We have covered four points concerning how to meet. We will continue with two more points.
After touching the feeling of a meeting, we should learn to function in the meeting. We should not come to a meeting merely to listen to a message or to watch others worship; instead, we should come to meet in mutuality. Everyone bears the responsibility for a meeting. For this reason, as we touch the feeling of a meeting, we should learn to fulfill our obligation to function in the meeting.
There are several points we should pay attention to in order to function in a meeting.
Before functioning in a meeting, we must first reject every improper thing. If we do not reject these things, they will distract us and hinder our functioning in the meeting. Improper things can be grouped into six categories.
If we come to a meeting with disturbing and troubling thoughts, we will be unable to function. Therefore, we must reject all disturbing thoughts in order to function in a meeting. There are three points we should pay attention to related to disturbing thoughts.
We should not receive any news before a meeting; otherwise, we will have disturbing thoughts during the meeting. When I first learned this lesson approximately twenty years ago, I would not touch any practical affairs half an hour before a meeting. I would put aside any letters or telegrams and read them only after the meeting. Reading letters or telegrams before a meeting can give us disturbing thoughts that we will be unable to drop, even when we are in the meeting. This will damage our functioning in the meeting. Hence, we must learn not to receive any news before a meeting. Regardless of how important a matter may be, it should wait until after a meeting.
Not only should we not allow ourselves to be disturbed, but we should also not cause others to be disturbed. Before a meeting we should not receive any news, and we should not share any news with others. We should wait until after a meeting before we speak to others about any news. This is very important. We need to learn not to spread any news when we see one another before a meeting. Even if it is very important, we should wait until the meeting is over.
We should not bring any matters that are outside of a meeting into the meeting. Since we desire to meet, we should meet in a proper way. We should not bring any matters related to our family, job, school, health, children, or relatives to a meeting. We should completely forget every matter, even if it is important. We need to have faith and believe that everything is in God’s hands. It is useless to worry in a meeting because worrying only distracts and troubles us during the meeting. Therefore, we must learn not to worry about things that are outside of the meeting.
In order to function in a meeting, we should reject disturbing thoughts, and we should not analyze. Once we touch the atmosphere of a meeting and receive spiritual inspiration, we should function immediately. Consideration or analysis merely quenches the inspiration.
We should have spiritual awareness, a sense of the spirit, during a meeting. We should not be self-conscious. Self-consciousness is being shy. It is a fear of being laughed at, saying something inaccurate, praying in an improper tone, or other such things. Such a feeling of fear is produced when a person is self-conscious. We must learn to reject self-consciousness in the meeting. Our spiritual sense in a meeting must be very keen, but we must utterly reject self-consciousness.
Satan often accuses us in our conscience when we come to a meeting, saying that our condition is improper because we have failed in this or that. We must reject all such accusations. We must also reject his accusations against others. When Satan accuses us, he either reminds us of our own failures so that we are unable to rise, or he reminds us of others’ mistakes so that we condemn them during the meeting. We need to believe in the Lord’s forgiveness, and we also need to forgive others. All our wrongdoings have been cleansed by the Lord’s blood. Since He has forgiven us, we should also forgive others. If we do not reject this twofold accusation of Satan, we cannot receive spiritual inspiration in a meeting.