ATTRACTION TO THE CHURCH LIFE
Three things will attract people to the church: our daily walk, the rich meetings, and the proper communal life. I believe that these three things will bring in the increase. The increase should come in this way, rather than by the means of preaching. (However, this does not mean that we should not preach; we must preach a great deal.) We must have a daily walk that is uplifted; meetings that are high, living, and rich; and a communal life that is pure, yet full of enjoyment. This will attract our relatives, friends, neighbors, and classmates into the church life. I hope that all the churches with all the saints will devote their attention to these three things.
PRESENTING THE TRUTHS OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY
In addition to these matters, there is the need for us all to be trained to present the truths. We all must learn the things related to the Lord’s recovery in such a way that we shall be able to present them to others. In other words, we must learn how to present what we are enjoying in the Lord’s recovery. For example, many Christians do not know what the church is. Some think a chapel, cathedral, or bungalow with a high tower is a church. On Sunday mornings many speak of going to church. Others refer to their church as the church on a particular street, indicating thereby that they do not know what the church really is. Therefore, we ourselves must know what the church is and then learn how to present to others the truth in a pleasant, convincing, and attractive manner. Whenever we are asked anything, we must be ready to answer. First Peter 3:15 says that we must be "ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." Suppose someone asks you who the pastor of the church in Anaheim is, and you answer, "Every one of us is a pastor!" That would not be a proper answer; for it would cause others to think that you are not willing to talk to them. Even a simple question such as this is not easy to answer. In order to answer such a question properly, we must exercise both our spirit and our mind.
We need to learn how to present things to people in a pleasant way, in a way that is convincing, subduing, and captivating. Whenever people ask us a question, that is an opportunity to catch them. To do this, we must learn how to share with them in a complete way. If someone asks you what it means to turn to the spirit, that is an excellent opportunity to capture him by sharing something with him. We all must learn to do this. At present most of us are not strong in this matter. Hence, we need to speak convincingly when others ask us questions. Take every question as an opportunity to catch a fish. But this requires a great deal of training. About thirty years ago I spent much time in this kind of training in the church in my hometown, and it worked very well.
Suppose someone asks you a difficult or nonsensical question. Do not reply in an offensive manner. Rather, answer in a way that will calm down the other party. This is the way to catch people. It is possible to talk to people for hours without touching the thing about which they have inquired. Do not be bothered if they ask nonsensical questions, but use the opportunity to inject something positive into them. Do not let them go until they have received a good injection. Some Christians may ask why our meetings are so loud. Do not say, "We are all excited because Jesus is our enjoyment. We all eat Jesus. Eating Jesus is the way!" Some of our young people have answered in just this way. Instead of responding in this manner, answer in a way to soften the one who has asked the question. As you talk with him, give him an injection. Whether he agrees or disagrees, the injection will get into him.
Our locality is our fishing pond, and every day we are surrounded by fish. For this reason, I am burdened that all the churches train the saints to present what we are enjoying. If, when you are asked a question, you always say, "I don’t know," you are not useful. It is not an easy thing to say, "I don’t know." Many of us cannot say these words, will not say them, or do not know how to say them. We must learn the right time to say, "I don’t know." Then these words will be useful.
(The Spirit and the Body, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee)
