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The church is making a turn in its practice from corporate meetings involving all the saints to meetings in small groups. Corporate meetings involving all the saints are suitable in a small locality with about one hundred saints, because these meetings can meet the needs of the saints. But when the number in the meetings increases, the needs of the saints who are at different levels will be overlooked in meetings that involve all the saints. Even though human beings tend to be gregarious, we live in households as the basic unit; we do not live in groups. The strength of a country and the stability of its society depend on the household as its basic unit. If the household unit is destroyed, a society becomes corrupted and the country is weakened.
The principle is the same with the church. In the church the household is the basic unit. On the day of Pentecost three thousand people were saved (Acts 2:41). These new believers gathered in the temple and broke bread and prayed from house to house (vv. 42, 46). They needed to gather together so that the apostles could teach them. However, this was not enough; there was still the need for the believers to break bread and have mutual fellowship and prayer in their homes, that is, from house to house. By the end of chapter 5 the small gatherings in the homes were not only for the breaking of bread and prayer but also for announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ (v. 42). They announced the Lord Jesus as the gospel from house to house. Chapter 20 reveals that during Paul’s three years in Ephesus, he declared the counsel of God to the Ephesians publicly and also entreated and admonished them from house to house (vv. 18-20, 31).
Based on these verses, after a local church increases, it must take the household unit as its base. We have neglected this for the past twenty years and have suffered a great loss. On the one hand, we have preached the gospel, baptized people, and led many to salvation, but on the other hand, not many of these have remained. The root cause is that we neglected the matter of the household as a unit. Church history and world history show that the existence of any large group is based on small units within the group. Therefore, the church in Taipei must have a great turn from corporate meetings involving all the saints to small groups. Other than having a need for an administrative government, the small group should function according to all the other aspects of a local church.
Whether a local church is strong or weak depends on how the church takes care of teaching, shepherding, caring for, and supporting the saints. If a local church takes care of these four matters, it will be healthy. How can the elders take care of these four items in a large local church? For example, thirty elders would not be able to take care of these four matters in the church in Taipei, where there are three thousand people who meet regularly. At most, the elders could gather the saints into meetings and give them messages. But this only takes care of teaching, and even this teaching cannot be thorough. The elders would be unable to shepherd, care for, and support all the saints. Because we did not take care of these matters in the past, all the ones saved through us either died or were adopted by others. If we want our children to grow up in the homes, there should be shepherding, care, and support at home.
We are raising up the small groups so that we can make up the lack in shepherding, care, and support. The co-workers and elders in Taipei must realize that the building up of the church is entirely dependent on the small groups. In the small groups there should be teaching, shepherding, care, and support. This does not mean that there is absolutely no administration or management in the small groups, but the need for this is not great. The life pulse of a small group is in teaching, shepherding, care, and support. We can no longer follow our old ways; in other words, we have changed our administrative system. However, this does not mean that we do not need elders; neither does it mean that every home should be regarded as a church. It is wrong to say that every home is a church.
Someone said that as long as there are a few believers meeting in a home, that home is a church. He spoke this based on Paul’s word in the Epistles concerning the church in a person’s house (cf. Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 2). But this is a mistaken view. The believers in Jerusalem met from house to house, but Acts 8:1 refers to “the church which was in Jerusalem.” According to the original Greek, church here is singular, implying one church in one locality. There were many home meetings in Jerusalem, but they were one church.
According to the record in Acts, there was only one group of elders in the church in Jerusalem. Hence, Barnabas and Paul handed the material offering to the elders in the church in Jerusalem (11:30). In chapter 15 when a problem arose in the churches, Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to see the apostles and the elders (v. 2). This proves that a large church with thousands of believers meeting in numerous homes is still one church. In this way, the oneness of the Body of Christ in each locality is kept.
Whereas the administration and the management of a church are with the eldership, the practice of the church life and the building up of the church are carried out in the small groups. Hence, there is the need for every group to function and take care of the responsibility of teaching, shepherding, care, and support. If we try to take care of these four matters in the big meetings, they will never be accomplished. For example, even though many women work and send their children to a daycare center, the center cannot raise the children. The mothers still have to fulfill their responsibility of raising their children at home.
In the Bible there is a model of the church in Jerusalem, which was a large church. The management and administration of the church in Jerusalem was under one eldership, but the shepherding and building up of the church life were carried out in the homes. The church in Taipei is also a large local church. The responsibility of teaching, shepherding, care, and support must be transferred to the groups and borne by the groups. This can be compared to a country needing families to raise its young citizens. As long as every family does a good job, the country will be strong and prosperous. Therefore, if a local church can take good care of teaching, shepherding, care, and support, it will grow in life and be full of vigor. It will also be easy for the church to be built up. I hope that the elders in the localities, especially those from large localities, will realize that this is the time for the church life in the Lord’s recovery to take a big turn. We are turning from shepherding in large meetings to teaching, shepherding, care, and support in small groups.
The full-timers who are serving the Lord should set aside four hours every morning, from Monday to Friday, to have a good foundation in the truth. Christianity relies on its theology, but we rely on every saint knowing the Bible. Knowledge of the Bible is the foundation of our service. Hence, all the full-timers must make a resolution to spend four hours to study every day. I hope that all the leading ones and co-workers will help the trainees study without distractions. Furthermore, I would ask the elders and co-workers to supervise the young full-timers to make sure that they spend four hours on the Lord’s Word. We should try our best to assist them to learn to use their time appropriately.
Besides getting into the Word, the full-timers should serve in the small groups. This is a huge task. There are many details involved, because there should be teaching, shepherding, care, and support in the small groups. There are countless lessons for us to learn regarding these four matters.
Suppose we go to a small group and have the attitude that since we are full-time serving ones who study the Bible every day, our knowledge of the Bible is superior. Gradually, those attending the group meetings will stop coming. Even if they do not say anything openly, they will be stumbled by our attitude. Our putting on airs will scatter the whole flock of sheep.
Twenty years ago I discovered that of the twenty thousand saints in the church in Taipei, only three or four thousand actually came to the meetings. There was a large number of absentees. Hence, I suggested that the elders use a scientific method to find out why these saints do not come to the meetings. They were asked to analyze whether the saints were absent because they were poor and needed to work for their living, because they were sick, or because of something else. Regrettably, this was never carried out. There are many reasons that the saints do not come to the meetings. One reason is that the leading ones put on airs. The moment that we consider ourselves to be higher than others, the saints stop coming to the meetings. For this reason, there are no responsible or leading ones in our arrangement of the small groups. The full-timers should never consider themselves to be somebody and think that since they are trained, since they study the Bible diligently, and since they have passed some examinations, they are full-time co-workers. Such a consideration will do them much harm. Those who put on this kind of “uniform” will cause great harm.
When full-timers go to a small group, they should put off all such uniforms. This is not an easy thing to do, because sometimes when you put off a uniform, others try to put it back on you. At any rate, when you go to a small group meeting, you should never go with a special status; you should realize that you are simply a brother or sister. This is good enough. We should not even adopt the term that we are “helpers,” because no matter what term we use, it will mistakenly be used as a title. This is truly not good.
In the group meetings we should remember that we have no status. We are only brothers and sisters. This is our common status. A full-timer may consider that since he is serving the Lord, he must do a good job even if others do not. Some saints have the concept that since the full-timers are supported by the offerings of the saints, the full-timers should labor more than other saints.
I once heard a saint say, “What do the full-timers do? Most saints go to work every day to make a living, but the full-timers are carefree because the church supports them. Is it not right for them to take care of the service in the church?” Many saints have heard comments similar to this. Some working saints think that since they are not full-timers, they do not need to do much. They want the full-timers to do everything. This is not proper, just as it is not proper for full-timers to consider themselves more than simply brothers and sisters.
When you go to a group meeting, you must be early. For example, if a group meeting is at seven-thirty in the evening, you should not arrive after seven-thirty. When you arrive early, you can have fellowship with the host family or care for their children. You are serving the Lord and should never arrive late. If you arrive late, you cannot do much, but if you arrive early, you can do much. When you arrive early, you should not sit down and be glued to a chair. You may ask the saints if there is anything you could do to help. You can help with the setting up of chairs. However, when you set up the chairs, you should not have any opinions. All of us have the same problem. When we do nothing, we have no opinions, but once we begin to do something, our opinions surface. You might suggest that the chairs should be set up this way or that way. If you do this, the host will be offended and think that you are giving him commands. Even if the host turns the chairs upside down, you should learn to follow him without any opinion. You should simply follow what he does; you should not have any opinions, and neither should you mention anything, inquire about anything, or promote anything.
If no one else is present when the meeting is supposed to begin, you should not say, “Why is no one here?” You should never be a busybody. In the group meetings you will discover that you have many defects. This can be likened to a daughter who is learning from her mother how to cook. Even though the daughter has not yet learned to cook, she will often try to instruct her mother to do this or that. Actually, if the daughter would speak less and observe more, she would learn how to cook.
If we are willing to receive this fellowship, we will grow after being in a group meeting for six months. When we enter a home, we may find a baby crawling on the floor, and we can care for him. Eventually, we will learn to fellowship with the young and with the older saints. However, if we enter into a home, and the husband has not returned from work, the wife is in the kitchen, and the baby is crawling on the floor, and we murmur that no one is present, the host family will be cold toward us. A serving one of the Lord needs to be prudent. We should play with the baby and even talk with him, or we can help the wife in the kitchen.
If we help with the baby or in the kitchen, this will warm the mother’s heart. Then later in the meeting, the mother will listen to what we say. If damaging words come out of our mouth when we enter the home, we should not expect the mother to listen to us in the meeting.
Whether we fellowship with others or do things, we must constantly fellowship with the Lord in prayer. We can ask the Lord to give us something appropriate to say. We should not play politics when we speak with others; rather, we should live in the spirit and fellowship with the Lord. The Lord will give us suitable words in a timely manner. Some saints do not know how to speak with others. We all need to learn.
When we join a small group, we should not speak too much; neither should we be silent. However, it is not so easy to be balanced. Let us consider the previous example. When we see a baby crawling on the floor, we should not speak too much lest we express our opinions, but we should not sit silently either. It is not so easy to offer our portion to supply others in a way that can be received by others. Therefore, I would exhort all the brothers and sisters who are serving full time to learn earnestly. This is because we are all beginners, and people need time to trust in us. We may have knowledge, but no one knows this. Thus, it can be difficult for others to accept our speaking right away. If we are willing to learn these things, the saints will be happy to open their homes to us. Hence, we must receive the help from the training and exercise diligently.
If the saints in a group meeting sit silently, we should learn to be patient and not do anything. Even if it is difficult to endure the silence, we should never start anything; we should simply be in the meeting.
In 1937 I was invited to speak concerning the book of Hebrews at a training for preachers. At that time, they also invited me to join their meetings in various places. One time I asked, “When does your morning meeting begin?” They said, “We ask the saints to meet in the morning, but we do not say what time. All of our believers tend to trickle in one by one from nearby villages. We wait until they all arrive, and then we sound a bell and begin the meeting.” Afterward, I went to join one of their morning meetings. It was one-thirty in the afternoon by the time everyone sat down. When I asked, “Why do these Western missionaries not teach people to keep the time?” I learned that these Western missionaries did not want to touch the matter of meeting on time because this would inhibit the believers from wanting to come to the meeting. In this matter I learned a lesson.
We are being trained to be on time, but when we go out to serve, we should always remember that the brothers and sisters have not been trained. We may be in a hurry and want to begin a meeting on time, but they are used to arriving late. This is a test to us. If we fail the test, the group meeting will fail.
Some may ask how there can be a meeting if everyone is late. We should be patient. Perhaps after six months, we can encourage the saints not to be late. We should wait until we are able to render this type of help. When the saints know us, they will appreciate the help. Therefore, we must not do anything in the way of organization; we must be organic.
We thank the Lord and rejoice to see that the majority of the full-time trainees are under thirty-five years of age. Hence, we must learn earnestly. This one or two years of training is a foundation for the trainees. It will be a great help when they serve the Lord in the future.
In 1932 I had been saved for seven years, and I was used by the Lord to establish a small church in my hometown. Later the Lord compelled me to give up my job and serve full time. Eventually, the Lord brought me to Shanghai. At that time I learned from Solomon to pray, “Lord, give me wisdom, that I may know how to go out and come in before Your people” (cf. 2 Chron. 1:10). I prayed in this way for several years. As I look back, I feel that the Lord has heard my prayer. The trainees should also pray, “Lord, I am still young and only beginning to learn to serve You. Give me wisdom so that I may know how to go out and come in before Your people.”
In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul says, “If I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God.” How one ought to conduct himself in the house of God means “how one ought to behave and act in God’s house.” The three books of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus clearly state how a serving one should conduct himself and how he should cultivate his character. The trainees need to study these books diligently.
There are several terms in these books that are worthy of attention: turning away (1 Tim. 6:20), avoid (2 Tim. 2:16; Titus 3:9), and flee (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22). We should study what things to turn away from, what things to avoid, and what things to flee from. In addition, we should depart from unrighteousness (v. 19), refuse a factious man (Titus 3:10), and refuse profane and old-womanish myths (1 Tim. 4:7). We should find and study such terms in these books. Then we will know which things to turn away from, which things to avoid, which things to depart from, and which things to refuse. When we flee, we must do it quickly. When we avoid something, we must stay a good distance from it. When we turn away, we must behave as if we were facing an oncoming car. If we do not turn away, we will be in a car accident. All of us should have the thoughts of fleeing, avoiding, and turning away.
These books also speak of the conscience: a pure conscience (3:9; 2 Tim. 1:3) and a good conscience (1 Tim. 1:5, 19). They speak of holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience (3:9), which mystery is God’s economy. We see from the Scriptures that the mystery of God is Christ (Col. 2:2) and that the mystery of Christ is the church (Eph. 3:4). We need to have a pure conscience to hold the mystery of the faith. Our conscience is an indication of whether we are holding the mystery of the faith; hence, we need to conduct ourselves in order to have a pure conscience. Some people thrust their faith and conscience away and become shipwrecked regarding the faith (1 Tim. 1:19). All these are related to cultivating our character. We must study these books diligently.
Furthermore, we should not merely learn the truth and grow in life; we must also learn how to serve and how to be wise. Such matters cannot be learned in one or two days. If it requires one or two years to learn how to play basketball, it is even more necessary to practice in the matter of serving the Lord.
