TAKING THE SHEPHERDING WAY
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND REVIVE THE CHURCH

SERIES THREE
TAKING THE SHEPHERDING WAY
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND REVIVE THE CHURCH

Message Six
Contacting People One by One

Scripture Reading:

John 4:3-4    He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria.

7       There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give Me something to drink.

THE PERSONAL CONTACT WITH PEOPLE
BUILDING UP THE BODY OF CHRIST

The practice of the New Testament priesthood of the gospel does not depend mainly upon gatherings with good speakers. This practice altogether depends upon the functioning of all the members of the Body of Christ to contact people individually, one by one.

Our priestly duty and labor are mainly in the visiting and contacting of people.…The saints should be absolutely freed to contact people. The full-timers need to spend all of their time getting themselves educated in the holy Word and contacting people. I encourage the full-timers to spend two hours every day with the Lord in His Word. Then they should use the rest of the time for contacting people one by one.

Not Despising the Individual Contact with People

We should not despise the individual contact with people. As long as we do not practice the New Testament priesthood of the gospel by contacting people one by one, we are still somewhat remaining in the papal and clergy-laity systems. In Christianity a small number of the ones who are brought to Christ go to seminaries to learn how to be the clergy. They do not have the thought that they have been saved and regenerated and are being sanctified and transformed as the living members of the Body of Christ. It is easier to practice the old, organizational clergy-laity system than it is to gain people one by one and present them as sacrifices to God.

We have to endeavor to pick up our “fork” and throw away our “chopsticks.” To pick up the fork is to pick up the practice of contacting people one by one.…Contacting people one by one saves us from building up a religion. This personal contact with people builds up the Body of Christ. This is a very serious matter. The only thing that bothers me, burdens me, and troubles me is that the elders and co-workers are not so absolute, adequate, and quick in changing to the new way. Our practice of the new way thus far has just about maintained our present number in the churches. Actually, there has not been enough advance, increase, or growth. (Elders’ Training, Book 11: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (3), ch. 10)

Instead of Seeking to Gain Many People in a Short Time,
Our Needing to Work on One Person at a Time

Mankind is reproduced one child at a time. There is no need to call a big meeting and teach people how to reproduce. Revival meetings and meetings for cultivating spirituality are the way of Christianity. We do not depend on that way. Rather, we contact people one by one and save people one by one. After we gain one person, we teach him to contact his close friends. Every one of us has several good friends, who become our contacts for the gospel. Instead of seeking to gain many people in a short time, we should work on one person at a time. This way of laboring seems to be slow, but it is actually rather fast and effective.

THE WAY OF GAINING ONE PERSON AT A TIME BEING SOLID

The way of gaining one person at a time is solid, and the persons gained will be steadfast, remaining fruit (John 15:16). Trying to gain many people at once can be compared to sewing a garment with eight needles. We may desire to be fast, but in the end we accomplish nothing. It is better to sew slowly with one needle and finish the garment. To contact people one by one is a good way to begin the gospel work in the schools. We are more likely to succeed by beginning the work in this way.

The Lord’s Work Taking Shape by Contacting People One by One

We need to gain a person so that he takes this way, before we contact a second person. This is the way we gain one person, a second person, and so on. This may seem slow, but it is steady. There is no need to draw attention to our work. We simply gain people one by one.

We can wait at the gate of a school at the end of the day and approach the students who are walking out. We can greet them, converse with them, give them a gospel tract, and walk with them for a short distance to get to know them. We might not gain anyone today, but we can go again tomorrow. After three or four days, we will gain someone. Gradually, by contacting people one by one in this way, the Lord’s work will take shape.

We should never attempt to take shortcuts in our labor for the Lord. We do not gain any results by taking shortcuts in an attempt to have an easy time. Our labor is not to have an easy time but to gain results. The more effective a work is, the more difficulty it will bring. For example, a farmer spends a lot of time sowing seeds. The more he labors, the more produce there will be, but the more difficulty he will have. A work that has no difficulties is a work that has no results. This can also be compared to running a business. A person who is good at running a business is always busy. A person who does not know how to run a business always avoids trouble. Eventually, he has no customers and nothing works.

Feeding the New Believers One by One

After we gain a person, we must have meetings with him. Perhaps a saint who is a teacher lives near the school or a saint who can receive the students lives near the school. We can fellowship with the students in that home. We can ask the saint, whose home is near the school, whether we can bring some students to his home after school hours. This gathering should not be long. If it is long, the students will get home late, and their parents will be worried. A gathering for thirty minutes would be good. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 5: Concerning Various Aspects of Church Service, msg. 2)

We also need this kind of personal contact for the feeding of the new believers. We have to feed the new believers one by one. This requires much endeavor and labor. Instead of doing this, though, many of us are occupied with other things which we think are necessary for the managing of the church. These things may be right, but actually they are not so necessary.

We need to fellowship with them concerning how to have the mutual teaching, the mutual asking and answering of questions, the mutual fellowship, the mutual interceding, the mutual care, and the mutual shepherding. All of this is the mutual equipping and perfecting.

THERE BEING NO WAY TO CARRY OUT THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY
EXCEPT BY THE INDIVIDUAL CONTACT WITH PEOPLE

There is no way to carry out the God-ordained way except by the individual contact with people.…The main thing we are learning to do…is to contact people for their salvation, their feeding, their spiritual education, their equipping, and their perfecting. Within a period of one or two years, they should be able to do the same thing that we are doing in our service to the Lord. Today the result of our work is not like this. I hope that we would consider this fellowship seriously and have a full change in our concept and practice. (Elders’ Training, Book 11: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (3), ch. 10)