LESSONS ON THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY

Lesson Ten

Building Up the Habit of Contacting People (1)

Scripture Reading:

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.

Acts 2:46 And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart.

Luke 14:16-17 And He said to him, A certain man was making a great dinner and invited many; And he sent his slave at the dinner hour to say to those who had been invited, Come, for all things are now ready.

Acts 10:24 And on the next day they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius was awaiting them, having called together his relatives and intimate friends.

Luke 5:29 And Levi gave a great reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at table with them.

Rom. 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

I. Following the pattern of the Lord Jesus and building up the habit of contacting people—Luke 19:10:

A. Inviting people to our home.

B. Going out to visit people weekly.

C. Contacting people by using the telephone.

D. Contacting people before and after the church meetings.

II. The practice of inviting people to our home for a meal—Acts 2:46:

A. It is scriptural:

1. The pattern of the Old Testament: Abraham (Gen.18:1-8); Boaz (Ruth 2:14); Nehemiah (Neh. 5:14-19).

2. The pattern of the New Testament:

a. The pattern of the Lord Jesus: He ate with sinners, tax collectors and Pharisees (Mark 2:13-17; Luke 7:36-43, 14:1-6); and He ate with His disciples before and after His resurrection (Luke 22:20, 24:43; John 21:12-15; Acts 10:41).

b. The pattern of opening our homes for preaching the gospel: a “sinner”, Levi (Luke 5:29); a “good man”, Cornelius (Acts 10:24).

c. The pattern at the beginning of the church life.

d. The pattern in the Lord’s recovery:

(1) In Chefoo: Brother Lee invited people for love feasts in the evenings of every weekday when there was no meeting at the hall.

(2) In Taipei: The deacons’ office has pre-printed invitation cards for inviting people to love feasts.

(3) In the United States: Brother Eugene Gruhler, Sr. was always watchful, looking out for new ones, and grasping every opportunity to invite them for a meal at his house.

B. Having meals among the brothers and sisters in the divine love and fellowship—Acts 2:46.

C. This is also the best way to contact people—Luke 14:16-17:

1. Inviting them to your home for a meal is the best way to contact people—Luke 5:29.

2. When saints come together to eat, it is easy for their hearts to be kindled and spirits to be mingled together in fellowship—Acts 2:46.

3. This is the best way to gain people and leave them a deep impression—v.47.

4. By having more love feasts, more will be willing to enter in and function.

III. Instructions for the practice of inviting people for a meal in the homes—Rom. 14:17:

A. We need to practice more and often—Luke 14:16-17:

1. Inviting people to our homes for a meal must be our practice and habit; we should do it often.

2. Single brothers and sisters can also use the married ones’ homes to invite others for a meal and have fellowship.

3. It is not enough for the responsible ones to promote this; they must practice it by themselves—20:35.

4. The elders and the responsible brothers should urge the saints to have love feasts; in this way, we will help the brothers and sisters to know each other and have more opportunities for fellowship.

B. Concerning preparation of food:

1. No need to prepare the food in a special way.

2. Do not waste.

3. Take care of preparing nutritious meals.

C. The best kinds of people to invite:

1. Gospel friends and saints whom we are unfamiliar with.

2. Inviting new ones and the younger ones.

3. Inviting the young people to our homes.

 

Excerpts from the ministry:

FOLLOWING THE PATTERN OF THE LORD JESUS AND
BUILDING UP THE HABIT OF CONTACTING PEOPLE

The New Testament tells us that we all are priests of the gospel and must personally go forth to save sinners. We all need to struggle for this. The God-ordained way for gospel preaching is not for us to invite people to come and listen but for us to go and bring salvation to people. In the Gospels, the Lord Jesus Himself was such a pattern. He desired to preach the gospel to us, the sinners, but, instead of sitting in heaven and bidding us to go there, He came down from heaven to us. He came first to seek and then to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). He also sent out twelve disciples to pass through village after village to announce the gospel and heal the sick everywhere (9:1-6). Afterward, He also appointed seventy disciples and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to come, to find the sons of peace and reap His harvest (10:1-6).

One day He purposely went to the city of Jericho to seek a God-chosen yet fallen sinner, Zaccheus, and to bring salvation to his whole house (19:1-9). He also went to Samaria and sat by the well of Jacob, waiting for an immoral woman that He might give her the living water to quench the thirst deep within her (John 4:3-14). It was in this way that He went to different places to seek and save sinners. Therefore, after His death and resurrection, He charged His disciples before He ascended to the heavens that they should go and disciple all the nations (Matt. 28:19) and that, after they had received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and had been clothed with power from on high, they should go everywhere to be His witnesses, beginning from Jerusalem, then to the surrounding cities in the entire land of Judea, passing through Samaria, and spreading unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). (The Church Life in the Lord’s Recovery Today, pp. 23-24)

BUILDING UP THE HABIT OF CONTACTING PEOPLE

From now on we all have to run the race by practicing to contact people. This is not an easy thing, because we do not have this habit and practice. We need to have a change in our natural being. We should not excuse ourselves by saying that we were born to be a certain way. …We need to pray, “Lord, grant me to have a change in contacting people. I don’t like to contact people. I don’t like to be invited by others to contact them, nor do I like to invite people to contact me. I don’t have this kind of disposition. Lord, You know I don’t have this capacity. So You have to transform me, Lord.” (The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, pp. 71-72)

Inviting People to Our Home

We should also try to invite people to our home and be invited by others to their home. The Lord’s blessing will follow us if we practice this in a loving and intimate way. If a brother received a number of invitations every week, he might not be able to go, but these invitations would encourage him and make him buoyant.

When we invite others to our home, we do not have to prepare a rich feast. We should just prepare a simple meal. We are not getting together for eating. We are coming together for blending. When we come together, we talk about the Lord Jesus, about His holy Word, and about our spiritual experiences. This kind of contact will revolutionize the church. We will convert the church into a new one. (The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, pp. 73-74)

Going Out to Visit People Weekly

If certain saints are not coming to the church meetings, we can begin to visit them once a week or once a month in a regular way according to what their situation allows. We can give them some copies of the gospel tracts we have published. We can read a phrase or a paragraph to them. Maybe this will stir them up and give them a desire to come to the meetings. There are many ways to shepherd people. My point is this—we need to build up a habit of contacting others. We should not be limited in our contact. If we have the burden to visit our relatives and acquaintances who are unbelievers, we should do this. We need to practice this one lesson—to contact people. (The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, p. 74)

Contacting People by Using the Telephone

I would propose that from tomorrow morning you begin to contact people by using the telephone. Before you drive away from your home, you can make at least one phone call to someone. This will begin to build you up with a habit to contact people, to know people, and to become interested in people. (The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, p. 72)

Contacting People Before and After the Church Meetings

We also need to contact people before and after the church meetings, especially the Lord’s Day morning meeting. This can be the best time for us to contact people. On Saturday we could call a certain brother and say to him, “Brother, I have seen you quite often, but I have not had a time to talk with you. How about we come to the meeting tomorrow half an hour earlier to have some fellowship for about twenty minutes?” This kind of contact with the saints helps a lot.

After the Lord’s Day morning meeting is also a good time to contact people. I have observed that many brothers and sisters contact only their familiar acquaintances after the meeting. They do not go to contact the new ones in the meeting. Thus, the new ones are left as orphans. Before the meeting and after the meeting we should create an intimate and loving atmosphere in the hall. When the new ones come in, they should be able to sense the warm care and intimacy among us. A new one may not have even heard the gospel yet. He may not even have believed yet. But he will be impressed with the loving atmosphere, the intimate atmosphere, among the saints in the meeting hall. (The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, p. 72)

THE PRACTICE OF INVITING PEOPLE
TO OUR HOME FOR A MEAL

It Is Scriptural

The Pattern of the New Testament

The Pattern of the Lord Jesus

Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast. But none of the disciples dared to inquire of Him, Who are you? Knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. This was now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples after He had been raised from the dead. Then when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs. (John 21:12-15)

The Pattern of Opening our Homes for Preaching the Gospel

Luke 5 gives us an excellent example. When the Lord Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi, a slave of money, He called him to follow Him. After Levi heard the Lord’s calling, he left all, rose up, followed the Lord, and was saved. Once Levi was saved, he gave a great reception for the Lord Jesus in his house. He did not invite Jesus alone or any prominent officials or eminent people; instead, he invited many tax collectors and sinners (vv. 27-29). Because he himself was a sinner, his friends also were not good men but a bunch of rogues. He invited them also to recline with the Lord. The Lord was the guest of honor and all the other guests were sinners. This is a good example of opening the homes for the preaching of the gospel. Once we open our homes, the gospel will have an outlet; without the homes, the gospel will have no outlet. Now that we have many mouthpieces, what we need is the outlet. Hence, we must open our homes.

I hope that every saint, particularly the recently saved ones, would prepare love feasts for Jesus and invite all their friends, all their “buddies” to come. You and I do not have good friends; those that we have are “sinner friends”. Some are drinking friends, gambling friends, dancing friends, partying friends, and lying friends. Strictly speaking, there are no good people in the world; all are sinners. Before we were saved we did not have good friends. Today we have been saved and the Lord Jesus has become our best friend. We should prepare a love feast in our home and invite our sinner friends to come so that they also may receive the Lord Jesus as their friend.

The Bible not only has examples of sinners preaching the gospel, it also has examples of “a good man” preaching the gospel. In Acts 10, there was a good man Cornelius. The Bible did not mention any sin of his; it only talks about his good. He was a devout man who feared God. He gave alms to the people and beseeched God continuously. One day an angel came to him and said, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God, and now send men…for a certain Simon, who is surnamed Peter” (vv. 1-5). It is true that Cornelius was really a good man, but he was not saved and still needed the gospel. Therefore he needed to go and invite Simon Peter to come to tell him how to be saved. When Peter came, he was surprised because Cornelius had already gathered his relatives and intimate friends to wait for Peter. The phrase “relatives and intimate friends” is very good. This should be our good example.

The tax collector Levi and the house of Cornelius are truly our greatest examples. Regardless of whether we are slaves of money, like those tax collectors who were the vile sinners, or those who often prayed and gave alms, like the good man Cornelius, we are all sinners before the Lord; we all need salvation. We also need to open our house and put out a reception for Jesus, inviting all our relatives and intimate friends. I believe in that day when the Lord Jesus was with the group of tax collectors, there must have been many who got saved at the end; maybe even getting saved one by one. I also believe in that day, those relatives and intimate friends who were at the house of Cornelius were also saved, with no one missing. Therefore the way to contact the gospel is homes. If there is no home, the gospel would not have a way; when there is a home, the gospel has a way. (Rising Up to Preach the Gospel (Chinese), pp. 77-78)

The Pattern at the Beginning of the Church Life

And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart, Praising God and having grace with all the people. And the Lord added together day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47)

The Pattern in the Lord’s Recovery

The Pattern of the Church in Chefoo

If you have a heart for the Lord, from now on you should have a revival every day to live the overcoming life, to consecrate everything for the Lord, and to strive to redeem every bit of time to contact people. Care for the saints one by one. Do not hope to contact too many people all at once. The most effective way is the slow and sure way. During the three years that I worked in Chefoo, from 1940 to 1942, I purposely set aside a small room in the meeting hall and converted it into a kitchen. I asked a brother to stay there as the cook and do nothing except prepare meals. Every weekday evening on which there was no meeting, I invited ten or twenty brothers and sisters to come and eat. During that time, I talked with them one by one. In this way, I made contact with every one of the few hundred brothers and sisters. By sitting down with them, chatting with them, and getting acquainted with them, I began to have a clear impression about them. This kind of concern touches people the deepest and affects them the most. If we only have preaching and do not have this care and concern, the words preached will have only a limited effect upon people. But after we care for people in this way, when they come to listen to us, the words they hear will have twice as much effect on them. (A Timely Trumpeting and the Present Need, pp. 57-58)

The Pattern of the Church in Taipei

In the church in Taipei, we have pre-printed invitation cards for inviting people to love feasts. If necessary, we can ask the deacons’ office to take the initiative to make arrangements to have love feasts in various saints’ homes. In this way the brothers and sisters can get to know each other, pray, testify, and fellowship during their meal. It is more casual and intimate to eat at home than at restaurants. During the love feasts, we can ask the brothers and sisters to give their testimonies. Some may say, “I am very happy to be invited by our host to this dinner. Since he wants me to say something, I guess I have to say something.” Some may say, “Tonight I am very grateful for your love. I highly treasure your warmth and sincerity in inviting me here. It is not right for me to be on the receiving end all the time; I feel that I have to give a testimony.” Others may say, “I came from a small place, and I am not used to such large gatherings. Please bear with me if my fellowship is not too good.” Whatever the guests say, their hearts will be warmed up and everyone will be refreshed. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 62, p. 429)

A Pattern of the Church Life in the United States

I thank the Lord for the testimony and example of Brother Eugene Gruhler, Sr. Although he was neither an elder nor a leader among us, he did a great deal of shepherding. He functioned in this way until the very hour the Lord took him to Himself. During the years he was with us, he invited a great many brothers and sisters into his home. Every one who spent time with him was strengthened and edified. This is what the church needs today. Although Brother Gruhler never sat in the front row, he was always watchful for new ones and invited them to his home for a meal at the first opportunity. The church needs such shepherds today. (All Ages for the Lord’s Testimony, pp. 33-34)

Having Meals among the Brothers and Sisters in the Divine Love and Fellowship

The meals among the brothers and sisters cannot be an ordinary meal together. They must be a kind of agape as described in Jude 12. That word can be translated as “love feast.” In the original language, there is only the word love, not feast. It is in the eating that the love is expressed. In the early churches, the believers often took meals together for the sake of fellowshipping and worshipping together in love (Acts 2:46). Such feasts were often linked to the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11:20-21, 33); they were called the agape. Hence, when we come together to eat, we express our mutual love one for the other. We break bread together for mutual fellowship; this is our communion. This is the meaning of our breaking of bread. The Lord never charged individuals to break bread by themselves. He gave this commandment where at least three or five people are gathered together (cf. Luke 22:19-20). The breaking of bread is for remembering the Lord on the one hand and for fellowship among the believers on the other hand. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 62, p. 349)

This Is Also the Best Way to Contact People

When Saints Come Together to Eat,
It Is Easy for Their Hearts to Be Kindled
and Spirits to Be Mingled Together in Fellowship

It is scriptural for believers to come together often to eat. When they come together to eat, it is easy for their hearts to be kindled and for their spirit to be mingle together in fellowship. In Acts 2, at the beginning of the church life, the believers came together often to eat. Eighteen years ago in North China, I experienced this all the time. When the brothers and sisters come together in joy and bask in mutual fellowship, much profit and blessing follow. Therefore, I encourage the brothers and sisters to have love feasts all the time.

The elders and the responsible brothers should urge the saints to have love feasts all the time. We have to ask them, “Have you made arrangements for a love feast today?” If they have not, we have to ask if they have a desire to hold such a feast. If they have such a desire, we have to ask them when they will have it. If they have not set a date, we have to ask approximately when they will have it. If they say they will have it in a few days, we have to ask if they can have it the following day. If they say yes, we have to ask whom they will invite. They may say that they want to invite certain familiar ones or certain brothers and sisters. If we feel that this is not wise, we should suggest a few other brothers. In this way, we will help the brothers and sisters know each other and provide them more opportunities for fellowship. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 62, p. 428)

By Having More Love Feasts, More Will Be Willing
to Enter in and to Function

If there is no one to wipe the windows or arrange the chairs, the elders should quickly invite saints for love feasts. After the love feasts, it will be easy to ask them to serve. When there is love, there can be the fellowship for any matter. This is the most effective secret. This is not to manipulate, but to warm, help, and lead people.

In 1939 in the church in Chefoo, whenever there was no meeting at night, I had love feasts in the meeting hall. The second floor of the meeting hall was where we met. There was a kitchen downstairs. I hired a cook, not to cook for myself, but to cook for my guests. For each love feast, I always invited twenty saints. Eventually, I had invited every saint. Of course, the love feasts were not cheap, but with each invitation, more would serve.

Whether it is ushering, cleaning the hall, or other such services, with more love feasts, more will be willing to enter in and to function. The service of ministering the word, however, cannot be taken care of so easily. This is likened to a school without teachers. Not just any one can teach after you have invited him for a meal and asked him to do so. This is the most difficult. There are more than twenty meeting halls in Taipei. Every Lord’s Day morning, there are three thousand saints in all the meetings waiting eagerly for you to nourish them, just like babies who are eager to be fed. If you do not have anything to supply them, to feed them, do not blame them for not returning the next time. (Vessels Useful to the Lord (Chinese), pp. 29-30)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PRACTICE
OF INVITING PEOPLE FOR A MEAL IN THE HOME

We should encourage the brothers and sisters to come together to eat more often. They should open their homes and invite three to five brothers and sisters over for meals and fellowship. But they should not prepare anything special. If they prepare too much or too elaborately, the elders have to step in and intervene. Many brothers and sisters encounter problems and weaknesses in their daily life. Sometimes a little spiritual fellowship will bring the saints through these trials. This is like the circulation of blood in the human body. Where the circulation goes, germs and waste materials are eliminated. Sometimes it is not necessary to mention the problems at all; they go away spontaneously through such spiritual fellowship. Dr. Stearns in Chefoo once said that it is an easy thing to invite people over for a meal. All one has to do is to add a pair of chopsticks. There is no reason we cannot do it more often. We have to encourage the brothers and sisters to open up their homes to others. If many people practice this, we will accomplish ninety percent of what we set out to accomplish with the visitation work. Single brothers and sisters can also use the married ones’ homes to invite others for a meal and fellowship. In such fellowship, there is no need to touch problems or weaknesses. All we need to do is to exercise loving concern and provide spiritual nourishment one to another. Spontaneously, the guests will be stirred up, and something will happen within them.

We Need to Practice More and Often

Suppose eighty people come to a gospel meeting and are baptized. If many brothers and sisters voluntarily invite these baptized ones for a love feast, and if each baptized one has five or six people joining him for a love feast, I believe the invited ones will have no choice but to love the Lord, come to the meetings, and remain. The brothers and sisters have to look for and create opportunities for love feasts. They can set up appointments after the Lord’s Day meeting. During the week they should prepare extra seats at home. If our home is open all the time for love feasts with the brothers and sisters, it will be easy for our family members to become saved. Of course, it is not enough for the responsible ones to promote this; they must practice it themselves. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 62, pp. 346-347, 428-429)

Concerning Preparation of Food

Our love feasts should take care of nutrition, not extravagance. If we are too extravagant, we cannot have such feasts often, and some may be too intimidated to come. If our love feast is too sumptuous and extravagant, others will not dare to do the same, and they will be discouraged from coming. Try as much as possible to not spend too much money on love feasts. If we can save a little, we can offer up what we have saved for greater needs elsewhere. We should restrict our spending in everything and should save our money for more important needs in the church. We should not live one day in ease and comfort. We should save as much as we can for the gospel’s sake. We have to conduct love feasts frequently and make this our habit. But we should only serve ordinary food; there should not be any excess. Since we need to eat three times a day, we might as well eat in each other’s homes.

The Best Kinds of People to Invite

Gospel Friends and Saints Whom We Are Unfamiliar With

The best kinds of people to invite to a love feast are gospel friends and saints whom we are unfamiliar with. If brothers and sisters invite the same familiar ones to the same houses day after day, the money spent on these love feasts will be wasted on each other. In reality this money belongs to the Lord. We must invite those brothers and sisters whom we do not know more frequently. Such love feasts are worthwhile. A love feast that is filled with love will incite us to love even more. If the brothers and sisters prepare such love feasts all the time, more testimonies will come out of the saints when the church comes together for fellowship, and they will render more praises and thanksgiving in their remembrance of the Lord and their worship of the Father. Those brothers and sisters who are responsible for the love feasts must remember to remind the saints of this practice. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 62, pp. 429-430)

Inviting New Ones and Younger Ones

[We] should invite new ones. Sometimes we may even invite people off the street to eat dinner with us. Some have been saved in this way.

We must take care of unbelievers for the Lord’s sake. Sometimes we say that we do not have time to invite unbelievers, but we seem to have time to invite the ones familiar to us. We should invite some new ones and younger ones. If someone comes to our meeting, we can invite him for fellowship. Then we will see a result. We should not dream; we should labor in a normal way day by day. (Serving in the Meetings and in the Gospel, p. 51)

Inviting the Young People to Our Homes

On the one hand, the freshmen in college are eager to leave home; on the other hand, as they live in the dormitories at school, they are often lonely and homesick. This provides an excellent opportunity to invite them into our homes. The young people in the church can invite others to the homes of the middle-aged ones and of the young couples. All these homes need to be open and ready to receive the young people. When they come in, serve them something to eat and drink. This will touch their heart. In preaching the gospel we do not need any gimmicks. We should simply pray, preach the word, and open our homes. It is difficult for the young people both to go to the campuses and to prepare their homes to receive others. We need the youngest ones to go to the campuses, the oldest ones to pray, and the middle-aged ones to prepare their homes. Day and night the homes need to be ready. September is a golden time to catch the freshmen. Every September we should be able to catch a good number. This does not mean that we do not preach the gospel to others. Our daily walk, our meetings, and our communal life are all a type of gospel preaching. Wherever we live, we influence the community. But we must purposely form teams to go to the campuses to reach the young people. If we do this with much prayer, a good number will be brought in. Let September be the time to make contact and October the month to reap. During these months, concentrate your time and labor on reaping a new crop of freshmen. First you reap them, then you build them up. After that, you may use them to gain their classmates or roommates. We need to do the same thing year after year. I believe that each time we do this, more freshmen will be reaped. Do not miss this opportunity. We must pray and seize this golden opportunity. If we gain the freshmen, then through them we shall gain some of their parents. It seems that when young people reach the age of nineteen or twenty, they will not listen to their parents, but their parents will listen to them. (The Spirit and the Body, pp. 108-109)

References: The Church Life in the Lord’s Recovery Today, ch. 2; The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, Msg. 6; Rising Up to Preach the Gospel (Chinese), ch. 4; A Timely Trumpeting and the Present Need, ch. 4; The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 62, chs. 31, 39; All Ages for the Lord’s Testimony, ch. 4; Vessels Useful to the Lord (Chinese), ch. 2; Serving in the Meetings and in the Gospel, ch. 4. The Spirit and the Body, ch. 11.