How about us in the Lord’s recovery? We tried our best to leave Christianity, but Christianity would not give us up. We tried the best to leave the practice of Christianity, but the practice of Christianity still follows us. The practice of Christianity is still in our blood, still in our bones, still in the marrow of our being. Do you like to go to a big meeting in a big hall with a good facade where thousands are sitting together with a good, eloquent speaker? Or do you like to go to a little home with seven or eight meeting there with no good speaker? What kind of meeting do you prefer-the big meeting with the facade, or the small meeting in the little home? We are all the same in this matter. We like to go to big meetings. But the big meetings with only one speaker and a passive audience have killed the Lord’s move.
In our meetings there may not be much livingness. We do not have a proper “noise” in the Christian meetings. There should be a proper noise where everyone speaks, everyone prays, everyone praises, and everyone gives thanks. Why do we come to the meetings so silent? Outside of the hall, we were not that silent, but when we got to the door and walked in the hall, we became silent. We learned this from Christianity. The Psalms tell us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord (66:1; 81:1; 95:1-2; 98:4, 6; 100:1). Why would we not walk into the door and say, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! I’m so happy this morning. I’m enjoying the Lord and the Lord is with me. Don’t you know, brother, that Christ is in me? Hallelujah!” Why would we not clap our hands (Psa. 47:1)? Sometimes we should even dance before the Lord (Psa. 149:3; 2 Sam. 6:14). I do not mean that we should be outwardly excited in a natural way like many of those in Pentecostalism, but we Christians are living persons. We have all been made alive, and we have a living One within us. We are dealing with a living One, praising a living One, thanking a living One, and walking together with a living One. Why should we be so silent?
Do you know how much Christianity has been constituted into your Christian being? Our Christian style of worship and of practicing the church life was not built by the Spirit according to the Word. It has been constituted with Christianity. Even before one has become a Christian, he has received a certain concept concerning how to be a Christian. According to many people’s concept, to be a Christian is to “go to church” on Sundays at 11 o’clock. Also the church must have a big meeting with a good choir and with a good, eloquent speaker to stir up people’s interest. This is according to the constitution of today’s degraded Christianity.
But the new way we see in the Word is that all the members of the Body function (Eph. 4:16; Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:15-17, 21-22). In the small meetings in the homes, and even in a big meeting when the entire church comes together, everybody should function. Everybody should speak. This one has a hymn, that one has a revelation, and another one has a teaching. We have found out that in the new home meetings of newly baptized believers it is so easy for them to function. Their children even function in the meeting. The little ones read the Bible and may take the lead to sing, and everybody speaks.
Today on this earth we cannot see that the Body of Christ is fully and thoroughly expressed. Wherever Christians meet together, what is seen is something organized and arranged with a schedule. There is hardly any livingness or flow of the Spirit. Everyone who comes to the meeting gets settled. They are so active in their homes, but in the church meeting, they feel they need to be formal, silent, and passive. We should be motivated by the indwelling Spirit in our meetings. The Motivator within us is the living Christ. When we come together with a small number, we should function. Whenever we come together with a big number, we still should function. We have something to say, something to pray about, something to praise and thank the Lord for. We even have something to shout about. We can all say, “Praise the Lord!” We should be happy and joyful in the Lord (Phil. 4:4).
Our burden and our vision is that on this earth groups of Christians will meet in a living way with no big speaker and not according to forms or organization. In many denominations, they merely put the numbers of the hymns to be sung on the board, but some should always come to the meeting with a hymn. The New Testament presents us a picture of the church meeting, that is, whenever the church meets, either with a big or small number, it meets in a living way according to the leading of the living Spirit. We hope that this could be repeated on this earth. We want to have this started from the newly established home meetings.
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