In principle, every New Testament believer must be “crazy,” ecstatic. This is according to the teaching of the New Testament. Ephesians 5 charges us to be filled in our spirit with the Triune God as the life-giving Spirit. Colossians 3 tells us we need to be filled with the word of Christ. We have to be filled with these two elements every day. Both Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 say that since we are so full, we will sing and speak in psalms (long poems), hymns (shorter ones), and spiritual songs (the shortest). When we are filled with the word and the Spirit, we are “crazy.” It is similar to how a person would feel if he just won a prize of ten million dollars. He would be ecstatic, “crazy.” Such a person is different from a formal, religious preacher. In the traditional and religious way of worship, there is no ecstasy, no “craziness,” no Spirit, and no word. In this old way, the Spirit is “in the heavens” and the word is in the Bible, but they are not in us. When these two factors—the Spirit and the word—are within us, they make us crazy. We become like an “electrical toy.” When the electricity is turned on, the electrical toy becomes “crazy” with electricity. We all need to be crazy people who are electrified by the Spirit and the word.
When we go to the home of some new believers in this way to have a home meeting with them, we are full of joy. We will be saying, “Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!” When we get there, we will be singing. The new ones may hear us singing outside their door. When we come in, they can join us. Thus, the home meeting started before we arrived at their house. With those who have recently been baptized, we should use the time to impress them that the Lord Jesus is in them. We need to strengthen their understanding of the Lord’s presence within them.
In a home meeting, the wife may ask a question concerning a statue of Buddha in her home. She may say, “Before I was baptized two weeks ago, I was happy whenever I saw that statue. Now I am not happy. What is this?” Then we may respond, “You feel this way because that is an idol, and the Devil is involved with it. He is the enemy of Jesus.” Then her husband may ask, “Is this true?” We may say, “Surely it’s true. We didn’t have a chance to tell you this.” Then the husband would make the decision to smash this idol into pieces, and we would encourage him to do so right away. This is an example of what it means to nourish and cherish our spiritual children. Eventually, we can lead the new believers to go with us to another home for a group meeting.
The ecstatic way, the “crazy” way, will always make people happy. It always cherishes people. The God-ordained way revealed in the Bible saves us from any formality and religious background. But we have to be filled up. We should not go out with a “flat tire.” All of our “four tires” must be full of air. We need to be like a ball full of air. If someone touches us, we will “bounce” over them.
Now we need to consider how to have the group meetings. As we have said, we Christians should be “crazy” all the time. We should be “crazy” with the Lord, filled up with His Spirit and His word. Then we will attend any meeting in a “crazy” way. We should not go to a meeting like a “flat tire,” without being filled with the Spirit and the word. This is why we need to have a new revival every morning so that we can be revived persons. Then we need to continue to exercise our spirit to be overcoming and victorious every day. We need to attend every meeting as revived persons.
The meeting should actually start before we leave our home. We should go to the group gathering singing and praying. While we are on the way to meet with the saints, we may sing, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I have passed the riven veil, Here the glories never fail” (Hymns, #551). When we arrive at the meeting place, what shall we do? According to our old way, we would sit there in silence and wait for the meeting to begin. But the “crazy way” is not like that. We should start the meeting in our home, singing and praying in the car on the way. When we come into the meeting place, we should continue to pray. When others come, they can join our prayer.
After the prayer, someone may share that a certain brother lost his job today. This is fellowship. Then there can be some prayer for this brother. The fellowship brings in the interceding, the interceding brings in the mutual care, and the mutual care brings in the practical shepherding. After praying for the brother who lost his job, someone may ask what his profession is. Then another brother may say that his company needs such a person. This is an example of mutual care and shepherding. We have to practice this. This will make everyone living. Everyone feels free and has the boldness to share something.
(A Summary of the Study of the New Testament Way of Christian Service, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)