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Concerning the general condition of the churches in Taiwan, we have not seen much growth in the number of people for many years. I have been studying the reasons for this, and I know that the elders in every locality are very faithful and that the co-workers are working diligently. In recent years there has also been no turmoil in Taiwan, and the churches are experiencing peace and tranquility. Generally speaking, the condition is quite good; there is no confusion or corruption. We have also built more meeting halls. When we started our work in Taiwan, many meeting halls were quite shabby and spartan, but now they are very nice. We have made much progress in this material aspect but not in terms of the number of people. Although we baptize many each year, we do not see any increase in the church, and if there is some increase, the rate is very slow.
Therefore, I feel deeply perplexed. When the brothers went to the United States to fellowship with me, I mentioned this problem many times and hoped that they would conduct a thorough study into the reasons behind it. I told the brothers that the work could not be done in this way and that they needed to change their direction. Furthermore, the work has produced hardly any full-timers. This is a major shortage and indicates that, in principle, we have made a great mistake.
The lack of increase in the churches cannot be explained in a few words. Nonetheless, from statistics we know that the work in Taiwan in the past was effective. Consider the church in Taichung. After I visited all the places from south to north in 1949, the brothers in Taichung were encouraged to start meeting. By 1953 Taichung had a meeting hall that could accommodate two hundred people. At that time over one hundred people attended the Lord’s Day meeting. If we started with one hundred people as the base and had a ten percent increase each year, the number would now be two thousand one hundred. If there had been a twenty percent increase each year, there would be thirty-four thousand people. However, the number of attendees now meeting in the church in Taichung on the Lord’s Day is about seven to eight hundred. Without knowing these statistics, we would think that the current number is not bad. However, these statistics completely expose our condition; there has indeed been a great failure.
Our failure is not because we have not preached the gospel. Even though we are not particularly zealous in the matter of the gospel, we still preach the gospel and bring many to salvation. In Taichung at least fifty to one hundred people are baptized each year. However, not many remain. Our capacity to recover people is also very weak. This shows that even though we have given birth to many children, our “survival rate” is low. It is easy to assume that the elders have not been faithful in their responsibilities. However, we must admit that the elders in each locality have been very faithful. If this is the case, why has there been no manifestation of the function of supporting and retaining people? I have considered this matter in a detailed way before the Lord, and I have found several reasons for this.
The first mistake we have made is the centralization of authority in practice. The elders have no problem in terms of faithfulness, but because they want to be faithful, they make the mistake of centralizing authority. If we study the Bible, we can see no practice of centralizing authority in God’s New Testament economy. We saw this point very clearly with Brother Nee. There was no centralization of authority with Brother Nee. In my eighteen years of working with him, he condemned the centralization of the elders’ authority. In both his public speaking and private talks, there was no regard for the centralization of authority.
In God’s New Testament economy the apostles’ authority was not centralized. At the beginning of Acts, it seems as if Peter was taking the lead. However, God did not centralize any authority on him. By chapter 15 James’s speaking seemed to be even stronger than Peter’s. Paul was also raised up. According to human logic, Paul should have become Peter’s and James’s subordinate, but the Bible does not indicate this. It says only that Peter, James, and John gave him the right hand of fellowship (Gal. 2:9). Peter, James, and John were commissioned by God to be apostles among the Jews, whereas Paul went to the Gentiles (vv. 7-9); there was no such thing as one person ruling over another. In the New Testament there is no thought of the centralization of authority.
Because we have seen this light, everyone in the small groups should fully function; there is no need for a “convener.” Acts 1 shows that the one hundred twenty were not gathered together by a leader. There is no emphasis on a leader in Acts 1. Even when certain ones were appointed to take care of the need for serving tables, no convener was appointed (6:1-6). Although Paul speaks about the appointment of elders in his Epistles, he does not speak of a “chief elder.” This practice was contrary to the practice in society. With any organization in society, there is a board of directors, an executive committee, an elected chairman, and a convener as well as superiors and subordinates. In the Bible, however, there is absolutely no such thing. When the church was established in the early days, the largest church, the church in Jerusalem, was merely a local church. It had no centralized authority to control other churches. This is unlike the Roman Catholic Church with its centralized authority and its hierarchy with the pope as its head.
Although we have clear light concerning this matter, when it comes to practice, a centralization of authority exists unconsciously because the elders in every locality are faithful, but this annuls the functions of the saints. For example, the number of regular attendees in the meetings of the church in Taipei is about four to five thousand. In the past there were only ten elders. How can ten elders take care of four to five thousand? Therefore, we appointed the brothers who were serving as deacons to be elders, and forty-six were added. However, it is still difficult for these elders to properly take care of four to five thousand people, and if we are unable to take care of them properly, they will lose their function. Eventually, they will fall through the cracks, and by the time they have stopped coming to the meetings, no one will even notice or show concern. During normal times the elders and co-workers are very busy maintaining the meetings, including message meetings and the bread-breaking meeting. If they are also taking care of all the saints, they will not have the strength. Thus, centralizing authority annuls the function of the saints.
If we want to resolve the problem of the number of people in the church as indicated by the statistics, the elders have to let go of their responsibilities. Authority is centralized because the elders do not feel comfortable handing things over to other brothers; they are concerned that others might not handle them properly. As a result, matters remain in the hands of the elders. This is like a father having several sons. When the sons are younger than twelve or thirteen, it is proper for the father to bear more responsibility, but as they grow up, the father should gradually put matters into their hands. We have not followed this principle. When I was in the United States, the brothers from Taipei fellowshipped with me about the need for more elders, but then the brothers would consider this brother or that brother as being unqualified. In the end they maintained the situation of having just five to six elders. This has become an old practice that is hard to overcome; it has been unresolved for many years.
Paul went to Lystra and Derbe to preach the gospel (Acts 14:6-7). On his way back, he went to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, and he appointed elders in every church (vv. 21, 23). People who had been saved for less than a year were appointed as elders. Paul was rich in life, and his ministry was strong; the persons whom he led to salvation no doubt grew quickly in life. This is an undeniable fact: he preached the gospel, raised up churches, and before long, appointed elders. There is no excuse for the brothers, who have served in Taiwan for thirty years, being unable to appoint more elders.
After I saw this shortcoming, I made a bold suggestion that there should be elders in each of the twenty-one halls in Taipei and that there should be at least two in each hall. The brothers accepted my leading and arranged to have forty-six new elders. Generally speaking, after about three months, I feel that these elders are qualified. Although the situation of the church in every locality may not be the same as the church in Taipei, it is the same in principle.
The brothers who are serving as elders should have the faith and courage to entrust others with their responsibilities. The mistake that we made in the past was an overcentralization of authority of the elders, based on overtrusting ourselves and not regarding others as meeting the “standard.” Now we must shift responsibilities to other brothers, entrusting matters to them. Although not a hundred percent will succeed, at least eighty percent will; we cannot refuse to make changes out of a fear of encountering a little trouble. Each small group should be a unit with eight to ten people taking care of each other. If we divide the responsibilities in this way, we will be able to keep everyone who comes to our meetings, and when someone does not come to the meetings, we can easily visit him. Furthermore, if someone encounters any problem and needs help, the members in the small group do not have to wait for the church to make arrangements. Everyone will spontaneously care for one another in love and support each other. In this way everyone will love one another, and everyone will function like members in the human body.
The New Testament does not teach that elders are higher than others. In Matthew 20 the Lord clearly said, “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (vv. 25-28). As early as the nineteenth century, the brothers in the Brethren saw this light and practiced it accordingly. There was no hierarchy among them; people therefore called them “the Brethren.” We also practice this way, but it is a pity that, in effect, there is still the matter of rank among us; this is a big mistake.
In 1 Peter 5:3 Peter says that the elders should not lord it over their allotments but should become patterns of the flock. This shows that Peter learned from others. To be an elder is to be a pattern to the believers and not to lord it over the believers. Lording it over in Greek is the verbal form of the word lord. Peter meant that the elders should not be the lord of the brothers and sisters; rather, the elders should be servants. This truth is clear among us, but in reality the elders have virtually become a special class.
Some saints have even told me that they are afraid to go see an elder. They have to summon their courage when they knock on the door of the elders’ room. We should never give the brothers and sisters an impression that the elders are a special class, because this annuls the saints’ function. People outside the church regard elders as leaders, and we do not blame them for having this thought, but we should not have this thought in the church. For example, the elders can clean, just as the young people can clean. When I was in Chefoo, I took the lead to clean the toilets. The elders do not necessarily have to clean the toilets, but this does not mean that the elders are exempt from cleaning. Sometimes the elders need to take the lead to clean the toilets in order to be patterns of the flock. In everything in the church life, elders should take the lead, even in cleaning.
The centralization of authority is contrary to the practice of everyone functioning. At the beginning of Acts, the saints met from house to house, continuing steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers (2:46, 42). This kind of practice was not limited to the apostles; rather, everyone could break bread and pray. After three thousand were saved, they met from house to house and broke bread; no permission was required. They did not practice the centralization of authority. Our practice should not be in the way of the elders “governing” and the saints “watching” from the side.
To advance in the practice of the small groups, we have not made any arrangements for centralizing authority, nor have we appointed conveners or leaders. Consequently, I have seen many people manifest their functions. The elders should let go, allowing the brothers to work on the small groups. The elders should pass responsibilities to the saints. In the building up of the church, the base is the small groups; the building up is in each and every house. The elders must let go in this aspect. In worldly terms, this is “giving authority back to the people.” We should not centralize authority in the hands of the elders. Those who have been saved among us do not remain, because elders are limited in being able to care for the saints. If responsibilities are passed to the small groups, each group will take care of its new ones.
The second mistake that we have made is neglecting to produce full-timers. Consider the church in Taipei. The number of those who attend at least one meeting a week is about nine thousand. If one full-timer is produced for every twenty saints, we should have more than four hundred full-timers. However, presently, there are less than one hundred. In the matter of producing full-timers, our concept is too spiritual. We think that as long as the brothers and sisters have been saved, the Holy Spirit will spontaneously lead them. Thus, we think that encouraging them to take action is wrong. This attitude is too spiritual; it is not appropriate. In spiritual matters we must compel others in the same way that we preach the gospel. If an unbeliever cannot see the preciousness of the gospel when we preach, we do not think that we have fulfilled our duty simply by introducing the gospel to him and that we need to do nothing more. If we adopted this attitude, not many people would be saved. When we preach the gospel, we compel others as much as we can. This is why so many are saved every year. We should be like this in leading others to become spiritual. For example, we cannot lead someone to read the Bible by telling him that the Bible is very precious but that whether he reads it or not is up to him. This attitude cannot perfect people. In the matter of serving full time, we should lead the saints just as we would lead them to be saved and to read the Bible. However, we have neglected this matter, and we have not led too many people to serve the Lord full time.
For example, there are over one hundred twenty college graduates in the church in Taipei this year. The brothers gathered them together and encouraged them to serve full time, and as a result, dozens of them responded. Are these responses the work of the Holy Spirit or of human encouragement? If we say that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, why has this not happened in the past? On one hand, we need the work of the Holy Spirit; on the other hand, we need man’s coordination. If we do not preach the gospel, sinners will not be saved no matter how hard the Holy Spirit works. There must be people who preach the gospel in coordination with the work of the Holy Spirit, and then sinners will be saved.
When we preach the gospel and pray, we sincerely hope that people would receive the blessing. If we do not do this, the Holy Spirit cannot work to touch people that they may receive salvation. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit works to touch people; on the other hand, we ask people to receive the blessing. Thus, we cannot say that our asking is completely the work of man. Whether a person will be saved depends on the work of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit works and man coordinates, a sinner can receive grace and be saved. The work of the Holy Spirit together with man’s coordination is the proper way.
In the Old Testament the tribe of Levi served the Lord full time and was supported by the eleven other tribes. In the New Testament, among the one hundred twenty who gathered together in Acts 1, there were twelve full-time apostles (vv. 13-26). Thus, there were nine saints supporting one full-timer. The sending of Western missionaries to the Far East by European and American groups in the past two hundred years was quite flourishing, and the gospel was spread to every continent. Among them was a group that would send out one for every twenty people. If we adopted this ratio of producing one full-timer for every twenty believers among us, at least thirty-five full-timers would be produced out of the seven to eight hundred people now meeting in the church in Taichung. If we had thirty-five full-timers, we could definitely do something. Presently, however, we do not have a sufficient number of full-timers; we owe the Lord more full-timers.
The third mistake that we have made has been to use material things inappropriately. Speaking in terms of the entire island of Taiwan, the Lord has greatly blessed our economy; it is prosperous in every aspect. In the same way our offerings have increased. However, we have used these riches to build meeting halls and to refurbish meeting halls. We should use less money on meeting halls and more on supporting full-timers.
Today the church in Taiwan has become richer, and the furniture in some of the meeting halls is very elegant. Frankly, I really hope that we could “peel away the gold” in order to support the full-timers in preaching the gospel in the villages. There should be some principles regarding the furnishings of our meeting halls: they should be plain, simple, practical, neat, and not too worldly. We should teach the brothers and sisters to use money properly—to offer it for the full-timers to preach the gospel. If our money is not used in this way and no one goes out, the gospel will not be spread.
According to statistics, about ten persons are added to the church in Taichung each year; this is a failure because we do not have enough full-timers. I am concerned that our support of the full-timers is also insufficient. The brothers and sisters love the Lord and have offered their riches, but the offerings have been used for building meeting halls. What a pity! The elders have an important responsibility to bring the brothers and sisters back to the correct path. The elders should teach the brothers and sisters that they should not spend their money on daily necessities, according to a worldly view. For example, in purchasing a car, they should only consider whether it is practical and safe so that they can save some money to offer to the Lord to support the living of the full-timers.
The elders should also teach the brothers and sisters to accept the burden of offering themselves up to serve the Lord full time; only by doing this will the Lord have a way to go on. On the one hand, the church should raise up full-timers; on the other hand, full-timers should work for the Lord according to their burden. When I started serving full time, no one promised to support me. I made a determination that I wanted to serve the Lord for my whole life, even if I had to drink water from the mountains or eat tree roots. Thank the Lord for His mercy! A full-timer should have this kind of spirit: “If the church supports me, I thank the Lord; if the church does not support me, I will not complain. I deserve to starve; I even deserve to die.” This should be our attitude. The saints in the church should endeavor to provide support, and the full-timers should endeavor to spread the gospel. In this way the gospel will flourish.
I am burdened for these three principles: the elders should entrust their responsibilities to others; more full-timers should be produced, and the money that has been offered should be used for the right purposes. In this way our numbers will definitely increase, the churches will prosper, and much more, the gospel will be spread to the towns and villages throughout Taiwan. Presently, there are still many places in Taiwan without a church, in some places only a few attend the meetings, and there is no care from the full-timers. However, if the brothers strive to adhere to these principles, I believe that our gospel preaching will be more widespread and more prevailing.
If the elders turn over responsibilities to the saints and if the practice of the small groups is strong, we will be able to hold and keep people. Furthermore, producing full-timers and using the offerings from the saints correctly will cause the gospel to be spread widely. According to our present situation, the brothers and sisters love the Lord, pursue the Lord, and enjoy the Lord by eating and drinking Him, but the number of saints in the church and the number of serving ones have not increased. Eventually, we will not be able to expand or survive. At best, we will only be able to maintain the status quo.
I am like a doctor making a diagnosis. If we want to cure our sickness, we have to work on these three aspects. I hope that all of us would accept this fellowship. If we accept it, we will have a way out. Having seen this vision and bearing this burden, I have made the determination to work this out in Taiwan. This cannot be achieved through human exhortation. Everything depends on seeing a vision. In Taiwan there is law and order: transportation is convenient, education is universal, and the economy is booming. All these factors are one hundred percent favorable for the preaching of the gospel. With such a good environment we have no reason to not spread the gospel. Taiwan is a small island; the transportation network extends to every place, and there are many people before our eyes. It seems as if we do not even have to cast a net; the fish are jumping around our feet. May we all see a vision, receive a burden from the Lord, and preach the gospel extensively so that we can give an account to the Lord when we see Him.
Question: Should we ask the saints to offer directly to an individual or to indicate that it is for full-timers?
Answer: We have to be clear that there is no such guidance or regulation in the New Testament. The brothers and sisters have to fellowship with the Lord, receive guidance, and then make an offering. At the very least, they should offer one-tenth, as practiced in the Old Testament. Although I am a full-timer, I practice setting aside a certain percentage for God, and whenever I have the Lord’s leading, I offer more. Most of the offerings from the brothers and sisters will be allocated for the recurring expenditures of the church. If we have the Lord’s leading, we may designate the offering for the full-timers; then it cannot be treated as an offering for the recurring expenditures of the church.
We have much experience in the church life, so we do not wish to do things through centralized authority, nor do we wish to centralize administration. Our desire is that a local church that produces a full-timer would provide for the living expenses of that full-timer. This is not to say that a salary will be paid by a local church. For instance, if we know that a certain full-timer is about to get married or to go to a new place to spread the gospel, we can make an offering if we receive a burden in our prayer. The majority of the regular offerings from the brothers and sisters is for the recurring expenses of the church, and we should let the church decide how to use the offerings. Apart from this, there is also a need for special matters. For example, the church in Taipei is building a big meeting hall and needs to spend a large amount of money. With the Lord’s leading, I hope that all of us would make a special offering.
It seems as if God keeps “imposing a tax” on us, but this is based on His need. Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring the whole tithe to the storehouse that there may be food in My house; and prove Me, if you will, by this, says Jehovah of hosts, whether I will open to you the windows of heaven and pour out blessing for you until there is no room for it.” Although we have offered a great deal, we still have an abundance; this is according to God and His sovereignty. He is the source of blessings.
When the church is in a normal condition, all the responsibilities will be passed to the saints, full-timers will be produced, and offerings from the saints will meet every need; then God’s blessings will come. He will definitely bless us; He will bless each and every aspect, and His blessings will be lasting.
Question: We have over two hundred saints on the list in our locality, but in reality, only thirty to forty saints attend the meetings. How should we advance?
Answer: We should endeavor to advance the small groups, even having love feasts for fellowship. The primary thing is to recover those who have not come to the meetings for a long time. If we push forward enthusiastically, we could very easily recover half of the two hundred saints on the list. It is also necessary to produce full-timers, and the offerings from the saints should be able to meet this need. By following these principles, the number of people in each locality will increase, and the gospel will spread.
The small groups must become the base of the church; the elders should not be regarded as the base of the church. The elders in every locality should endeavor to pass responsibilities to the small groups so that all the brothers and sisters will become responsible. In the small groups we can recover the dormant saints, we can lead the new ones, and much more, we can preach the gospel. There should be words of the gospel in the small group meetings. This kind of preaching does not have to be long; everyone can coordinate to speak a few words, and this can easily bring people to salvation. In order to hold and keep people through the small groups, we need to shepherd, teach, visit, and take care of people. When the number in a group increases, it can be divided into two groups, and each group can continue to take care of its own members. Then everyone in the church will be taken care of, every saint will bear responsibility, and everyone will function.
