Although this is a common way in today's Christianity, this is not the way shown in the Bible. The biblical way is to spread life. Human multiplication is an example of this. Human multiplication goes on year after year, and by this multiplication human life spreads. It is not by any method, but by life. God's ordained way is not the way of a great facade or of great achievement. It is the way of life spreading.

The new way annuls the way of facade in Christianity. We must give up the thought of having a big congregation. We must forget about this kind of thing. As long as we still have this thought within us, we are in the tradition of Christianity. Today in the United States, there are approximately sixty-five million Protestants. But some of the leaders of these major denominations have said that they are short of workers. The reason for this is that nearly all of the people are considered as "laymen." They have never been developed and trained; therefore, they do not know how to speak, preach, and often do not even know how to pray. When there is a need for prayer, they may ask a pastor to come and take care of this matter for them. This has been the result of the way of Christianity in keeping a facade. But in the recovery, though the number is small, nearly everyone can pray. Some pastors in Christianity who have come among us have been surprised that most of the attendants in our meetings can pray.

There is a big difference between the God-ordained way and the traditional way. The God-ordained way absolutely annuls the facade of the traditional way. In saying this I do not mean that we should not have any big meetings. In Acts 20, Paul passed through Troas and stayed there for seven days. On the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, Paul held a big meeting and spoke for the whole night. This is an example of a special meeting for a gifted person such as the apostle Paul to function for the perfecting of the saints. Such meetings are needed, but we cannot make the regular meetings of the church like this. The regular meetings of the church should be for the universal prophesying.

The traditional way of meeting, in which one speaks and the rest listen, has drugged us. An indication of our having been drugged by the traditional way can be seen in the way we enter into the meeting hall. When entering the meeting hall, often everyone becomes very silent and remains silent throughout the meeting. We should enter into the meeting hall in a different way. We could enter in by saying, "Praise the Lord! Amen! Lord Jesus, I am here, and I know that You are here, too. Hallelujah! Amen! Lord, bless us. Bless this building and fill this hall with Yourself, with Your presence, with Your grace, with Your love, with Your kindness, with Your light, and with Your life." If everyone would come into the meeting in this exercised way, the meeting would be in the heavens. A meeting in which we all speak Christ to one another will be living, rich, uplifted, strengthening, and glorifying. This is a proper Christian meeting.

We mentioned that in a recent conference in the Southeast, the saints used outlines for their speaking. But the practice of using outlines is like using a "cane." The use of such a cane is needed because we still cannot walk very well. After a while, we will not need the cane. Eventually, when everyone is regularly contacting the Lord and having enjoyment in the Word, they will gain an accumulation of the experiences of Christ and a living storage of the living word of Christ. Thus, everyone will be rich. When we come together in this state, everyone will have something to present from the storehouse in their being.

The God-ordained way, negatively speaking, kills and annuls the traditional way. But positively, the God-ordained way develops each one's life gift, life function, and life capacity. As long as you are a Christian, you have the eternal life, and this life has the highest capacity, ability, gift, talent, and function. But we need to see that the growth and spreading of life is gradual. For example, the grass in our yards grows and spreads gradually. If we sow grass seeds in our yard today and go back to see it the next day, it seems that the yard is about the same. Every day for many days it seems the same. But eventually, after a number of months, a beautiful lawn full of green grass will cover our yard.

The spreading of life needs a certain amount of time and labor. If you do not till the ground, sow the seed, water, and add fertilizer, the seeds may not grow well. You cannot just sow the seed, go home to sleep, and expect that the seeds will grow properly. In a sense, the seeds grow on their own, but in another sense, there is still the need of proper care, fertilizing, and watering. Paul said, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God made to grow" (1 Cor. 3:6). Thus, there is the need of proper, adequate labor with a sufficient amount of patience.