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Recently, before a home meeting the saints prepared to share with a new believer concerning reading the Bible. As they were reading the lesson on reading the Bible in Life Lessons together with the new believer, they came to the portion in 2 Peter 1:21, which says, “No prophecy was ever borne by the will of man, but men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit.” At this juncture the new believer asked, “What is the Holy Spirit?” The saints shared a little with her about God being triune, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then after they sang a hymn concerning the Triune God being a mystery, her question seemed to have been satisfied, so they continued to read the lesson. A little later she raised another question, “Why is it that God will not save people, even good people, unless they come to Him?” On returning home the saints did not feel that they had adequately responded to her questions and wondered how they could have answered her questions in a better way.
These saints realized that the purpose of the home meeting was to feed the new believer, but they should have grasped the opportunity to help this new believer to know the Holy Spirit. Since this was a question raised by the new believer, the saints should have left the topic of reading the Bible for another time and focused wholly on her question. It also would have been better not to have asked the new believer to sing at this point, because other points introduced by the hymn may have become a distraction in answering her question. The saints might have begun by saying, “Sister, this is our burden in coming to meet with you. We would like to help you to know that the God whom we worship and the Savior in whom we believe is a Spirit, and this Spirit is the Holy Spirit.” Then they could have spent as much time as possible to stress the matter of the Holy Spirit.
Immediately after someone is baptized, we should help the new believer to know the two spirits — the Holy Spirit mingled with our human spirit. In this case the new believer asked a question concerning the Spirit; therefore, the saints did not have to introduce this matter. It would have been good for the saints to use the entire home meeting to bring the new believer into the realization that God is Spirit (John 4:24) and that Christ is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). However, saying that the Triune God is a mystery was going too far, distracting from the main matter of the Holy Spirit.
We must learn to go to the home meetings with a definite purpose. But at the same time we must be quick to grasp the opportunity when a proper question or subject is manifested in the meeting. If the saints would have done an adequate job of answering the new one’s first question concerning the Holy Spirit, she would have been happy and perhaps would have forgotten about the second question. The second question, concerning why God will not save men unless they come to Him, may have been a question to distract from the main goal of the meeting. The strategy of the enemy is to spoil the work in the home meetings by distracting us from the goal. We must always bring the meeting back to the goal of our purpose.
A brother spoke to a new believer over the telephone because the new believer had missed a meeting, and he did not want to allow too much time to pass between the time of the new one’s salvation and the next appointment or meeting. In their conversation the new believer asked why there was a difference between the two accounts of creation in chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis. Since it was a telephone conversation and the subject required some time to adequately address, the brother asked the new believer to study the chapters some more with a view of meeting together to discuss these matters further in the next home meeting. The brother wondered how to answer the new believer’s question.
While it is very reasonable to discuss such a topic at a later time, we must grasp every minute to inject, to minister, something of life and truth into the new believers in taking care of them. To have taken two or three minutes to say something about Genesis 1 and 2 would have helped to improve the telephone conversation.
To answer his question concerning the difference between Genesis 1 and 2, you should first point out that Genesis 1 is the outline of creation, and Genesis 2 is the details of that outline. Genesis 1:26 says that God created man in His own image according to His likeness. Then chapter 2 gives the details of God’s creation of man. God used two materials in creating man, the dust and God’s breath (v. 7). God used the dust of the ground to form man’s body, and He used His breath of life to create the human spirit within man. Thus, today we have a body and a spirit. With this short word, you would help the new brother to know something concerning these two chapters. Then you could suggest to him that the two of you come together some time soon to talk about this matter further.
When we share any subject with the new believers, we must keep in mind that they are newborn babes (1 Pet. 2:2a; 1 Cor. 3:1b); therefore, we should feed them with baby food. In order to make our work effective, we must learn how to feed others and what portions to give them. To feed a babe with the writings of Paul may be too deep in the beginning. Our contact with new believers as babes involves two different aspects. The first aspect deals with their human education or learning. If one is a professor, we should not talk to him in a babyish way, otherwise, he may think that we despise him. We should treat him as a learned person, a scholar. The second aspect deals with their spiritual condition and age. According to human learning, they may know science, philosophy, or psychology, but according to spiritual understanding, they are babes, not knowing the spiritual things. Therefore, we have to help them as ones who know nothing spiritually. For example, we may point out to them Genesis 1:26 and 2:7 and stress the matters of man being made in God’s image according to His likeness and being formed from the dust with God breathing into him the spirit of life. We should stress these two things again and again, treating them as babes, feeding them with these deeper things in the form of baby food. Baby food is very rich in nutrition, but its quantity and form make it easy for babes to digest.
Sometimes the new believers may ask you to engage in their sports activities. In principle, you should first determine whether or not you have the time. Then you should decide whether or not your intention is to be with that new believer or to participate in the sports activity. If you simply want to engage in the sports activity, you have fallen into another realm. Your burden should be to seize the opportunity to spend time with the new believer in order to talk with him, perhaps to and from the sporting activity. If you do not have the time to do this but want to spend some time with the new believer, you may suggest another time to get together with him. He may want to spend time with you, but you should not spend yourself or your time in a vain manner. Whenever you spend time with the new believers, you should take the opportunity to render some help to them spiritually.
Before visiting the new ones in the home meetings, some time should be given for preparation. In that time of preparation there should be some fellowship among the members of the visiting team concerning the goal of the home meeting. You should not go to the home meetings without a definite purpose. Of course, you should not make your purpose a legality, without any flexibility. However, regardless of how flexible you are, you must have a purpose with a goal.
The way we care for a home meeting — the hymns we sing and the verses we read — should be according to the particular atmosphere of that home meeting. To begin a home meeting by singing a hymn without raising up a proper atmosphere is to practice a religious way. To just sing a hymn is something of religion. To our general understanding, to open a meeting with a song is not wrong. But according to our recent learning and practice over the last few years, this kind of practice is wrong. This religious practice may only confirm the new one’s past understanding of Christianity.
The way we open a meeting must be living and spontaneous, free from any kind of religion. Whether we pray, call a hymn, open the Scriptures, or ask the new one to speak something, we must do it in a living way, having prepared the atmosphere. It may be that before a certain hymn is sung, one of the brothers or sisters may first read something from the Word. The other attendants may feel to reread this portion of the Word. Then someone may expound this portion of the Word with one or two sentences. Following this, there may be some pray-reading of this portion. To finish this kind of reading may take ten minutes. Such reading will impress the new one with something living and prepare him for getting into the hymn. In this way his participation is something more than merely singing a hymn.
Whatever we do in all kinds of meetings must be living, stirring, and something that the Spirit can use to inspire and unveil something to people concerning the mystery of God. We should do nothing merely as a religious activity. To help people to be revived or to love the Bible can also be a religious activity, which is common in Christianity. This kind of work is very general. But to read and sing a hymn such as Hymns, #537 concerning Christ being so subjective would impress a new believer in a particular way. To stress that Christ is subjective is something really new to Christians in Christianity. Christ is not only a historical person who is merely objective; rather, the Christ who is our Savior is so subjective. To help a new one with such a particular subject is to care for the home meetings in a living, stirring, and unveiling way, free from any religion.
The new way is something living and altogether outside of religion. The new way is unveiling, revealing, and inspiring. The new way is not a work in the style or form of any type of religion. It is something altogether in the reality of life. When you minister Christ, stressing His being subjective, not only will the new one receive some help, but also those who are taking care of the home meeting with you will receive some help.
In a recent campus meeting, although a new brother had received some help from the practice of calling on the name of the Lord, he asked how calling on the name of the Lord is different from the feeling one receives when repeating a motto such as, “Don’t quit” or “Never give up.”
Perhaps the best way to help this new brother is simply to encourage him never to quit calling on the name of the Lord, to encourage him to contact the Lord all day long. The best way to help the new believers is just to take their words and speak something definite and particular to them according to their need. In this case, you may say, “Brother, don’t quit contacting the Lord. Don’t quit remaining in the spirit. Don’t quit calling on the Lord. Don’t refrain from all of these positive things.” When we use their words and leave them with something positive, this can inspire them, impress them, and keep them in the atmosphere, the spirit, of the fellowship in that meeting.
Some saints were meeting with a new believer who had recently quit his job. In caring for this new one, one of the brothers offered to help him write a resume in order to find a new job. The brother also felt that the new one needed some help concerning the matter of authority but was unsure how to share this matter and remain in the realm of feeding a babe in Christ.
In this case it would be better not to touch the problem of his employment. To help him do something about his employment would simply immerse him further in that problem. The brother caring for this new believer should stress the matter of contacting the Lord and turning to the spirit. Our work among people is in the spiritual realm. This brother should try to bring the new believer into the spiritual realm, into the experience of the Lord’s presence, and into His rich anointing.
A group of saints have been visiting a new couple for several weeks. The couple is very open to these saints, but they still remain unbaptized. They have asked very basic questions about such items as the human spirit, so the saints have just answered their questions. Upon their last visit, the couple asked the saints what the Lord required them to do as Christians. Knowing that they were still unbaptized, the saints brought them to John 3:5 concerning baptism. The couple responded that they were not ready and that they needed to learn more about the Bible first. At that time, the saints felt not to press them any further concerning baptism. But now they wonder what the next step should be in helping this family to go on with the Lord.
These saints have been a little too general in their care of these new believers, not having taken any definite steps to help them. When the couple asked what the Lord requires His believers to do, this was the golden time to baptize them. At this point the saints could have presented Mark 16:16, which says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Then they could have pointed out to them that this is a word out of the Lord’s mouth. They could have said, “This word in Mark 16:16 urges us to believe and be baptized. You have surely believed already, and therefore, you are saved. But you are still not baptized. Today you raised the question, ‘What does the Lord require Christians to do?’ After reading this verse, you should tell us what you should do.” At this juncture they might say, “We have to be baptized.” In this way the saints would have helped this couple to be baptized. We should not force people to do things, but to a certain extent we should compel people to take the word of the Lord.
When we go to work in the home meetings, we should always have a definite purpose. The main purpose of the home meetings is to nourish the new believers, but each mother who nourishes her new baby does so with a definite goal. The kind of nourishment a mother uses depends upon the situation of the baby. To nourish the new believers without any purpose is to run the risk of damaging their spiritual health in the long run.
In six months of taking care of the home meetings in a weekly way, you should mainly try to help the new believers according to the lessons in Life Lessons. Of course, you cannot finish all forty-eight lessons in only twenty or so weeks. But as those caring for the home meetings, we should become acquainted with all forty-eight lessons. The book Life Lessons was written according to the sequence of Christian experience, not according to doctrine. Yet these lessons should not be taught as a textbook. You should put these forty-eight lessons within your heart, becoming very familiar with their content. Then as you prepare to go to the home meetings, you will have a deep sensation concerning which point you need to work into the new ones by feeding them. Your purpose and goal may be to help the new brothers to know and experience their regenerated spirit. But when you arrive at the home meeting, the atmosphere and the real need may be altogether different. The urgent need may be to share with them something about dealing with idols. To postpone this matter another week would be too late. Therefore, you must put aside the matter of the human spirit and immediately pick up the matter of dealing with idols. By sharing this matter, you cover another one of the forty-eight lessons on that visit.
On your next visit you may still have the human spirit as your goal in feeding the new ones. The atmosphere, however, may still not be for the human spirit. It may be on knowing the Bible. With such an atmosphere, to insist on discharging your burden concerning the human spirit would be something of legality. It would also be wrong. You must fit into the situation, sensing the atmosphere and giving a word concerning the Bible, the divine revelation. By doing this, you spontaneously cover another lesson among the forty-eight. You may not have used a copy of the book Life Lessons, but you covered one of its lessons. By doing this again and again, you will eventually cover each lesson in the book in a living and flexible way according to the situation.
To work in the home meetings is to nourish the new believers with the baby food contained in the Life Lessons. Each lesson is like a jar of baby food. You should keep each lesson in the “pocket” of your heart. Then whenever there is a need, like a medical doctor after the diagnosis, you are able to meet any patient’s need. You not only know what medicine to prescribe but also will have the medicine on hand to give to them. We have to nourish the babes with baby food.
We should not conduct the home meetings in an aimless way. We should always conduct the home meetings with the aim of injecting one of the Life Lessons into the new believers. We may not be able to finish all forty-eight lessons with one new believer in six months, but we may be able to complete at least twenty within that period of time. The material contained in one lesson may be too much for one injection, but we must realize that each lesson is like a “basket of peaches.” Perhaps only a portion of the basket is needed for the new believer we are caring for. We must feed the new believers according to their need.
For many years in the churches, we have suffered loss for two reasons. We did not feed people in home meetings, and we did not know how to feed people. In the past someone may have been baptized, and we may have had the burden to visit him, but after several visits we lost interest because we did not know what to do, and there was little result. Likewise, the new believer we visited had little interest in continuing to receive our visits. We all must learn to do the work of home meetings to nourish the new believers with baby food.
From 1940 to 1943 in the church in Chefoo, I began to learn how to visit the homes and how to take care of new believers. Now I am just opening some doors for you to learn as much as you can. In this training, I am simply opening the doors and giving directions for you to go and learn more. Gradually, day after day, as we take care of two or three new believers year-round, we will bear two or three remaining fruit yearly into the church life. In the course of our lifetime, we may bring one hundred to one hundred fifty into the church life. Be assured that when we enter into the eternal tabernacles (Luke 16:9), these one hundred to one hundred fifty will welcome us. What a wonderful life this is! Doing the work of nourishing the believers in the home meetings builds the church and helps us to know what it means to be built up with others.
