The home meetings are according to the longing of man. Nevertheless, they are against man’s habits, customs, and traditions. On the one hand, there is a desire within man, but on the other hand, many are not willing to pay the price to practically achieve this desire. Man is created by God and desires to flock together. This nature is an innate need within him. If a person is sent to live on a mountain, even though he had his whole family there, he would still feel lonely and lacking. This is because having only himself and his family cannot meet the need of the flocking nature which God created in him. Man’s nature is to flock together.
As a result of their research, sociologists claim that man needs to be gregarious. Seventy years ago there was a certain Christian youth association which laid emphasis on three aspects of education: moral, intellectual, and physical. Morality refers to ethics, intellect implies wisdom, and physical education is for the body. According to the Bible, the body is the outermost part of man, the soul is where our reasoning and intellect reside, and the spirit is the noblest part in which there is morality. Gradually, in less than ten years, that youth association altered its motto, saying that there are four aspects of education: moral, intellectual, physical, and social education. Instead of the three aspects of education, they said there should be four. They realized that in human society there is such a need called “flocking.”
Lesson fourteen of the second volume of Life Lessons is on the meetings. It speaks particularly of the human nature and its characteristic of flocking together. Man has a gregarious nature. He is not like the wolves but like the sheep, who flock together. It is rare to see a sheep living by itself. A wolf is different, however, often keeping to itself. To use another example, man is not like a butterfly but like the bees, which also have a gathering instinct. When a Christian is saved, the new life within him enriches the human life that originally was created according to God’s image. Man’s intellect, moral characteristic, and good nature were all created by God according to what He is. Thus, man is the outward form, and God is the inward content. An unsaved person not only has God’s image, but he also has the need for being moral and intellectual, exercising physically, and gathering together with others. However, his human life cannot fully meet all those needs. For this reason, people turn in wrong directions to seek satisfaction.
Today in our society there are many social activities. Nearly every kind of entertainment requires more than one person to participate. One man alone cannot entertain himself. Dancing, for example, requires a group of people to take part. One cannot dance by himself for very long. Other group activities include ball games, various sports, concerts, and clubs. Therefore, we must realize that the instinct to gather together can also bring in many evils.
After we are saved, we are delivered not only from sin but even more from the improper condition of our human nature. There are love and affection in human nature, but if they are exercised in an inappropriate, improper way, they become sinful. When they are properly exercised, they are not sinful. Likewise, there is nothing wrong with eating and drinking. Indeed, how can one survive without eating and drinking? However, when man abuses eating and drinking, he makes eating and drinking sinful. This is what people refer to as “Wining, dining, carousing, and gambling.” Eating and drinking are essential to human life, and there is nothing wrong with them. However, the secret lies in where we place our needs. If they are put in the right place, they are appropriate; if they are put in the wrong place, they are sin. As human beings, we have the need for love and gathering together, but love and gathering together must be put in the right place. Otherwise, both love and gathering together can produce the element of sin. Considering the crimes in society as a whole, we can see that most of them come out of these two needs—love and gathering together. All parents realize that they must not let their children have contact with bad children. If they are allowed to gather together with them, many problems will arise.
It is true that there is a flocking nature within man. When a man is saved, God’s life comes into him. This divine life is even more of a flocking life, which in turn strengthens the need within man for gathering together. Thus, he desires to meet. However, he has to pay the price and learn in order to have a proper meeting. People desire to have gatherings, but many are unwilling to pay the price. For the sake of meeting the need of man’s fallen, slothful, and loose character, fallen Christianity has invented big meetings. In addition, they have trained many pastors and preachers for the purpose of delivering messages to the gathered congregation. This is similar to the ancient Chinese people who came together to listen to legends of the past.
These pastors and preachers are good at entertaining people. Particularly in America, nearly all of the popular preachers are good at making people laugh. The entertaining speaking, the musical accompaniment, and the singing of hymns are a big attraction in Christianity. In the past in mainland China a church building was a Western style house with a tower on its top. It was quiet and clean, and its seats were very comfortable. When people went there to take a seat, no one would make a noise and no one would argue. Whoever went in would sit there in an orderly way. Playing the piano and singing were always included in the program. Afterward, one pastor after another would say prayers, read the Scriptures, speak sermons, and give blessings. This was very attractive. For this reason, many people liked to go to the chapel on the Lord’s Day morning and to the football field in the afternoon. This met both the psychological need and the physical need. That was the kind of meeting in Christianity that suited man’s slothful and loose character as well as his need for gathering together.
This kind of situation has also entered unconsciously into the Lord’s recovery. Especially in America, almost all who have turned to the Lord’s recovery, even though they have left the denominations and the improper ground, have not been delivered from the loose and lazy habit of attending big meetings. Many who have come to the Lord’s recovery still have the desire to have a Sunday service, although they do not say it as such. They have had a change in form but not in content.
In today’s society people have a holiday on the Lord’s Day. During the weekdays, people of all trades and professions are busy and exhausted. On their day off, the Lord’s Day, most of them prefer to take more rest. That is why many Sunday services in America start at 11 A.M. People go to the chapels in a leisurely and relaxed manner. It is very comfortable to sit there. There are singing, speaking, and telling of jokes, which raise people’s enjoyment “up to the heavens.” It seems that all the problems related to their business, their family, and their children have been cast far, far away and forgotten completely. At the end, the pastor says some prayers and gives blessings. Then a bag or plate for the offering of money is passed around, and everyone leaves the church cheerfully. This is the situation of today’s Christianity. For this reason there is a need of recovery. If we want to be well pleasing to the Lord and to seek what He wants, we must pay the price to live the church life that is ordained by the Lord.