Message Sixteen The Eight Major Items of Managing a Small Group (1)

THE FOURTH PART: THE PATHWAY OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY

God-Ordained Way

Message Sixteen
The Eight Major Items of Managing a Small Group (1)

Scripture Reading: Acts 1:8, 6:4; 2:46; 5:42; Phil. 3:13-14; 1 Cor. 9:26; 1 Cor. 12:24-25; Eph. 4:3-4

I. The book of Acts not only records the facts related to the church’s increase and spread; it also shows four important means of the church’s increase and spread—Acts 1:8; 6:4,7; 2:46; 5:42:

A. The first means is the economical Spirit, the Spirit of power, descending on the lovers of the Lord—1:8; 2:2-4.

B. The second means is prayer, which is continued steadfastly—6:4; 1:14; 2:42.

C. The third means is God’s word, which is Christ Himself; God’s word has power, because the word of God is life, light, and truth. As such, it brings salvation to man; we preach and release the word of God—6:7.

D. The fourth means is the believers’ homes; this is the practical means for God’s increase and spread; Acts does not contain a record concerning meetings in a chapel, but there is a record of meeting “from house to house”—2:46; 5:42; 20:20.

E. In addition to these four aspects, we need to be His witnesses; every witness should be a martyr; in order for God to have a way to propagate, we must have the spirit of a martyr—Acts 1:18; 26:16.

II. First, there is the need of statistics—Using statistics and having a plan for the increase and spread and of the church—cf. Eph. 1:4-5; 5:15-17; John 15:16:

A. We must prepare a statistical chart; we should not think that this is not spiritual; in order to arrive at a goal, we must keep some statistics; statistics help us set goals and keep us advancing—Acts 24:41; 4:4.

B. If we want the church to increase and spread, we must have a plan; the church must have a corporate plan, and the saints must have a personal plan; in order for anything to have results, it is necessary to make estimates and keep statistics—vv. 24:41; 4:4:

1. Without estimating there is no preparation; the more estimates we make and the more detailed they are, the more adequate our preparation will be and the more reliable our work will turn out—vv. 24:41; 4:4.

2. Making a schedule according to a plan, a schedule is the best means to redeem the time; including a schedule in a proper plan; we are God’s children, and as imitators of God, we should have a schedule related to all matters—Eph. 5:1.

3. Carrying out the law of fruit-bearing according to a set time; the law is according to set times; the increase and spread of the church not only require a plan but also a schedule to carry out the plan—Acts 5:42.

C. The purpose of my continuous talk about statistics is to help us understand the means and base for the increase and spread of Christ; these statistics can point us in the proper direction to find the means and base—vv. 24:41; 4:4.

III. Second, there is the need to classify the brothers and sisters according to their condition for caring for and shepherding them—Matt. 24:45; Luke 12:42; Heb. 10:24-25:

A. You need to take out the files of the brothers and sisters and read them carefully; sometimes you have to fellowship with the brothers and sisters directly to touch their real inward condition—1 Pet. 4:10:

1. After you have touched their real condition, you can classify them; the living ones will belong to one category; the dead ones will belong to another category; those who are half-dead are also put into a third category—v. 10.

2. When I was taking care of the churches in northern China, we did this kind of classification at that time; we divided the brothers and sisters into twelve classes; the lowest-numbered class is the dead ones; the highest-numbered class is the living ones; in between are the half-dead ones, and the ones who have been dead for a long time and are about to come alive—v. 10.

3. After classification, we should not work with the dead ones or the living ones first; instead, we should work on the ones who are about to come alive; we looked up these people and fellowshipped with them one by one; we invited them to the love feasts and helped them solve all their problems.

4. Sometimes we could not even help them ourselves, and we would ask another brother who had learned the lesson to help them; after we did this for a while, some of these came alive; they were class eleven; now they have advanced to level twelve; next, we should work with the ones who are worse, the class-ten ones—v. 10.

B. If the elders would classify the brothers and sisters according to their condition and would try to make the dead ones alive, how busy they would be! I worked in this way before the revival in Chefoo; for three years, I went to the meeting hall every morning at 10:30 and stayed until 11:30 each evening; this was what I did the whole day long, considering what kind of leading each person needed and whether I should personally lead them or have others help them.

C. The kind of stirring, visitation, and fellowship there was in those days! How did we arrive at such a state? It was because one man was there continually stirring others up; to use the language of the world, he kept promoting until everyone had to act and go out!

D. By the end of 1942, there were at least eighty or ninety brothers and sisters out of one hundred who were very living; in a short time the revival of the church broke out—1 Cor. 12:23-27.

IV. Looking toward the future and seeking the Lord’s guidance and leading together—Deut. 33:8; Acts 16:6-10; Phil. 3:13-14; 1 Cor. 9:26:

A. It is a meeting for us all to come together to fellowship concerning all that we have passed through, all that we have sensed, and all that we look forward to and hope for.

B. Through such a fellowship we can come together reevaluate our pathway, consider the prospects of the Lord’s recovery, and seek the Lord’s guidance and leading so that we may know how to go on from this time forward—Deut. 33:8; Acts 15:6-12, 22, 28; Matt. 18:20.

C. This devotion should be valued according to its prospect; the greater the seed required, the greater is the prospect for increase; if our devotion related to the enjoyment of Christ will afford a greater prospect for the increase of the church, this devotion will be more valuable—Luke 6:38.

V. Fourth, there is the need of blending from the “center to the circumference”—Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17; 12:12-13, 24-25; Lev. 2:4; Eph. 4:3-4:

A. Genuine fruit depends on genuine blending; having fellowship in spirit, being blended in spirit, entering into the feeling of the Body, and spreading the work according to the feeling in the Body are the most important matters—2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1; 1 John 1:3.

B. Blending is the life pulse of the church in its going forward; if the brothers in every locality cannot be blended, it will be very difficult to advance to have a deeper work—1 Cor. 12:12-13; 24-25.

C. Whether or not we can be in one spirit is the key to serving in a locality; the most important thing is being blended in our spirit, not discussing how things should be done; when there is blending, it is possible to take some action—Phil. 2:1; 1 John 1:2-3.

D. In our church life today we need to be mingled with all the brothers and sisters on the earth; the more successful the mingling, the better it is; whoever cannot be mingled with others will eventually be disqualified by the age—1 Cor. 12:24.

E. In the group meetings where the number is not big, the members can easily contact and fellowship with one another, and be mingled together; once there is the mingling, many problems are solved—vv. 24-25.

F. When we practice, we must work first with a few and then include many; we must blend from the “center to the circumference”—1 Cor. 12:12-13; 24-25.

Ministry Excerpts:

THE MEANS OF THE CHURCH’S INCREASE AND SPREAD IN ACTS

The Economical Spirit, the Spirit of Power, Descending on the Lovers of the Lord

The book of Acts not only records the facts related to the church’s increase and spread; it also shows four important means of the church’s increase and spread. The first means is the economical Spirit, the Spirit of power, descending on the lovers of the Lord (1:8; 2:2-4).

The Prayer Being Continued Steadfastly

The second means is prayer, which is continued steadfastly (6:4; 1:14; 2:42).

God’s Word

The third means is God’s word (6:7), which is Christ Himself. God’s word has power, because the word of God is life, light, and truth. As such, it brings salvation to man. We do not preach ourselves or philosophy, and even more, not ethics or theories; we preach and release the word of God.

The Believers’ Homes

The fourth means is the believers’ homes; this is the practical means for God’s increase and spread. Acts does not contain a record concerning meetings in a chapel, but there is a record of meeting “from house to house.” The believers broke bread and prayed together from house to house (2:46). They also announced the gospel and taught Jesus as the Christ from house to house (5:42). Finally, Paul spoke of teaching and admonishing the believers from house to house (20:20).

The means for God’s spread is through His Spirit, by the prayer of the believers, by the release of God’s word, and through the believers’ homes. These four aspects occupy a very important position in Acts. In addition to these four aspects, we need to be His witnesses. In 1:8 the Lord clearly said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Witness in Greek means “martyr,” one who lays down his life, who pays the price of his life, to be a witness.

Having the Spirit of a Martyr

Peter, James, and John were the Lord’s witnesses. They testified not only by their words but also by their living; eventually, they testified even with their lives. Each one was a martyr. Every witness should be a martyr. In order for God to have a way to propagate, we must have the spirit of a martyr, willing to sacrifice everything, offer everything, and even lose our lives to testify for Christ.

Through these five means in Acts, there was a continuous increase and spread of Christ. The Lord can have a way on the earth only through the Spirit of God, through the prayer of the saints, through God’s word, through the believers’ homes, and through living witnesses who are martyrs.

USING STATISTICS AND HAVING A PLAN
FOR THE INCREASE AND SPREAD OF THE CHURCH

From now on, we should use our statistics to understand our true situation more clearly. With these statistics we can make a plan. A plan involves more than a vow. Nothing can be done in a good way without a plan. Government organizations and large companies all have a business plan, but even a family or a single person should have a plan. A college student should not be impulsive; rather, he should know when he will graduate, when he should begin to look for a job, how much his monthly income should be, and how much money he can spend each month. If he does not have a plan, it will be easy to buy things that he cannot afford.

Just as we need a budget plan for income and expenses, we should also have a budget for our life. A person who desires to be married should have a “marriage budget,” that is, a consideration of things such as when to get married and the level of education and age of his or her spouse. Once there is the budget plan, he or she should pray earnestly, “Lord, by Your mercy I am standing here today. I need a spouse who at least has a college education and who is within five years of my age. Lord, may You bestow grace upon me.” We should all have a plan and pray to the Lord earnestly.

Having a Plan if We Want the Church to Increase and Spread

In the same principle, if we want the church to increase and spread, we must have a plan. If our plan is to have an annual increase equal to one hundred percent, doubling every year, then we will reach three hundred twenty-five thousand in six years. If we plan for a fifty percent increase, we will reach a similar number in ten years. Since any plan involves the church corporately, every member must contribute his or her part, including how many people to bring to the Lord each year and how to bring them in. Everything should be planned; we should not lack focus, expressing agreement with the church but returning home to sleep in peace. Without a plan we will not have even a one percent increase. The church must have a corporate plan, and the saints must have a personal plan.

The personal plan must be very practical and specific. For example, in a thorough consideration before the Lord, you can draw up a list of names of relatives and friends. You can narrow it down to a few who could be saved and then make them your target, praying for them specifically. You must pray until you even dream about them. If you have time to write letters, you can write to them or send them a few verses. After months of prayer, consideration, and contact, you will gain them as fellow believers.

A young person can consider his schoolmates and think about how to pray for them, how to speak to them concerning the gospel, and how to lead them and invite them to a home. Even if they are annoyed with you, you should still seek them out. Eventually, there will be a few who will listen, receive the gospel, and believe. We know of many stories like this. We can apply this way not only to relatives, friends, and schoolmates but also to colleagues and neighbors. When we make a plan in these areas, we need to be like a person planning to open a restaurant. He needs to consider how to attract customers, including whether he should distribute leaflets to his neighbors to notify them or to invite relatives and friends for a free meal. He cannot wait until the restaurant opens and then go to the roadside to notify people. In the universe, only God can produce something out of nothing. Since we are not God, we cannot expect instant, but unplanned, results. Therefore, we need a plan. Since we all agree that the church should have an increase equal to one hundred percent, each of us should go home and make a proper plan.

Understanding the Means and Base for the Increase and Spread of Christ

The purpose of my continuous talk about statistics is to help us understand the means and base for the increase and spread of Christ. These statistics can point us in the proper direction to find the means and base. For the past twenty-eight years, we have not had a proper base. Whenever a person builds a house, the first thing is to build a foundation as a base. For twenty-eight years we have been building, but it has not been on a firm base. This base is the small groups. By 1980 all the small groups were gone. In place of the small groups, there were big joint meetings, mass gatherings, and meetings involving one man speaking. This was a return to the old condition of Christianity. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 1, “Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 4: The Increase and Spread of the Church,” msg. 2)

The Importance of Statistics

We must prepare a statistical chart. We should not think that this is not spiritual. If we had begun to keep statistics ten years ago, we probably would have a hundred thousand more people than we do today. Bearing fruit is like farming, and we are like farmers who have not farmed for ten years. Thus, we have nothing to harvest. If we had begun to increase at a rate of ten percent a year in 1957, we would have fifteen times more people today.

We must give ourselves to bring one person to salvation each year; this will cause our number to double every year. We must work toward this goal; however, a more conservative estimate may be a fifty percent rate of increase annually. If we take the fifty-five hundred to fifty-six hundred saints who regularly come on the Lord’s Day morning in the more than twenty meeting halls in Taipei and estimate a fifty percent rate of increase, we will have around three hundred thousand people in ten years.

In order to arrive at a goal, we must keep some statistics. If a company does business without statistics, it will fail. We must not despise this matter; this is a precious matter. It is like a student doing his homework: if he does not try his best to keep a time schedule, his grades will fall dramatically because of laziness. For the past twenty years we have had a great loss in the matter of bearing fruit because we were not willing to use statistics, and thus we became negligent, loose, and lazy. Statistics help us set goals and keep us advancing. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 5, “The Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth—concerning the Publication Service,” msg. 7)

CLASSIFYING THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS
ACCORDING TO THEIR CONDITION

Classifying Them After Touching Their Real Condition

Here you need to take out the files of the brothers and sisters and read them carefully. Sometimes you should not read them alone but with the other responsible ones from the district. Sometimes you have to fellowship with the brothers and sisters directly to touch their real inward condition. After you have touched their real condition, you can classify them. The living ones will belong to one category. The dead ones will belong to another category. Those who are half-dead are also put into a third category. During these days I have been conducting this training. Sometimes I have to stay up until midnight to prepare these lessons. The next morning I have to rise up early again. Someone has told me that I am too tired. But I will tell the brothers and sisters that if I were to serve as an elder in Taipei, in another year I would lose another thirty pounds. To be an elder is much more exhausting than to take care of a training.

Working on the Ones Who Are About to Come Alive

When I was taking care of the churches in northern China, we did this kind of classification at that time. We divided the brothers and sisters into twelve classes. The lowest-numbered class was the dead ones. The highest-numbered class was the living ones. In between were the half-dead ones, and the ones who had been dead for a long time and were about to come alive. After classification we should not work with the dead ones or the living ones first. Instead, we should work on the ones who are about to come alive. We looked up these people and fellowshipped with them one by one. We invited them to the love feasts and helped them solve all their problems. Sometimes we could not even help them ourselves, and we would ask another brother who had learned the lesson to help them. After we did this for a while, some of these came alive. They were class eleven. Now they have advanced to class twelve.

Working with the Ones Who Are Worse

Next, we should work with the ones who are worse, the class-ten ones. After a while these also will become class twelve. By that time there will be a sizable number of living ones in the church, and the church will almost become a wave offering; the meetings will become quite living. Once classes ten and eleven have been enlivened, the church is about to move on. For example, in a family the father may be class eleven. The mother may be class ten, and the daughter may be class nine. Once you have enlivened the class-eleven father and the class-ten mother, the daughter will more or less come along. She would say, “Since my father and mother are loving the Lord, I should love the Lord too!” They may have another son in the house who belongs to class eight. Even he will become alive now. If this goes on, by the time the sixth class has been worked with, the church will no longer be a wave offering but a heave offering as well, and there will be a real revival. Most people will have become living, and the remaining few, even if they are not living, will be made alive together. This is very easy. I wish to tell the brothers and sisters that this was the revival of Chefoo in 1943. The brothers and sisters became alive one after the other, and there was no way for the church to fail to be revived.

Keeping Everyone Acting and Going Out

If the elders would classify the brothers and sisters according to their condition and would try to make the dead ones alive, how busy they would be! I worked in this way before the revival in Chefoo. For three years I went to the meeting hall every morning at 10:30 and stayed until 11:30 each evening. This was what I did the whole day long, considering what kind of leading each person needed and whether I should personally lead them or have others help them. Some who are sitting here can testify the kind of stirring, visitation, and fellowship there was in those days. How did we arrive at such a state? It was because one man was there continually stirring others up. To use the language of the world, he kept promoting until everyone had to act and go out. I worked in this way for three years. By the end of 1942 there were at least eighty or ninety brothers and sisters out of one hundred who were very living. In a short time the revival of the church broke out. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 2, “The Elders’ Management of the Church,” msg. 11)

LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE AND SEEKING
THE LORD’S GUIDANCE AND LEADING TOGTHER

At this time the co-workers have come together in order to fellowship concerning the prospects of the Lord’s work, that is, to consider how we should go on hereafter. I hope that every one of us will be completely open to fellowship concerning what we have felt, seen and experienced and what we can foresee for the future. Afterward we will see how the Lord will lead us, and perhaps some co-workers will have the desire to go forth for spreading. At this time we still need to seek much before the Lord and receive His positive leading that we may see how to go on. For this reason we especially need to have more prayer. I would ask that before every co-workers’ or elders meeting, we all come and kneel in prayer together from 6:30 to 7:30 in the morning.

I hope that the co-workers will realize that this meeting is not a meeting for the discussion of practical business or a meeting for the release of a message or for training. Instead, it is a meeting for us all to come together to fellowship concerning all that we have passe through, all that we have sensed, and all that we look forward to and hope for. Through such a fellowship we can together reevaluate our pathway, consider the prospects of the Lord’s recovery, and seek the Lord’s guidance and leading so that we may know how to go on from this time forward. (CWWL, 1966, vol. 2, “Being Delivered from Religious Practices by the Exercise of the Spirit,” ch. 1)

The Budget and Outlook for the Advance of the Church

For the church to advance there is the need to increase and spread. Without the increase and the spread, the church has no way to advance. The way for the church to increase includes two steps: first, frequently preaching the gospel so that people can be saved and brought to the Lord; second, bringing the saved ones solidly into the church life. This is the increase, and only when there is the increase can there be the spreading outward. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “Speaking for God,” msg. 7)

This Devotion Being Valued According to Its Prospect

This devotion should be valued according to its prospect. The greater the seed required, the greater is the prospect for increase. The lesser the seed required, the lesser is the prospect for the increase of the number in the church. If our devotion related to the enjoyment of Christ will afford a greater prospect for the increase of the church, this devotion will be more valuable. When Paul devoted himself for the enjoyment of Christ, that devotion had a great prospect of the increase of the church. (Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 63)

BLENDING FROM THE “CENTER TO THE CIRCUMFERENCE”

Blending with Others in Harmony

Furthermore, we must do our work in the way of blending. When we serve, we should not only blend with the co-workers; we should also lead the saints to blend. The co-workers should first be blended among themselves; then they should be blended with the elders and the responsible ones in the districts, and then with the other serving ones. Eventually, all the saints will be blended. This is not accomplished with human skill or by organizing the saints. Blending takes place in spirit.

From now on, we must change our way of doing things. We do not care for democracy; neither do we want the worldly system of a boss with subordinates. Taking the 1ead or serving full time does not mean that we have a special position. Such a concept must be completely eliminated. We are not democratic, but we care for fellowship. It is wrong to say that since we are an elder, we have the final word in everything. We must open ourselves to the brothers and sisters and accept their ideas whenever possible. For example, we may believe that there is a simple and convenient way to go to Yangmingshan, but a brother may want to take a different route that is longer. As long as we arrive at Yangmingshan, there is no need to insist on our way. Of course, we cannot accept anything that would offend the Lord. However, if a certain thing does not offend the Lord, we should be open to receive fellowship from others and not insist on our own way.

We who serve full time should not act as if we know everything or are more capable than others. This is wrong. We should serve with the brothers and sisters in such a way that we are not different from them; we are not a special class. Moreover, we should support the brothers and sisters in their service, not replace them. Our desire is to build up the saints in their service, not to take away their service. We should not judge their service as unacceptable and seek to find a way to take it over and do everything for them. This is absolutely wrong. On the contrary, we should give others the feeling that the service in a local church belongs to the local saints. If the Lord arranges for us to live in a place for a long period, we will have a standing as a local saint, and we should serve together with the saints. However, if the Lord has arranged for us to participate in the work in a particular locality, we should help and support the saints, not replace them. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, “Serving in Coordination and Washing in Love,” msg. 6)

Genuine Fruit Being with Genuine Blending

The extent of the blending among the brothers in each locality will determine the extent of the work in that locality. If there is no blending, the work will be on the same level of the work in a denomination. The depth of the Holy Spirit’s work in a locality depends on how much the brothers are blended in one spirit. Merely learning skillful cultivation and tolerance is useless; we must be blendable in spirit. It is certainly not good to quarrel, but if we cannot be blended in spirit, tolerating one another will still not yield any fruit. At the best there will only be some superficial damage. Genuine fruit depends on genuine blending.

Today the Lord’s way is not with spiritual giants but with every brother and every sister, because each one is a member in the Lord’s Body. It is a fact that some members have more function in the Body, but there are no giants in the Body. In the Body everyone is a member, and every member must be blended. Whether or not a church manifests a condition of being built up and coordinated together depends entirely upon whether the brothers can be blended in spirit. Without being blended in spirit, our messages and fellowship are completely useless. Having fellowship in spirit, being blended in spirit, entering into the feeling of the Body, and spreading the work according to the feeling in the Body are the most important matters.

The Key to Serving—Being Blended in Spirit

Whether or not we can be in one spirit is the key to serving in a locality. The most important thing is being blended in our spirit, not discussing how things should be done. When there is blending, it is possible to take some action. An army must be one before it can be dispatched into battle.

If the brothers in a locality cannot be blended in one spirit, they may be polite in dealing with each other and be able to shout slogans outwardly, but the situation will be altogether futile and political. Satan knows these things the best. When we do not have the one accord, he will regard us as a joke and say, “Even I know that you are not one. What work can you do?” One time we were casting out demons, and the demon spoke of our failures and asked, “Do you think that you can cast me out?” We immediately prayed for the Lord to cover us with His precious blood. We must see that we are in a war. The brothers in each locality must be blended in spirit. If we cannot be blended in spirit, living in spirit will be only a slogan.

Not Having Preconceived Notions but Being Blended in Spirit

The brothers serving in various localities must not have preconceived notions that the older ones are unwilling to follow but that the young people are willing to follow. We should never have such thoughts. We must treat the older ones and the young people in each locality the same and lead them step by step. We must not regard anyone as an outsider, and we must not distinguish between the older ones and the young people. We must lead both the young people and the older ones into serving.

First and foremost, we must be blended in spirit. If the brothers have many talents yet are not blended in spirit, it will be possible to do only a shallow, superficial work. We will not have a way to do a thorough work that builds up the church. If those who are taking the lead are not blended with each other, how can they build up the church? Instead, they will become hindrances that keep the Holy Spirit from moving forward or from working in a deeper way. Consequently, the advance of the work will stop. The brothers must be blended with each other.

Blending as the Life Pulse for the Church to Go Forward

Blending is the life pulse of the church in its going forward. If the brothers in every locality cannot be blended, it will be very difficult to advance to have a deeper work. Being blended is not a matter of giving people doctrines. If the brothers can only present doctrines when they meet in a locality, they will only promote doctrines. Rather than presenting doctrines, we should have fellowship and contact with others in spirit, supplying life to them in the spirit so that they may see something.

We must first be blended with one another in spirit. Then we should have much fellowship to bring everyone into the spirit for a deeper seeing. The brothers and sisters will slowly see the same vision and enter into the feeling of the Body. If we only talk about new methods or new doctrines, we will incite opinions, which some will approve of and others will oppose. We must avoid causing this problem. The brothers should not go to various localities to promote doctrines but to look to the Lord to supply the saints with life and to help them see what the Lord wants today. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 2, “Serving in the Flow of the Age,” msg. 5)

Practicing to Mingle with Others

Since we have seen the vision of the Body of Christ, we need to have our practice according to this vision. We need to start practicing in small areas by first mingling with the brothers and sisters next to us. I can testify to you that I love brothers and sisters of every kind. I love those who are quick, and I also love those who are slow. I love those who are compatible with me; and I love even the more those who are not compatible with me. In these days we are translating the Chinese Recovery Version of the New Testament. Although I am more than eighty years old, I am a quick-tempered and aggressive person. Nearly all my helpers are around thirty years of age. From my viewpoint, every one of them is slow motioned, making it necessary for me to pull them along. I do not like their slowness. It seems that many times I should have been upset, but I could not be. I said to myself, “These people are all slow motioned. To press them to be as fast as you is an impossible task. You have to accommodate them.” Therefore, I am learning to be slower, accompanying them to read slowly. This does not mean that I have been affected by them. This is mingling.

The experience of those on the gospel teams is the same in principle. Some are quick-tempered, and some are slow motioned. A slow one says, “Please wait for me. I have forgotten my small notebook.” After a while he says again, “I have forgotten my Life Lessons.” This really becomes unbearable to the quick-tempered ones. Some simply want to be quick. Only being quick can satisfy them. Eventually, the quick ones end up together. Then the slow ones do not approve of the quick ones and consider that their flesh is not yet dealt with, that they are unable to bear with others or wait for others. Hence, the slow ones also end up together. Actually, to be either quick or slow is inborn; it is not up to you.

When I was a student, I was a member of the school soccer team. Some students who were very skillful liked to show off their skills when they got the ball. They dribbled the ball back and forth, not shooting for the goal right away. I was angry when I saw that, because I was not there to play with the ball but to shoot for the goal and score. Once I got the ball, I quickly kicked it into the goal. It is the same in the Lord’s work today. Some very capable co-workers, once the ball of the work gets into their hands, begin playing with the ball. They do not care for the edification of the believers or for people’s salvation. They only care to do the things that interest them. Some people feel that Bible study is very enjoyable. They start doing that and forget about the work. Some do not care for Bible studies; as long as they can get people saved, everything will be all right. There is definitely such a situation among us. Our inborn temperaments and characters are simply not the same. There are a few hundred people here, yet no two faces are the same. Even with twins there are still differences. Our God is really capable. He created each one with a different face, and He gave a different appearance to each one.

The Better the Mingling, the More the Blessing

What God is doing today is to obtain the Body of Christ, not merely you as an individual, nor merely the church in a locality, nor merely the church in a country. He wants to obtain the church in the entire universe. Since this is the case, in our church life today we need to be mingled with all the brothers and sisters on the earth. The more successful the mingling, the better it is. Whoever cannot be mingled with others will eventually be disqualified by the age. In today’s age, you cannot be an isolated Christian. (CWWL, 1987, vol. 2, “Words of Training for the New Way,” msg. 5)

Working First with a Few and Then Including Many

When we practice, we must blend from the “center to the circumference.” We should not call all the saints together to practice blending in the spirit, because it will not work. We must begin with a few saints who have been blended and who are skilled in the release of the spirit, and then we can include some who have less experience in this matter. Gradually, everyone will be blended. Hence, the responsible brothers and sisters must first be blended together. After they are blended, they can include responsible ones from the small groups. After these are blended, they can return to the small groups and blend with the other brothers and sisters. Blending should begin with those who have a heart to blend and then gradually include others. Eventually, even those who have not been meeting for a long time will be included in this blending. In this way, the whole church will be blended. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 2, “The Priesthood and God’s Building,” msg. 4)