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The book of Acts shows that the saints in the early church life not only came together for big meetings but also met from house to house in small gatherings (2:46; 5:42). Today some saints cannot come to the meetings very often because of their work or responsibilities, yet they still love the Lord and long to have fellowship with the saints. Hence, the small group meetings are an excellent way to allow saints who cannot come to the meeting hall to have small group meetings in their homes during the week. Although the Catholic Church is inadequate in many ways, some of their methods are worth imitating. For example, when someone is hospitalized and cannot take mass at the church, a priest will bring the bread to the hospital. They even have priests stationed within a hospital. They are very accommodating.
In principle, regardless of the size of the church, every saint should function. Based on our observation, however, fewer than half of the saints currently function. This causes the church to suffer loss. If the saints in Taipei would be like the believers in the early church in Jerusalem, who were persecuted and scattered to many places, their function would come forth. The saints’ function cannot completely come forth because we have a certain way of doing things, a system or an atmosphere, that prevents this.
Large joint meetings are a problem. If the church life continues to rely on big meetings with all the saints, the saints’ function will be limited. In order to achieve the effect that comes from spreading, that of enabling everyone to function, we need the small groups. Small groups are very useful, and much can be done with them. I believe that after getting into the practice of the small groups, the number in the church in Taipei will double. If everyone is in one accord and promotes this appropriately, the number may even triple. The number of those who regularly meet is currently three thousand. If the small groups are promoted, by the end of the year there should be ten thousand in various small groups.
I am not saying that we cannot have large meetings in the church life but that our church life should mainly be in small groups in the homes, not relying on the meeting hall. Perhaps, every one or two months there could be a large meeting in the meeting hall or in a rented public space. The book of Acts speaks of the saints in Jerusalem meeting in the temple and from house to house (2:46). The temple was a large public space, similar to sports venues today. The early saints met in the temple and from house to house. We should not follow Christianity by paying attention only to big meetings but not to small group meetings. If we continue to meet corporately without the small groups, we will become like other religious groups. In the big meetings, everyone’s function is obliterated, but in the small group meetings, a religious atmosphere will be killed, and everyone will be able to function.
We should have two aspects related to meeting: on a continual basis, we should take the way of meeting from house to house in small group meetings, and on special occasions, we should meet together in large groups. This touches the matter of system. Although we do not have organization, in practice we have a system, without which there would be chaos. If our current system is carried out in a small church, the ability for everyone to function would not be an issue. However, it is worth studying whether or not this system is suitable for a church as large as Taipei. We are looking to the Lord for this. Not everything will be perfect right away, but the building up of the small groups is a necessary prerequisite. If the small groups are not built up in the large churches, there will be no way to go on.
Taipei has over twenty meeting halls; if we all meet together once a week, the meeting halls would not be able to hold everyone. If the halls, combined, can seat only eight thousand people, but ten thousand come to meet, two thousand saints would be left outside. If the activities of ten thousand saints are centered around twenty or so meeting halls, then only eight thousand can be fully accommodated. There is no hurry to have a large meeting hall in the next one or two years. Nevertheless, if the church has vision and foresight, it should buy more land and build a large meeting hall when the opportunity arises in the future.
In principle, we should gather the brothers and sisters who serve full time and part time. Then we should train these ones to coach others on how to have small groups. This is similar to playing ball. When no one knows how to play, there is a need for a coach to teach them. If we want three thousand brothers and sisters in the church in Taipei to play ball, some need to be able to coach them. When a coach teaches a ball team in school, he does not immediately select a captain. Rather, he arranges for everyone to take a turn. If someone becomes too tired, is injured, or is not so suitable, there can be a rearrangement and change in the grouping. In principle, carrying out the small groups should be the same; we should teach each group to “play ball” in their daily living so that every brother and sister can function. The small groups have many functions; they can support people, visit people, preach the gospel, and so forth. If the groups are established, the church can move forward in many matters. The church life will be effective only when the small groups are the foundation for moving forward. This will take much effort; even half a year may not be enough to do this thoroughly.
Training someone to be a coach takes time; if the brothers and sisters do not set aside time, they cannot be trained. Some, who are considered as serving part time, set apart time only after work; this understanding is not correct. A part-time worker should set apart half of his working hours. These trainings can be conducted only during the day; the evenings are not well suited for such a training. A training that focuses on coaches cannot be completed in just two weeks, and if we encounter problems in our practice, there will be the need for further perfecting. Based on our situation, the training must be done in real time; that is, we should give the serving brothers and sisters materials and train them on the topics to focus on in the small groups. Then they can help and teach others. When the small groups are not going well, they also need to know how to make adjustments. At least a year will be required in order to build up a proper atmosphere in the small group meetings. On one hand, the small group meetings allow the brothers and sisters to meet freely; on the other hand, they cannot be so free that there are no standards. Hence, we still need to give the brothers and sisters material and teach them how to use it.
The brothers and sisters serving full and part time are relatively young, but some members of the small groups may be older. We need to drop our old concepts related to age. Being a coach does not depend on whether one is young or old; it depends only on whether one can play ball. For example, if a person migrates to the United States, it does not matter whether he is seventy or eighty years old; he still needs to learn English, and those who teach him English are likely to be much younger. Furthermore, the younger ones who help with the small groups from a particular hall should not think that they cannot help a small group from another hall. Such a concept is incorrect and old, and it must be struck down. No matter how the small groups are conducted, the important thing is that everyone would blend.
The coaches should guide the members of the small groups, not lead them; their primary responsibility is to guide them in how to use the material. Currently, Taipei has four hundred small groups. If these groups meet once a week, within a year the situation in every group will improve. In this way everything will slowly get on track and become a common practice, and everyone will become familiar with the small group meetings. Then, as more groups are created in the future, there will not be a need for many coaches. We must break through our current predicament related to a lack of coaches. The full-timers, especially the senior co-workers, must train and perfect the members in the small groups.
Question: Based on our observation of the current situation, many people have not caught up with the new way. What should be done?
Answer: Our current practice is to have joint meetings in every hall, with one person speaking and everyone else listening. Although the saints are distributed among more than twenty meeting halls, there is still only one person speaking. In principle, this practice is no different from Christianity. The present way of reform is to enter completely into the practice of the small groups. The former system involved everyone assembling together with only a few doing the work; that is the way of Christianity. Presently, we need to work from the ground up, with everyone functioning by bringing all the saints into the small groups.
Since no one knows how to practice the small groups, it is necessary to perfect coaches to teach them. The coaches are not for leading but for teaching. With a ball team, teaching is different from leading. The coach on the team does not play; it is the members who play. Then members lead other members to play. The coach watches from the side and does not play on the field. Similarly, we need to train coaches to go to the small groups to help, train, and teach people, but we do not need them to lead on the field.
For the moment it is best to have as few joint meetings as possible. In view of the present environment, we do not have the facilities or a venue that is big enough. Furthermore, many brothers and sisters do not have time to attend joint meetings. We cannot blame them for not coming to the meetings. Instead, we should accommodate them and bring the meetings to their homes. When the saints do not attend the joint meetings because of various problems related to lack of facilities, transportation, or time, the church needs to exercise judgment and not insist that they come. In contrast, we should insist upon the practice of the small group meetings. Without joint meetings the church life can still exist, but without the small group meetings the church life will become empty. The small groups are the life pulse that sustains the church life. If the small groups are not practiced in a definite way, it will not matter whether or not there are big meetings.
Today the truth with us is abundant and rich. We are also doing quite well in the aspect of life, but the effect of this truth and life on the increase in the number of people in the church is not evident. We need to be humbled. During the twenty-eight years from 1956 to 1984, there was essentially no increase in Taiwan; instead, the number decreased. We had fifty to sixty churches in 1956, and after twenty-eight years we should have had three to five hundred churches. Regrettably, the current number of churches is small, and the condition of many of the churches is very poor. Normally, the church should make rapid progress, and one church after another should be produced. If the number of people last year was three thousand, it should be six thousand this year and twelve thousand next year. This should be the mark of our effectiveness. However, we do not have these results. The fruit trees in our orchard should be full of fruit, but our fruits are few, scattered, and of poor quality.
We cannot ignore the faithfulness and efforts of the brothers and sisters. In these twenty-eight years the Lord’s testimony has been maintained and is presentable. However, only in the aspect of the increase and spread is our lack exposed, and this is because of our incorrect practice. This deficiency is so great because our practice has become totally ineffective.
Question: Was there a rapid increase in the number of people in the first seven years in Taiwan because Brother Lee was personally taking the lead?
Answer: During those seven years, I was working and studying. In the beginning there was no meeting hall, but soon there was a meeting hall. We also did not begin by dividing into groups, but we did soon thereafter. This is similar to a business that cannot continue to use the old ways after five or six years. When a problem emerges, it must be resolved. At such a point, the business will study to improve. If we hold on to the old way, continuing in the way of joint meetings, there will be no improvement.
When we first began working for the Lord, we had no “family assets.” Christianity did not give us anything, and we did not see much of the truth in the Bible. Furthermore, we did not receive any spiritual support from the established denominations. We studied and learned everything on our own. Brother Nee was continually learning and improving. After coming to Taiwan, we also continually learned and never stopped advancing. In the beginning we followed what we had learned in mainland China and had some results, but not enough. We thus studied in order to improve. Even after I came to the United States, I worked with all my strength to study so that the Lord could have even more of a way.
Following the implementation of new immigration laws in the United States, many people migrated to the United States. I charged the brothers in Taiwan to train the brothers and sisters who were going abroad and to send us a list of their names so that there could be contact on both sides. However, the brothers did not do this. According to our typical Chinese character, we quickly pick up something but then drop it without doing a thorough work. I left Taiwan in the hands of the brothers because I was clear inwardly that there were family assets here as a foundation. If they had continued to lead the church in this way, the work would have been easy and effective. Nevertheless, things did not turn out this way.
It has been more than twenty years since I started the work in the United States. I received the burden to labor on the truth to produce the New Testament Life-study messages. Although Brother Nee released many truths, most of them were not printed in books. Furthermore, in discussions with him I knew that there were certain things that he wanted to do but lacked the opportunity. Brother Nee released many messages that were not printed in books. However, even with all the messages that he released, he did not have the opportunity to survey all the books of the New Testament. Even though we do have a part of Brother Nee’s riches, it is still inadequate.
If you have the heart and the diligence to study the truth, we have a set of books containing our knowledge of the Bible — a complete set of Life-studies covering all twenty-seven books of the New Testament. In recent years I put all my heart into this matter and thus had no feeling related to a burden for the care of the work in Taiwan. Although I live in Anaheim, I did not have time even to participate in the elders’ meetings of the church in Anaheim because I could not take care of so many different things. In any case, the Lord has been gracious to us because we have a set of books containing our knowledge of the Bible to complement the work of the Lord’s recovery.
In the past twenty-eight years in Taiwan, we have been standing on the foundation of the first seven years; we are maintaining but not progressing. As far as maintenance is concerned, we have been successful, but we have not progressed. Maintenance, however, is not the same as success. Although we have maintained the foundation, we still need to advance. Everything is in the Lord’s hands. If we had been progressing these twenty-eight years, I firmly believe that the whole island of Taiwan would have been evangelized. We would have two hundred thousand brothers and sisters with more than one hundred thousand young “soldiers” who could migrate and spread with some going to India, some going to Burma, and some going to Russia. Furthermore, this spread would be matched by material offerings. If the economic situation in Taiwan today were the same as in the Philippines or India, there would be no way to migrate, regardless of having a larger number of people. However, because of the Lord’s sovereignty, the government has produced a stable economy, and the present situation is certainly impressive. Because of the prosperous national economy and the population’s high income, brothers and sisters who could not offer a material supply can now offer such a supply. According to our current attendance of three thousand people, the monthly offering is approximately forty to fifty thousand U.S. dollars. If the number of people reached three hundred thousand, there would be over fifty million U.S. dollars a year, and there could be much spreading in the Lord’s work.
Although Taiwan is doing quite well in many aspects because of the government’s efforts and the civilians’ coordination, I absolutely believe that Taiwan’s blessing is because of the church. Between 1949 and 1950, the political situation in Taiwan was very tumultuous. At that time the church rose up to pray and was determined to preach the gospel widely. We printed tracts equal to the number of people in Taipei, that is, one tract for every person. Then we looked at maps and divided ourselves by districts and alleys. The brothers took the lead to distribute the gospel tracts to every street and alley and to every home. Moreover, we also printed gospel banners, and within a short time the big streets, small alleys, road intersections, train stations, and even the front doors of the saints’ homes were filled with gospel banners. Our gospel teams also preached in New Park and saved many people. Later, Taiwan’s political situation changed, and it received even more economic assistance. This situation was truly the Lord’s blessing. The Lord’s blessing is upon Taiwan because of the church.
