In this chapter we will fellowship concerning how to lead the meetings and the service. Meeting in the districts has a very important purpose; that is, it enables the saints to take part in the service. The activities in the church meetings can be considered as the service that a Christian renders to the Lord. This is an important matter. If a Christian is not active in the meetings, he must be a dead Christian. In other words, he is a Christian at a standstill in regard to service.
From our experience we know that if a person lives in the presence of God, his condition in the meetings will be living. Even though this is not the only indication of a person’s condition before the Lord, a living Christian will be active in the meetings. For this reason we need to pay attention to how active the brothers and sisters are in the meetings.
The record in Acts reveals the initial condition of the church, and from it we have gained much light concerning the activities of the saints. First Corinthians 14 also speaks of the activities that the saints carried out in the meetings in the early days. Later, the church began to lose the Lord’s presence as well as the power of the Holy Spirit and fell into the hands of men and the scheme of the enemy. As a result, the church became organized Christianity, and the saints ceased to be active in the meetings.
Because of the desolation of the church, the activities of the church fell into the hands of a small number who were given clerical authority. Hence, not only the Catholic mass but also Protestant worship services are conducted by clergy, such as priests, pastors, and ministers. These ones do everything, whereas the majority of the saints do not have any responsibility or function in the meetings. In other words, the saints attend services, listen to sermons, and watch others and thus become completely passive. This is a degraded situation.
We have been looking to the Lord to recover one thing in the church; that is, whenever the brothers and sisters come together all would serve God. In this way a small number of saints will not replace the majority in worship and service. The only exception is the ministry meetings. In such meetings the ministers have a message to speak to God’s children for their edification; thus, either one brother or a few brothers need to bear this responsibility, and the rest of the saints need not carry out many activities during the meeting. However, in all the other church meetings, such as the Lord’s table, the prayer meeting, the gift-exercising meeting, and the Biblereading meeting, every saint should be active. The reason that we have smaller meetings in the districts is to provide the brothers and sisters with an opportunity to be active under the leading of the Holy Spirit.
The larger a meeting is, the more afraid the saints are to release their spirit because their spirit is more likely to be suppressed. If the saints are divided into smaller meetings in the districts, they will be able to release their spirit easily. I hope that the responsible ones will understand that this is the purpose of meeting in the districts. How then should they facilitate this purpose? First, everything depends on what is in their heart. Some responsible ones are afraid and do not know how to be active in the meetings. Thus, they dare not pray or speak. Because of their fearful heart, they hope that others will do something for them. This is not right. On the other hand, some like to speak in the meetings. They formerly did not have the opportunity, but after becoming responsible ones, they seize every opportunity to be active in the meetings. This also is wrong. Both errors should be avoided.
We must have a proper heart. It is not a matter of fearing activities or of loving activities; rather, it is a matter of realizing that all the brothers and sisters in the meetings should be active. Our heart’s intention is often revealed through our spirit. If some of us are afraid to stand up and speak in the meetings, when we rise up to speak, we may want to give the impression that we are not afraid but even love to speak. This is dishonest. Such a dishonest heart kills the spirit of service in the brothers and sisters. However, if we love to speak in the meetings, it will suppress the spirit of service in the meeting. Both tendencies damage the spirit of a meeting.
Second, before every meeting, the responsible ones should have a proper heart of service. They should pray, “Lord, we pray that You will revive the spirit of all the brothers and sisters who are coming to the meeting so that they will not only come to a meeting but will come to serve You. May they not only come to the meeting, but may they come to break bread and to pray.” The normal condition is for us to come to the meetings to pray, fellowship, read the Bible, use our gifts, and break bread. Hence, the responsible ones should pray before each meeting that the Lord would enable the brothers and sisters not only to come and meet but even more to come and pray, serve, break bread, fellowship, read the Bible, and use their gifts. The responsible ones should pray that the Lord would cause all the brothers and sisters to have a living spirit and be prepared in their spirit for the meeting. They should not come merely to listen to others pray and watch others be active.
Third, they should explain to the brothers and sisters that even though there are responsible ones in the home meetings, the responsible ones are not pastors or teachers taking care of the activities in the meeting. The meetings are for everyone to serve and bear responsibility together. The responsible ones should not do everything for the saints; rather, every brother and sister should be active. If there are some who do not understand this point, we should explain it to them. If there are some who are worried, we need to help remove their fear. For instance, if there is a prayer meeting, we should use a little time at the beginning to tell the brothers and sisters that they should not be concerned about whether or not the content of their prayer is organized, the words they use are spiritual, or their tone is gentle. We should also tell them that they should not expect the meetings to always be orderly and that they should not wait to open their mouth until their speech is polished enough to impress others. When we help the saints in the meetings, we should not correct or criticize too much; rather, we should lead, instruct, and explain. We should do this once or twice. After a period of time has passed, we can again remind and encourage the brothers and sisters to exercise their spirit in the meetings.
Fourth, the amount of responsible ones’ activity in the meetings should be appropriate. If they do nothing in order to provide the brothers and sisters with an opportunity to be active, they are wrong, and they will kill the spirit of the meeting. However, if they become overactive because they are concerned that the lack of functioning may kill the spirit of the meeting, they will bring in an atmosphere in which they do everything and others have no need to do anything. For this reason, the responsible ones need to be very wise. They should function but not in the place of others, and whenever they function, they should incite others to also function. Their functioning should kindle a fire so that others are caught on fire.
Two situations are often seen in a meeting. The first situation involves the responsible ones always giving others an opportunity; this attitude is wrong. Another situation involves the responsible ones assuming that they have to be active because the saints are not active. This also is wrong. The responsible ones should be wise in a meeting, knowing when and how to act appropriately, even kindling the fire in others. When some people pray, they open up the prayer for others to follow, whereas when other people pray, they close the door to others. The responsible ones need to learn and exercise in these matters.
Fifth, the responsible ones should fellowship and help the saints individually. For instance, they should not force a certain brother to open his mouth to pray or to choose a hymn in the Lord’s table meeting; instead, they should observe this brother and see how his spirit is before God. If his spirit is kindled with a burden to choose hymns, even though he does not know how to do it, they can fellowship with him and teach him, encouraging him to be prepared for the next Lord’s Day. This can be compared to a little child who is learning to walk and needs assistance from others. All the above points require the responsible ones to practice and exercise.