THE EQUIPPING NEEDED FOR LEADING A HOME MEETING
The second step of the new way is leading the home meetings. It is very simple for someone to lead a large meeting, because he just has to follow a certain procedure step by step and everything will go well. It is not so simple, however, to lead a home meeting. We must be properly equipped if we desire to take the lead in a home meeting. First, we must be those who love the Lord to such an extent that like Mary we are willing to break our flask of alabaster for the Lord.
Next, we must be those who pray and fellowship with the Lord. Loving the Lord is not a slogan; it must be expressed in a practical way. If we really love the Lord, we will certainly have fellowship and be in union with Him every day. We will tell Him, “Lord, I belong to You. I love You.” Inwardly, we will always have a feeling that although our body is in the world, we are neither of the world nor for the world. Although I am an old man, I still frequently say, “Lord Jesus, I love You.” Every time I think of Him and call His name, I am so rapturous, as if I am flying in the air, and I feel sweet and refreshed. This is the spontaneous living of one who loves the Lord. Even though we might still go to work, do our business, or study as usual, we are different from others because inwardly we have nothing but the Lord Jesus. The only things we think about and care for are the Lord and His interests.
Next, we must be those who read the Lord’s Word. In order to lead the home meetings, we must be equipped with the Lord’s Word. It should not be that we read it only when we are interested, and if we are not interested, we do not touch it for three months. Instead, we must read it regularly every day to enjoy the Spirit and life in the Lord’s Word daily. Inwardly we all hate sin and desire to be freed from sin. We were born in sin, our nature is sin, and the environment around us is all sin, so it is not so easy for us to be completely delivered from sin. However, because of the Lord’s love, we desire to be freed from sin. When we feel that we have been contaminated, we can apply the Lord’s precious blood and ask God to forgive and wash away our sins based on our confession and according to His faithfulness and righteousness (1 John 1:7, 9). Thus, we live before the Lord and are joined to Him every day by loving Him, fellowshipping with Him, praying to Him, reading His Word, hating sin, and confessing our sins with repentance.
In this way, the Lord’s presence in us will be rich and increasing, and the Lord will give us a burden to love the brothers and sisters and the people in the world. This is like the call which the Lord gave at the Sea of Tiberias: “Do you love Me more than these? Feed My lambs. Shepherd My little sheep” (John 21:16-17). Do we love the Lord? If we really love Him, we should go to our friends’ and neighbors’ homes and minister Him to them. There are so many people in the world who have not heard the gospel. We must preach the Lord Jesus to them. This is the burden given to us by the Lord, and we must receive it.
After we have been equipped in the matters mentioned above, we will be qualified to go out door-knocking. In addition, there is one thing that we must pay attention to; we must learn from those who know how to go out door-knocking. Everything has its technique or secret, so we must learn. The Bible also tells us to learn. Paul reminded Timothy that he should know from whom he had learned things (2 Tim. 3:14). He also exhorted Timothy to take the things he had heard from Paul and commit them to faithful men, who would be competent to teach others also (2:2). However, if we do not first have the proper equipping mentioned above, even if we learn all the techniques, it will be useless. We will be like monkeys imitating humans, having only an outward show but no life, and therefore will not be able to truly minister to people.
The Chinese say, “There are no teachers of great masters, only students of great masters.” If we want to be like “students of the great masters,” besides loving the Lord, being joined to Him, and fellowshipping with Him, we must daily read the Word, pray, hate sin, confess our sins, and deal with sins. We must also receive a burden from the Lord to preach the gospel and be willing to learn from those who know.
From my youth I studied in American schools and learned the customs of my teachers, but in my hometown I did not dare speak English or wear Western clothes for fear of being criticized. More than thirty years ago I came to Taiwan to begin the Lord’s work. When I gave messages on the platform, I still wore the Chinese long gown and short jacket. Now, however, those who criticized others have also changed and are all wearing Western clothes. They have received the new things. In the same way, I believe that in thirty years Taipei will be filled with home meetings, and all will be functioning, all will open their mouths, and all will be able to do these things that we are now doing. They will be born into this way and will be raised up and grow in this way, so they will be able to do the same things.
(The Furtherance of the New Way for the Lord's Recovery, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)
