In Ephesians 4:12 “the perfecting of the saints” is primarily a matter of feeding. Only with the proper feeding can there be the proper perfecting, and only then can the saints be equipped and perfected. After the saints have grown to a certain measure, there is the need of teaching. A good part of the perfecting at that point will be the teaching. The saints are then like the child who has reached school age. Such a child should go to school to receive his education, but that does not mean that the parents no longer supervise the child. When a child is sent to school to receive a proper education, he must still have a good family to match his training at school. Only then will he be properly perfected. Our problem today is that we talk too much, yet feed too little. The feeding and the education are not well coordinated. I hope that from now on the co-workers in the various places would talk less and feed more. They should do their best to shepherd and care for the saints. As soon as we hear of anyone sick or of anyone encountering problems, we must be concerned for him, pray for him, and go to visit him. The impact that this little bit of concern, prayer, and visiting affords is far more powerful than ten messages. Although the long messages are nice to listen to, they are far inferior to the care we can give to others in their daily lives. Care can touch people’s feeling in a far deeper way than messages can. All parents spend their all for their children. In the end, the children spontaneously love their parents and are full of gratitude. I hope that all the elders would be such people, who give up everything for the saints. Although the brothers and sisters are not your children in the flesh, they are the flock entrusted to you by God as far as their spiritual life is concerned. The elders must have the compassion of a caring mother. They must be desperate to care for the Lord’s lambs.
If the co-workers and elders are such people and if every one of them would feed and perfect others in this way, the ones perfected by them will eventually do the same work. Because the saints are under their care and because they enjoy and experience this work of grace, spontaneously they will give themselves to join in this work of grace which they enjoy. At the same time, the expression of love which flows out from the serving ones will become the example for the ones served. When a mother loves her child, the love expresses itself spontaneously in her living and becomes an example to the child. If the elders and co-workers would love the saints like a mother who loves her child and would render a loving, willing service to them, feeding them mouth-to-mouth and teaching them face-to-face, then when the saints are perfected, they will be just like the co-workers and elders; every one of them will be able to do the work that the co-workers and elders do.
The meetings with only one speaking and all the rest listening do not have the mouth-to-mouth feeding or the face-to-face teaching. This is why these meetings cannot perfect people and do not produce spiritual descendants. Now the new way has replaced the old way. The purpose for this change is that all the saints may be perfected and that they all may become useful persons. At present, in the church in Taipei there are four thousand people attending the weekly bread-breaking meetings. If all these ones were perfected and everyone could do the work of the co-workers and elders, the situation would be marvelous.
Actually, the work of perfecting is not very difficult. It all depends on whether or not we have the heart to do it. In the past, the help we rendered to people came mostly by delivering messages in the meetings. Although there is some use in this, it can never perfect others. To this day, our greatest lack is in the shepherding. Once we develop a gap in this work, it is difficult to retain people. And even if people are retained, it is difficult to perfect them. We know that no university can train professionals by merely inviting famous speakers to give lectures. The lectures can at most enlarge the vision of the students. The help actually rendered to students depends on the scheduled classes and the teaching by the professors. The elders among us have mostly been involved with the arrangement of affairs, such as the setting of meeting times. There is a lack of feeding and teaching. It is impossible to perfect others this way.
Most of you have been in the Lord’s service for many years. I believe that you understand what I am saying by just this little word. If you have a heart for the Lord, from now on you should have a revival every day to live the overcoming life, to consecrate everything for the Lord, and to strive to redeem every bit of time to contact people. Care for the saints one by one. Do not hope to contact too many people all at once. The most effective way is the slow and sure way. During the three years that I worked in Chefoo, from 1940 to 1942, I purposely set aside a small room in the meeting hall and converted it into a kitchen. I asked a brother to stay there as the cook and do nothing except prepare meals. Every weekday evening on which there was no meeting, I invited ten or twenty brothers and sisters to come and eat. During that time, I talked with them one by one. In this way, I made contact with every one of the few hundred brothers and sisters. By sitting down with them, chatting with them, and getting acquainted with them, I began to have a clear impression about them. This kind of concern touches people the deepest and affects them the most. If we only have preaching and do not have this care and concern, the words preached will have only a limited effect upon people. But after we care for people in this way, when they come to listen to us, the words they hear will have twice as much effect on them. Another important thing to do is to contact people before and after the meetings. After a message, if we would go and talk to the people, the results would be twice as great as our present results. But if we merely preach without contacting people, the results will be half as great, and our words are liable to be empty and impractical. Only when we contact others do we know where they are. A doctor cannot prescribe medicine just by listening to some reports about a patient. He must have personal contact with the patient and talk to him before he can write out a prescription.
I hope that all the co-workers and elders would learn to do their best to contact people. Even if they are very busy, they should still contact people. If you contact one person a day, in a year you will have contacted 365 persons. If a church has three elders and each contacts people every day, in a year’s time they will be able to contact all the saints many times. The effect of this is much higher than giving many messages. Today there are many brothers and sisters who need help. Hence, we have to do our best to contact them, to be concerned and care for them in love, and to strive to help and shepherd them.
In all the churches, the greatest need today is not the management of affairs, nor the preaching of messages, but the feeding and teaching of the saints one by one. When we go to the saints to feed them and to teach them the truth, we should not be too legal. Perhaps on one occasion I would use Truth Lessons, chapter one; but the next time I may not necessarily use chapter two. Before we go out to shepherd the saints, we must first have a reserve supply. We should familiarize ourselves with the content of the Truth Lessons and should study them in detail. Then when we contact the brothers and sisters, we should ascertain their needs and should present the Truth Lessons to them according to their practical needs. We should read a passage together, then explain a little of what we read. This way of teaching has the element of feeding with it. It is not just teaching, but feeding as well. Teaching of this kind is much more effective than preaching a sermon. For this reason, you must learn how to care for people, how to contact people, how to visit and shepherd people, and even how to teach people face-to-face. This will produce great and lasting effects. Outwardly, we will not have the façade of a big meeting to show off, but actually, hundreds and thousands will be cared for.
I hope that the elders and co-workers would take this word of fellowship and exhortation to give their all and their time to contact and shepherd people. This was our shortage in the past. Now we must recover this matter. Only by this will the organic building up of the Body of Christ in Ephesians 4:12-16 and the meetings of mutuality in 1 Corinthians 14:26 be realized and practiced among us. For this we need a daily revival and a daily overcoming as the base. We also need a life and work that flows out from the love of the Lord, in order to maintain our victory. If we do not have a revived living or a labor in shepherding, we will not be overcoming for long; there will be no way for us to maintain our victory. What maintains us in the victory is a life and work of love toward the Lord. We need both these aspects.