Tonight we want to say that, when we speak God’s word in the meetings, we must learn a basic skill, that is, to coordinate with each other. Our meeting is an assembly. It is not a meeting of one person. Therefore, we must learn to coordinate with each other. Just as in basketball or soccer, there is no way for you to play by yourself, keeping the ball for a long time before you pass it. Then the other player politely says thank you as he receives the ball, and he plays until the others doze off, still not passing the ball. He does not care if others are bored, sighing, or dragging their feet; he fully enjoys playing by himself.
Please remember, we have come to a meeting, and in the meeting there is only one “ball”—the Spirit. The ball we are playing is the Spirit. We move according to this Spirit. Do not keep the ball too long in your hands. Those who know how to play receive it quickly and also pass it quickly. After dribbling two or three times, they make a basket. In our meeting we have to learn this. Do not dribble the ball too long. If there is such a player, surely the coach would not like to spoil the game by using him.
I want to point out a few mistakes made in the last few days. Some people just love to speak in the meetings, and whenever they do so, they get off the subject. Of course, we treasure a person who is willing to stand up to speak in the big meetings. However, he should be sensitive. When others are not responding, he should quickly stop speaking and not be foolish. Then there are those who not only get off the subject when they speak, but also go around in circles. They do not care a bit for others’ ears, nor are they concerned whether others are listening. They speak with their old tone and accent. Out of ten words people can only understand three, yet they still continue to speak.
You all know that I am from Shantung. Even today, I still carry the Shantung accent. Praise the Lord, having practiced for fifty years, I have nearly gotten rid of half of my native accent. In 1933, when I first went to Shanghai, after the first week the brothers arranged a conference, asking me to speak. By that time, I had already realized that the old Shantung way of speaking could no longer be used. I tried my best to speak Mandarin. Although my pronunciation was a little poor, I kept one principle: I must speak words that others can understand. I must not use the native slang of my hometown. My reason for mentioning this is not to discourage those who do not speak perfect Mandarin. What I mean is that you must try your best to practice speaking clearly, to raise your voice so that everyone can hear and understand what you are saying. We must learn to care for others’ ears. In principle, we must learn to coordinate with each other.
The first verse in the Bible which proves that we need to coordinate with each other in speaking in the meetings is Ephesians 5:19, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.” Here it does not say, “All speaking in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” It says, “Speaking to one another.” This means that when you speak you must care for others. Since it is “to one another,” there is a mutual relationship. When there is such a mutual caring there will be harmony and not confusion.
The second verse in the Bible which proves that we need to coordinate with each other in speaking in the meetings is Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” Here the thought of speaking to one another is most precious. It does not refer to ordinary speaking, but to teaching and admonishing. It continues, “...singing with grace in your hearts to God.” Suddenly it turns from speaking to men to singing to God. When we speak, we speak to one another. This is man to man. Then at a certain point, it is no longer man to man, but man to God. The speaking up to such a point will surely produce hymns for singing to God.
The word “to” in “singing...to God” is very meaningful. In the meeting, you speak and I listen, I speak and you listen. Everyone is speaking to one another. As our speaking becomes joyful and exciting, our words are changed into praises. Then everyone’s speaking will change direction, and we will all be praising God together. Those who have even a little experience of the meetings know that if for a period of time after the start of the meeting everyone speaks, then the spirit of that meeting will issue in everyone praising. At this time, you and I should stop our speaking to one another, and our whole direction should turn to God and to praising God.
We all must learn to follow the flow of the meeting. We must not stand up to speak after everyone has already turned to praising God. If we do, the spirit in the meeting will be killed. The more we speak, the more the brothers and sisters will feel suffocated. All our speaking and prayer in the meeting are for cultivating the spirit, uplifting the spirit, supporting the spirit, and causing the spirit to rise. They should not kill the spirit. This is a fine work. Those of us who attend the meetings regularly have no choice but to learn this fine work. Otherwise our meetings will not have a fresh flavor and, meeting after meeting, will cause people to lose interest.