The principle in this passage is that we simply have to function. Simply learn to function. Many in Christianity have the thought that because some people cannot do anything, others should do everything for them. In some churches among us, the responsible brothers also have this wrong concept, saying, “These brothers and sisters do not know how to do something, so we will not let them do it. Let us do it instead.” This is the wrong principle. Mothers do not say, “Do not ask my child to walk, because he does not know how.” Rather, they know that the more their children walk, the more they are able to walk. Mothers simply encourage their child to walk, and they help a little by supporting him. Even if the child does not know how to walk, the mother at least encourages him to crawl, and eventually by crawling he learns to walk.
In the local meetings the responsible ones must encourage the brothers to function. Let them crawl; then they will learn to walk. Let them do something in the wrong way. Do not be afraid that your children will do something wrong; they need to do something wrongly, because they learn more in this way. We all learn by making mistakes. Help the new converts to function.
Many of the sisters who meet with us have been educated to be clever. Previously, more sisters prayed in the meeting, but now many are clever not to take any action. Then no one will know whether they are right or wrong. It is true that no one will know, but the sisters can never learn to function in this way. They have to pray; they have to function. Then they will learn. If you do not know how to walk, then simply crawl. You will learn how to walk by crawling. I do not like to have a Lord’s table meeting with spiritual giants, in which everyone prays wonderfully, even better than the apostle Paul might have. That is not a sign of a healthy church. In the meeting for the Lord’s table we need some experienced ones to pray, and we still need some spiritual babes to say something that a babe would say. This is beautiful and wonderful. The situation in a family should not be uniform. In a family there are the grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, older children, younger children, and even babies. There are many different voices; that is like music.
If there are only experienced ones, grandfathers and grandmothers, that is too old. Sometimes in a Lord’s table meeting when all the experienced ones pray, there is the sense that the situation is too old. Encourage the brothers and sisters to function. Mothers know that for children to be naughty is one thing, but for them to do things in the wrong way is another thing; that is not naughty. For the younger ones and new converts to function in the church in a wrong way is not naughty. Rather, it is normal. Let them do something in the wrong way so that they may learn. Never consider that since they cannot do something or they do not know how to do it, we should not let them do it. This is the wrong idea. Let them do it. Let them try, and let them learn.
We all have to function. The principle for functioning is simply to function, to trade and not to dig in the earth. It is not to hide our talent but to use it. Then we will see the increase. The five will increase by another five, and eventually we get another one and another one. This is very meaningful. If you function, but I do not function when we meet together, eventually what I have will become yours. Whoever functions more gets more. Learn simply to function. Do not make any kind of argument or excuse. Do not say, “You are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow.” We should not say this, and we should not take any excuse.
The right way, the normal way, is that everyone functions in the church, including the new converts, even the youngest among us. Although we do not have the clergy system in teaching, we may unconsciously practice it. On the Lord’s Day certain brothers pray, and on the next Lord’s Day the same ones pray. Out of one hundred twenty brothers meeting at the Lord’s table, about forty always pray. The other eighty are the “laity.” The whole year round, forty are traders, and eighty are diggers.
If a certain brother who always prays does not pray one day, the others will think it strange, because in their estimation he is one of the traders. Then if a certain sister prays, the saints will also be surprised. She is always a digger, but all of a sudden she rises up to be a trader. This is not normal. It should be that on one Lord’s Day certain brothers pray, and on the next Lord’s Day another group of brothers pray. Then throughout the year everyone prays. It will be hard to anticipate who will pray on a given day. In our present situation, however, we can tell which brother or sister will function, and we can even anticipate who will start the meeting and who will close the meeting. This is wrong. We have to do something to deal with this situation, to encourage all the brothers to pray.
This kind of situation is the context of 1 Corinthians 14. On the one hand, Paul says that the women should be silent, but on the other hand, he says that all can prophesy (vv. 24, 31). All the attendants in the meetings have not only the obligation but also the capacity to prophesy. God desires that each of the believers prophesy, that is, speak for and speak forth Him (v. 1b; cf. Num. 11:29).