For example, here are two elders who are particularly good at administration. The two of them should coordinate together to fellowship with the responsible ones of the thirty-five districts on administration alone. Perhaps one or two among the elders are particularly good at helping others to read the Bible. They should go out to fellowship with the responsible ones of the thirty-five districts concerning Bible study alone, until all the 160 or 170 are able to lead others in their districts to have Bible study. Perhaps one or two among the elders have learned some particular lessons in fellowship and prayer. They should then fellowship with these 160 to 170 on how to live before the Lord. Perhaps one or two among the elders are good at preaching the gospel. They should concentrate on blowing the gospel trumpet, and they should fellowship with the responsible ones in these thirty-five districts the matter of gospel preaching. Brothers, please imagine how beautiful the result would be! The result of this fellowship will bring all the riches of the elders into the district meetings.

Not only should the elders fellowship with the serving ones; they have to find out what the result of this fellowship is. For example, after the elders who are good at administration have fellowshipped about administration, they should go back to see how the others have practiced administration. They may want to supply them a little more. In the end, they will find that the others can go on much better than they can. By that time, they have to come back to learn from the others. If you would study and investigate in this way, there will be no limit to the administration of the church.

I often condemn myself for one thing: in front of my house is a neglected little garden. I never water, fertilize, or trim the plants. Occasionally, someone would say that my garden looks good, and all is well. My answer would be: "True, nothing is dead yet; everything is still alive." But look, those plants that should have grown up have not grown up, and those that should have blossomed have not blossomed. If I could water them, fertilize them, and trim them, and if I could move the pots around a little, sometimes under the rain, sometimes under the sun, and sometimes with the dew, I am sure that the flowers would grow even better. A person as lazy as I am concerning flowers, who plants the flowers there but who never moves them a bit year round, can only find the flowers half-dead; there is no way I can make them look good.

This is the condition that some churches are in. The elders in those places think there is nothing to do. If a person has to be busy all day long simply to take care of a garden, and if even by doing that, the work cannot be finished, how much more work is there in the church? Oh, there are too many things to do in the church. There are so many of God's children there. If the elders would pick up the burden to fellowship with them, they will find too many people to guide, to contact, to open up, to lead, to raise up, and to perfect. This is why I say again, the elders have to fellowship with God, with each other, and with the other serving ones. Only then will the church be managed in a proper way.