THE NEED FOR LEADERSHIP NOT LEADERS
The most difficult aspect of the group meeting is the matter of leadership. We do not need any leader in the group meeting, but there is the need for leadership. We all must learn to take care of the meeting yet not have the thought that we are leaders. In the home the mother does not consider herself as a leader, yet she realizes that she needs to take care of the family. When the mother is gone, the older children spontaneously pick up the responsibility to take care of the family. When one of us goes to a group meeting, he should not consider himself as a leader; he should not consider himself as being better than others. However, he must feel that he has the responsibility to take care of that meeting.
Someone may ask, “Suppose fifteen come together, and each one has the feeling that he has to take care of that meeting. Wouldn’t there be too many leaders?” Not at all. I would like to see fifteen come together and there be fifteen leaders. This would be marvelous! This means that every saint is bearing the responsibility for that meeting. They are not only functioning in the meeting but also bearing the meeting. How much someone can do in bearing a meeting depends upon the capacity that the Lord has measured to him, but as long as he has such a burden, he will surely do his best to serve the meeting. Whatever he has and whatever he can do according to his capacity will be poured out. Then the meeting will be rich.
Do not say to yourself, “I am not the one responsible for this meeting. It is not up to me to make this a good meeting, and if it is a bad meeting, it is not my fault.” This kind of attitude is wrong. When you come to any Christian meeting, you must have the feeling, the realization, that you must take care of the meeting. This is the best aspect of the new way. The new way stirs up the believers to care for God’s interest. In the new way, every saint has the feeling, the realization, that he is responsible for the meeting.
Many things can be done when there is a “gap,” or silence, in the meeting. What you can do depends upon your capacity. Whether your capacity is large or small does not matter. A new one may ask, “I have heard you talk about God’s economy. What do you mean by this?” This is actually a very deep question, yet a young one can also give a very good answer. He may say, “God’s economy is just to make sinners His children.” This is a good teaching out of the mouth of one that has been saved about four weeks. He was a sinner, and He became one of God’s children. According to his knowledge, God’s economy is simply to make sinners His children. This is such a simple answer, yet many may learn from it.
Regardless of my spiritual maturity, as long as I do not hold back what God has given me to speak, I have fulfilled my responsibility, and the meeting will be enriched. If every saint has this realization, all the riches within them will be ministered to the other members of the Lord’s Body according to each saint’s capacity.
(The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, Chapter 28, by Witness Lee)
