SPENDING OUR TIME IN A WISE MANNER IN CARING FOR THE NEW BELIEVERS
Sometimes the new believers may ask you to engage in their sports activities. In principle, you should first determine whether or not you have the time. Then you should decide whether or not your intention is to be with that new believer or to participate in the sports activity. If you simply want to engage in the sports activity, you have fallen into another realm. Your burden should be to seize the opportunity to spend time with the new believer in order to talk with him, perhaps to and from the sporting activity. If you do not have the time to do this, but want to spend some time with the new believer, you may suggest another time to get together with him. He may want to spend time with you, but you should not spend yourself or your time in a vain manner. Whenever you spend time with the new believers, you should take the opportunity to render some help to them spiritually.
PREPARING FOR THE HOME MEETINGS
Before visiting the new ones in the home meetings, some time should be given for preparation. In that time of preparation, there should be some fellowship among the members of the visiting team concerning the goal of the home meeting. You should not go to the home meetings without a definite purpose. Of course, you should not make your purpose a legality, without any flexibility. However, regardless of how flexible you are, you must have a purpose with a goal.
CARING FOR THE HOME MEETING ACCORDING TO ITS ATMOSPHERE
The way we care for a home meeting—the hymns we sing and the verses we read—should be according to the particular atmosphere of that home meeting. To begin a home meeting by singing a hymn without raising up a proper atmosphere is to practice a religious way. To just sing a hymn is something of religion. To our general understanding, to open a meeting with a song is not wrong. But according to our recent learning and practice over the last few years, this kind of practice is wrong. This religious practice may only confirm the new one’s past understanding of Christianity.
CARING FOR THE HOME MEETINGS IN A LIVING, INSPIRING, AND UNVEILING WAY
The way we open a meeting must be living and spontaneous, free from any kind of religion. Whether we pray, call a hymn, open the Scriptures, or ask the new one to speak something, we must do it in a living way, having prepared the atmosphere. It may be that before a certain hymn is sung, one of the brothers or sisters may first read something from the Word. The other attendants may feel to reread this portion of the Word. Then someone may expound this portion of the Word with one or two sentences. Following this, there may be some pray-reading of this portion. To finish this kind of reading may take ten minutes. Such reading will impress the new one with something living and prepare him for getting into the hymn. In this way, his participation is something more than merely singing a hymn.
Whatever we do in all kinds of meetings must be living, stirring, and something the Spirit can use to inspire and unveil something to people concerning the mystery of God. We should do nothing merely as a religious activity. To help people to be revived or to love the Bible can also be a religious activity which is common in Christianity. This kind of work is very general. But to read and sing a hymn such as #537 in Hymns concerning Christ being so subjective would impress a new believer in a particular way. To stress that Christ is subjective is something really new to Christians in Christianity. Christ is not only a historical person who is merely objective; rather, the Christ who is our Savior is so subjective. To help a new one with such a particular subject is to care for the home meetings in a living, stirring, and unveiling way, free from any religion.
The new way is something living and altogether outside of religion. The new way is unveiling, revealing, and inspiring. The new way is not a work in the style or form of any type of religion. It is something altogether in the reality of life. When you minister Christ, stressing His being subjective, not only will the new one receive some help, but also those who are taking care of the home meeting with you will receive some help.
(The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, Chapter 20, by Witness Lee)
