In our study over the past five years, the Lord has shown us His ordained way for meeting and serving in the church. The God-ordained way comprises four steps: gospel preaching; the home meetings for feeding the young ones; the group meetings for shepherding, teaching, and perfecting the saints that they may be able to carry out the work of the New Testament ministry, that is, the building up of the Body of Christ; and prophesying in the church meetings. However, we have not yet found the practical way to carry out each of these steps. Our study of how to carry out door-knocking for the preaching of the gospel is not yet complete. There are very many ways to visit people by knocking on their doors, and we are still not satisfied with our present way. Likewise, we also need more study on how to feed our spiritual children in the home meetings. We know what the God-ordained way to meet and to serve is, but we do not know how to carry out that way. Therefore, we need more study.
An article in a recent newspaper reported that the Mormons have had a great success in knocking on people’s doors. They have had a good increase especially among the ethnic minority groups. In Orange County in 1980 the Mormons had only about eight hundred members from the different minority groups. Today, however, their membership in the minority groups in Orange County comprises over four thousand. They have had a five-fold increase in less than ten years. In contrast to this, the number of saints in our Chinese-speaking meetings has barely doubled since 1983. The Mormons teach one of the greatest heresies in Christianity, but they have learned the proper way to do things. In Taiwan, they have even picked up some of the terminology we use in the Lord’s recovery. They study their situations and always try to find a better way. When they go to visit Korean or Vietnamese homes, they send two Caucasians who can speak Korean or Vietnamese fluently. However, we have sent the saints out loosely. Those among us who go to visit Korean homes may not be able to speak any Korean. We trust blindly that the people in those homes can speak English, but some of them cannot. Our practice may be compared to asking a brother who has never had piano lessons to play the piano for us. This is the unlearned way. We have not learned the adequate way to carry out the God-ordained way.
The Mormon teaching is one of the greatest heresies, yet no one can deny that they have had a great success in the last century. They do not carry out their way loosely. The total number of missionaries sent out by the denominations is just over 50,000. The Mormons, however, have 40,000 missionaries in the foreign fields. Moreover, these young men have been restricted, balanced, trained, corrected, and adjusted. They are very punctual, faithful, and well-behaved. In some airports there are often two young, well-dressed Mormons. They may be Caucasian, but when a Chinese person gets off an airplane, they greet him in proper Mandarin and ask him if he needs a ride. They then take the Chinese person to his destination while they continue to speak with him. They try to learn what the person’s needs are, and they offer to help him. Even the quality of their Mandarin speech draws admiration from others.
We have not practiced the proper way because we have not had the adequate learning. We know what the God-ordained way is, but we do not have the way to carry it out. When we go to middle-class Caucasian families, we may practice to send brothers who do not speak English properly or speak with an accent. These brothers will not be properly received by those families. If we would instead send three well-dressed brothers who speak properly, the middle-class families would not refuse to open their doors to them. Some have said that visiting people for the gospel by knocking on their doors does not work, at least not in America. We should not blame God’s ordained way and say that it does not work. Rather, it is our way of carrying it out that does not work. Even the Son of God came into the world to visit people where they were, and He sent the twelve (Matt. 10:1, 5-6) and then the seventy (Luke 10:1) to visit others. This is God’s way, but we must learn the proper way to carry it out. We have not yet seen the real issue of the God-ordained way because our way to carry it out is not satisfactory. This is why we have concluded that we need more study.
Some have said that to build up the church we do not need the work. They claim that we need only a proper living as a testimony. However, Paul not only worked, but he labored (Col. 1:29a), struggled (Col. 1:29b), and strived (Phil. 1:27). Struggle and strive are expressions used in relation to athletics. The Greek word for struggle can also be translated wrestle. In his work Paul considered himself an Olympic athlete. The New Testament also likens Christians to farmers (2 Tim. 2:6). A farmer who is lazy or who does not know how to farm cannot be successful. Farmers must learn much. They must learn about the seasons and the weather. They also must work diligently day and night. They must have the way, and they must also have diligence and wisdom.
We have been too loose in our way. The old way of Christianity not only annuls the function of the members of the Body of Christ but also makes everyone lazy. In the denominations it is sufficient to go to a meeting and leave an offering. A preacher is hired to work for the members. However, this is not the way of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ does not hire anyone. Rather, it should stir up everyone to learn the way to meet and to serve.