At least four days a week we should work in our store.
We should not consider whether there are enough people for us to invite. Those who begin a business are always full of confidence. Brother Nee once told me that in order to open a store, one must have perseverance and patience. If we can patiently persevere for three years, our store will succeed. Therefore, we encourage all the full-timers and part-timers to open their stores and sell Jesus. Our merchandise is Christ. We are “Christ stores,” and we specialize in selling Christ. We should never say that we opened our store and no one came and that we should therefore close the store. If something is being sold, there will be someone who is willing to buy.
With regard to inviting people to our homes, we should invite whoever is available. In Luke 14:23 the Lord told us to go into the roads and hedges and compel people to come so that His house may be filled. This means that we need to go to every street and alley to compel people to come. In America compelling is the method of a salesman. He does not force you to buy his product. He continues to talk until you can do nothing but buy the least expensive product so as to send him away. If a salesman is willing to do this for the sake of money, how about us who love the Lord? Should we not be even more willing to compel others for the sake of the gospel? We should find ways to compel the people whom we invite until they have no alternative but to agree with the gospel. However, we should not make them angry. If we can all testify strongly for the Lord, we can bear much fruit. In one year we will lead more than one person to salvation. If we labor and endeavor in this way, we will lead several people to salvation in a year.
The brothers and sisters should realize that we are in the noblest occupation. We are giving the Lord of heaven and earth to people; we are bringing them salvation and grace, as well as life and light. Initially, people may feel that we are bothersome, but after they believe into the Lord, they will appreciate us. Not only so, we should believe in the Lord’s word, which says that all those whom we lead to salvation will be our crown (Phil. 4:1; 1 Thes. 2:19). In that day when the righteous receive a reward, many people will welcome them into the kingdom in joy (Luke 16:9 cf. 14:13-14). However, if we never lead even one person to salvation, when the Lord comes back, no one will greet us, but others will have a group of believers, saying, “We were led to salvation by this one.” How shameful that will be!
Some may say that it is blessed to have children, but those who have children know that our children often provoke us to anger. In Chinese the phrase fu-chi (blessed) is composed of two words: fu (blessing) and chi (anger). If we lead people to salvation, these spiritual children give us only fu (blessing) and no chi (anger). Our children in the flesh give us both blessing and anger, but our spiritual children give us only blessing, not anger. I rejoice that I have received the Lord’s mercy to serve Him. Now on the six main continents there are brothers and sisters who were saved because of me. They are truly my joy, and they do not provoke me to anger. If all the older brothers and sisters could preach the gospel full time after their retirement, they would save at least three to five people in one year. Is such a thought not enough to make all the older brothers and sisters happy?
I am very happy to see three generations of the same family in the church. When I was preaching the gospel in Taipei, there was a brother who was in his twenties. When I was preaching the gospel in America, I saw him with his son, daughter-in-law, and his grandson; three generations in the church life. Two years ago we had a big reunion in Anaheim. Many families of three generations attended the gathering. When I led them to salvation, they were still single, but now three generations are in the church. My heart was full of joy when I saw them, because they are blessed by the gospel I preached.
I have traveled to more than thirty countries ever since I began serving the Lord. In every place I saw Chinese people. One person said he was baptized in Chefoo, and another person said he was saved through a message I gave in Shanghai. The Bible says, “He who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” (John 4:36). Paul also says, “My brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown” (Phil. 4:1). Those whom we lead to salvation are our joy today, and when the Lord returns, they will be our crown. The children who are saved through us are more precious and valuable than the children of our flesh.
Therefore, I encourage all the saints to bear the responsibility of preaching the gospel. Even though you do not serve full time or part time, you should try your best to preach the gospel to your acquaintances and your fellow workers. We must all rise up to be active and preach the gospel in the community. This is the way that we can double our number every year. May we all call on the Lord and pray.
