Presently, the saints are not being brought into function, but they are all gathering together. We have many “hens occupying the roosts but not laying eggs.” If those who occupy the roosts would step aside, other hens would be able to lay eggs. This is the purpose of our fellowship. In order for the saints to be brought into function, both our concept and our disposition must change. Then the way we work will also change. When our way changes, we will be able to bring the saints into function.
We are not able to push the work forward; we can only maintain our condition. In addition, there is no possibility for the work to spread. During the past four years, we have reached our capacity. The co-workers and elders in the churches and the work have reached their capacity. The work cannot spread, because of their disposition and way of working. Consequently, the things in their hands are always limited. This is the situation of the church in Taipei. This situation will continue unless the co-workers and elders are willing to change their disposition, concept, and system. Even if they try to do more and also preach the gospel, our number will not exceed three thousand saints, because all the service is in the hands of the co-workers and elders; that is, a few hens are occupying the roosts. The co-workers and elders must change their concept. If they do not change their concept, they must at least change the system. To change the system means to remove the co-workers, elders, and responsible ones. This does not mean that the elders will no longer administrate the church. The elders will continue to administrate the church but not in the present way. If they are willing to delegate the service, others will be brought into function. The saints will spontaneously begin to handle the church affairs. When the parents are away and no one prepares dinner, spontaneously the children rise up to feed themselves. In this way, the capacity of the saints will be manifested.
The co-workers, elders, and responsible ones need to be enlightened and receive this frank word. If I do not speak frankly, I am deceiving you. We have reached our capacity. Regardless of how much harder we work, we will not increase. A container can hold only so much water. We do not need to add more water; rather, we need to expand the capacity of the container. We do not bring the saints into function, because we unconsciously think that they are limited in their capacity but that we are not. Although we do not say this explicitly, we harbor this thought unconsciously. This is the reason that the saints cannot be brought into the service. We must consider these matters before the Lord.
Furthermore, the co-workers work merely for the sake of working. They do not have a genuine burden for the work. The administration by the elders is merely organization without shepherding. This is our present situation. We recently held a conference in a gymnasium, and all the co-workers were present. That should have been an opportunity for them to serve. Since the co-workers did not bear the responsibility of giving the messages and many new ones were at the conference, the co-workers should have risen up. We must be equipped with a spirit to contact the saints immediately after a meeting. However, there was no burden for the saints. This was the case not only with the co-workers but also with the elders. The elders should be aware of the saints who have not been meeting for a long time and welcome them when they come to a meeting. For this reason, the elders should take care of visiting the saints.
Our way and our system led to our present situation. We have fallen into a state of working and doing things without a burden. Most of the saints in the conference were serving ones. It was the best opportunity for them to serve. However, no new ones were added. We use methods and have regulations to the point that no one will do anything without being directed. One day we will fall completely into organization, method, and arrangement instead of walking according to the spirit, and no one will have a living burden and do things in a living way.
The elders in the church in Taipei carry out the administration of the church in a very good way. However, they spend most of their time discussing church affairs, not shepherding and teaching. The administration of the church, according to the Bible, should focus on shepherding and teaching. The elders should spend more of their time on people, shepherding the saints and seeking the lost ones. The saints have stopped coming to the meetings because our shepherding is poor and our work is not living. In the work we should not rely on methods or arrangements. If we do, it will be difficult to propagate the work.