Following this, we have to go on to consider how the small group meetings should be conducted. According to the organic practice of the new way, the small group meetings must be organic. In order to show you what is organic, I must first show you another blueprint of what it is to be non-organic. The non-organic way is the way of a worship service. A worship service is for worshipping God. This is good. But the set of religious formalities that have to be carried out is not good. The meetings in Christianity, especially the worship hour on the Lord’s Day, whether in the West or in the East, all consist of some prescribed procedures and programs. Before the meeting, a printed program that was prepared ahead of time is passed out to every attendant. On it is printed the name of the leader of the songs, the prayers, the reading of the Scriptures, and the names of the preachers. All these activities are performed by the professionals who have been trained. The congregation has nothing to do. They only sit there. There is no need to labor, and everyone is spared the trouble. This kind of worship neither affords the enlightening, the supply, nor the edification or the perfecting, much less the building up of the church. This is a vain worship service, and it annuls God’s eternal purpose and the New Testament economy.
What then is not a worship service? To be organic is opposed to a worship service. The small group meeting has to be organic. It should not be in the way of a worship service. However, I must say that even today, at least over half of our small groups are still in the way of a worship service rather than in an organic way. Most of the small group meetings have a set time for starting the meeting. When the time comes, the people come and sit. They look at the clock and at the leading brothers. After a while, some brother calls a hymn for singing. Then some prayers follow. After the prayers, everyone waits for one another again. Gradually, some reluctantly begin to say something. At a certain point, a brother would say that now is the time for sharing. Only then will everyone share a little. In the end, all the meetings follow the same pattern. Although there is no program sheet, in reality the programs are all there. The only difference is that they are not printed. Although there are the prayers, the fellowship, the mutual care, the studying of the truth, and the enlightening in life, the way is still that of the worship service. There is the lack of the organic flavor. Even when there is some organic flavor, it is very weak.
The real small group is organic. It is not a worship service. Organically speaking, the small group meeting begins at the latest from our homes. From that time on, we begin to pray. While we are on the way, we rejoice and praise. It is like what the psalmist says, that we are glad when others say to us, let us go into the house of the Lord (Psa. 122:1). When we arrive at the meeting place, we do not care whether there are people there already; we simply begin to pray and to praise. If other brothers and sisters come in, they spontaneously join in. Some can also give testimonies or discuss questions related to the truth. Another may come in with problems which he opens up in fellowship for mutual intercession and help.
This kind of meeting does not follow a set rule. Everything is organic. Any question can be raised up in this meeting. The answers should not come from some specialists. Every attendant is a learner, and every attendant is also a teacher. The amount one speaks depends on the amount he has. But everyone has something. Hence, every one should share that little bit that he has. When sharing his portion, no one should give long stories, and no one should take up too much time. If a question is raised up, and there are seven or eight answers with a word of some weight and experience at the end, the whole thing will only take about ten minutes, and the question will be thoroughly discussed. If it is a question that concerns the truth, everyone will have learned something. If it is one that concerns life, everyone will be stirred up to pursue after it. When a new one attends this kind of meeting ten times or more, he will also become organic in less than three months.
In this kind of small group meetings, every attendant is living. Spontaneously, everyone will be a priest. The gospel is preached, the new ones are brought in, the questions are answered, the truth is learned, and there is mutual fellowship and care. Hence, within one small group meeting, everything is there; the content is all-inclusive. For this reason, a small group meeting should last for at least an hour and half. If it is shorter, it will not be a good meeting. I am describing a little to you to show you that the small group meeting is not a worship service. It is a picture of the daily life of a Christian. It is natural, and it is not peculiar at all.
Today I have to cry out aloud and declare that the Lord Jesus worked on earth for three and a half years. Not once did He attend a worship service. Never did He call a meeting. Rather, He was conducting a small group in an organic way. This small group comprised the twelve disciples, with Peter, James, and John being among them. He did not have a set date of meeting, nor did He have a set time and place. He was living together with the disciples, teaching and leading them along the way. If you do not understand what an organic small group is, just look at what the Lord Jesus did with the disciples during the three and a half years and you will understand.
Today, for the sake of convenience, our meeting should have a proper date, time, and place. But we should not bring in elements of a worship service. Do not come together for a worship service and at the same time neglect your living. We are not Christians for a worship service. We are Christians for a living. When we, the ordinary Christians, come together to meet with no intention of having a worship service and having no set procedures, all the brothers and sisters who attend will have the opportunity to develop the spiritual function within them. In this way, meeting by meeting, we will receive some good perfecting, and the gifts will be developed (Eph. 4:11-12). In the end, everyone will be able to do what he is supposed to do.
In the past, the old system of meeting did not afford the Holy Spirit the opportunity to develop the gifts within the saints. At the same time, it annulled the spiritual function of the saints. It only caused people to sit through the meetings with their mouths shut, listening to others speaking, while they themselves never had their spiritual gifts developed. Now we have the organic practice of the new way. All the opportunities are there before everyone. Whosoever will can make it. There is something within everyone. As long as they will speak meeting by meeting, sooner or later, everything will be manifested. Every time we have this organic small group meeting, everyone learns, and everyone teaches. You will perfect me, and I will perfect you. In the end, everyone will open their mouths, and everyone will become useful.