In the church meeting every member should function according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 14:26 says, "What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation...Let all things be done for building up." In spite of this, many people come to the meetings as spectators. They are a heavy burden to the Body. The Lord told the Pharisees that if His disciples did not rejoice and praise God with great shouting, the rocks would cry out. It is abnormal to not function in the meeting, and this is not pleasing to the Lord. Every time you come to a meeting, you should enter into the fellowship. With every believer, there should be the flow of life. If you do not fellowship, you hinder God's life and kill the meeting. I have often asked those who come to the bread-breaking meeting whether they are coming as spectators or whether they are coming for fellowship. Anyone who hinders God's life is not only bringing death to the meeting but also bringing death upon himself. What do you contribute to your fellow members when the church gathers together?

If a member fails to function, not only do the other members suffer loss, but the member himself is impoverished. I am enriched by giving to others. When I quench others' thirst, my own thirst is quenched. This is like the Lord's experience with the woman in John 4. The Lord was thirsty, but His own thirst was satisfied when He took care of the spiritual thirst of the woman. When His disciples brought Him food, He said, "I have food to eat that you do not know about" (v. 32). He was ministered to by ministering to another. Whenever we try to satisfy ourselves, we end up being hungry. But whenever we satisfy others, we are fed. When we bear the burdens of others, our own burden becomes light.

Many people complain that this or that meeting is not good. They do not realize the kind of attitude that they have brought to the meeting. Whenever we stop functioning, we frustrate God's life. When we come to the meeting, we have to open our mouth, release life, and participate in the Body ministry. Once I was preaching in a place, and the meeting was very dead. But one of the sisters rendered a great help by responding to my words. She kept saying "amen" to my speaking and responded with much expression on her face, indicating that she was taking in my words. Because of her response, I was released and God's word was also released.

May the Lord show us that we all have a share in the meeting. It is not enough for us to speak about the Body; we have to express the Body in our living. The Body of Christ is not a doctrine; it is a reality in life. God wants us to enter into the Body life, not to have the doctrine of the Body. We have received the life of the Body, not a doctrine about the Body. Martin Luther did not receive the doctrine of justification by faith but the life of justification by faith. As a consequence his ministry was powerful. The justification that he spoke of was not a doctrine but a reality in life. Today we all must receive the revelation of the reality of the Body and enter into the life of the Body. Then we will see that we are members of the Body of Christ, that we need the protection and limitation of the Body, and that we need to function in the Body and supply other members so that the life of the Body will flow in an unhindered way.