The way of meeting in the old system was to gather one hundred to three hundred people in a meeting hall every Lord’s Day to have a meeting where one person spoke and everyone else listened. This way was practiced for nearly forty years and was very effective during the first five or six years, because at that time we also had small group meetings. During that time the number of saints increased dramatically. In five or six years the number increased a hundredfold, from several hundred to tens of thousands. Later, the saints gradually stopped attending the small group meetings. By 1984 all the small groups had vanished without a trace, and only the big meetings remained. Everyone came to the meeting to hear a message, and of course, the messages were good and profitable. Thus, everyone was edified to love the Lord and to go on. There is no doubt about this. However, from the aspect of development, exploration, and multiplication, we had stopped. Our “family” was good in every way except for the fact that we did not bear children and had no multiplication.
In these thirty years we have been continually meeting and preaching the gospel, and the number of people who have been baptized has been increasing all the time, yet the total number of saints has been decreasing. Taiwan is a small island. From the north end to the south end it is less than five hundred kilometers long. Moreover, transportation is convenient, and the population is dense, making it very convenient for the preaching of the gospel. This is aside from the fact that twenty-five years ago the number of people in the church in Taipei alone had already exceeded twenty thousand, of which several thousand met regularly. Having had this foundation for eight or ten years, we should have preached the gospel all over Taiwan by now. However, until today we have not gospelized Taiwan. We cannot give any excuses for this or justify ourselves.
We must deeply understand that the condition of the churches in Taiwan greatly affects the overseas churches. If the churches in Taiwan do not change their system and make a turn, in the long run several hundred churches overseas will be affected. Hence, we feel that this is a very critical moment, and we must change the system. This is a duty-bound task that requires our absolute devotion. When I look at the semi-dormant condition of the churches all over the earth, this makes me anxious. The condition of the churches in Taiwan truly affects the overseas churches. One example is the churches in the United States. When we first began the work there, the annual rate of increase was over twenty percent, but in recent years it has dropped to less than three percent. Therefore, Taiwan has to change and turn the system around.
We particularly need to apologize to the elderly saints because old people like to stick to their old habits. To ask them to change their habits is like asking for their lives. We have not visited them one by one to ask for their permission before changing their habits. We truly owe them a lot. However, we still have not completely abandoned the big meetings. According to what we have seen and felt, we should abandon the big meetings so that everyone would then meet in the homes. However, we are not willing to do this because we feel that the elderly saints have been in the church for many years, loving the Lord and the church faithfully. Thus, if we stopped all the big meetings completely, they may not be able to take it all at once. Regardless, the reason for the change is so that our big family would have offspring and children. Then the Lord’s recovery would have a future.
One day we all will see our children, grandchildren, and descendants filling the entire earth. At that time we all will exult with joy. The elderly saints may say, “Yes, we like this, but please do not change the way we eat.” They may be accustomed to using “chopsticks,” but now they must not only continue to use chopsticks but also begin to use “forks.” I hope that all the elderly saints would see that we are not condemning the big meeting, saying that it is good for nothing. Actually, a big meeting has its advantages, but it is not easy to produce offspring in a big meeting. By changing our way, our original method, we may bear offspring and be fruitful and multiply.
The Bible tells us that the tree of life bears fruit each month (Rev. 22:2). In the Lord’s recovery the truth that we have is clear, and the life that we have is rich. Therefore, in principle we should bear clusters of fruit. Although it should not be difficult to bring one person to salvation each month, this has not been the fact. Therefore, we must come to a critical juncture at which point we must change the system. For a family to prosper and expand, the prerequisite is that this family needs to have many offspring. It needs to bear and rear many children so that many will live. In this way, the family will spontaneously have a bright future. For the sake of the offspring and the future of the entire family, it is worthwhile even if the elderly saints suffer some loss.