The Lord Jesus is the Shepherd according to the heart of God, and He wants to reproduce Himself in all His believers so that there would be a mutual shepherding among the saints; the shepherding that builds up the Body of Christ is a shepherding in mutuality.
What does it mean for us to shepherd according to God?
We cannot shepherd others according to something that we are not; we can only shepherd them – care for them, cherish them, nourish them, and impart something to them for their advance in the Lord – according to what we are.
If we are not dealt with, if we are not becoming the same as God, if we are not one with God, we cannot shepherd others according to God.
To shepherd others according to God means that we shepherd them according to God’s nature, God’s way, God’s desire, and God’s glory; it also means that we’re not shepherding others according to our preference, our interest, our purpose, and our disposition.
We may do the right thing, but if we do it in our own way and by ourselves, if we speak from ourselves, by ourselves, and not in oneness with God, we do not shepherd others according to God.
Our God is not a respecter of persons; when He reproduces Himself in our heart, we will not have a natural preference for some of the saints or people but rather, we will have the same love for one another.
Some of the saints have suffered both in society and elsewhere; some are unjustly treated, and they pass through sufferings.
How can we care for others if we are not filled with the loving heart of our Father God and with the shepherding spirit of our Savior Christ and with the seeking of the Spirit?
How can we shepherd others according to God if we are not the same as God in life, nature, expression, and function?
He wants us to be not only His children and His sheep, but also the shepherds according to God, even learn to shepherd in mutuality, having a mutual shepherding among the sheep in the flock, so that we may be revived and enlivened, we may be encouraged and edified, and the church would become the bride of Christ for which the Lord can return!
There is a need for a new revival that will bring us up to God’s standard and meet His need so that Christ may return.
For this, we need to have the high peak of the divine revelation, the corporate God-man living, and the shepherding in mutuality.
The high peak of the divine revelation needs to shine on us, invigorate us, revive us, and cause us to realize that we are God-men; then, we need to live the life of being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection so that we may live Him and magnify Him, thus living a God-man life.
And we need to shepherd in mutuality so that we may be fully revived and built up to be the Body of Christ and the bride that will cause Him to return! Amen!
Having the Loving and Forgiving Heart of our Father God and the Seeking and Shepherding Spirit of our Savior Christ to Shepherd others
When we look into the matter of shepherding others, we need to learn from the Chief Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, the Shepherd of our souls, the Shepherd according to God’s heart, that is, the Lord Jesus.
In Luke 7:34 He was called “a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” because He was spending time with these sinners, who were drawn to Him and were not condemned by Him.
Some of them did get saved and turned their life around, but nowhere do we see that the Lord rebuked them.
What about our heart today? Do we have the loving and forgiving heart of our Father God, who loved the world – the whole world – so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for them (John 3:16)?
Do we have the seeking and shepherding spirit of our Savior Jesus Christ, who sought the lost sheep wherever they were? Or do we classify people, considering some as being more “open”, more promising, better than others?
Do we love only those who live together with the saints but we disregard those who are not in corporate living or who may even live with their boyfriend or girlfriend?
What about our spirit and attitude toward those around us?
We all have to admit that we don’t have such a loving heart toward others, and our spirit is not very shepherding or seeking toward those whom we don’t consider “good candidates” for the gospel or the church life.
We ourselves have experienced the Lord’s mercy in reaching us, shepherding us, and bringing us into the church life, but what about our shepherding others with the Lord’s heart and spirit of love, care, and shepherding?
The Lord may burden us to visit someone and, after ten visits or so, we may give up and think they are not open, because they may not open that much or may not even like us….
Christ came as the God-man, and His concept was to save sinners, especially the top sinners. He came to save the “gangsters”, even the “leader of the gangsters” like Saul of Tarsus.
Paul later testified that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost” (1 Tim. 1:15).
He was the top sinner opposing Christ; he rebelled against Christ, but Christ met him, knocked him down, and saved him, showing him love and forgiveness and giving him a new life.
If we want to shepherd only those who are good, while those who don’t respond to our care we put aside, we need to remember that “those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill” (Matt. 9:12).
The Lord didn’t come to call the good ones but all men, and especially those who may not seem so promising…It is such a sad thing to see saints who lose this loving spirit toward the sinners, toward the new ones, and toward all the saints.
We are barren for many years because we lack such a spirit.
We need to come to the Lord, again and again, learn from Him, be discipled by Him as the Shepherd of our souls, and allow HIm to reproduce His heart of love and His seeking and shepherding spirit in us, so that we may love all those whom He loves, care for them with His care, and shepherd others according to God.
May we all have the divine concept of the Father’s heart and the heart of the Lord Jesus, who came to save sinners.
Lord Jesus, we want to learn from You to shepherd others according to God. Save us from losing the spirit of love and forgiveness of our Father God and the shepherding and seeking heart of our Savior Jesus Christ. Infuse Your heart of love for all men into us so that we may be ready to speak the gospel even to the worst among men and be willing to visit those who are not according to our preference. Dear Lord, disciple us and perfect us so that we may have the divine concept of the Father’s heart of love and care and the Lord’s heart of shepherding and seeking toward all men, even the top sinners. Dear Lord Jesus, recover the shepherding and loving spirit among all the saints in all the churches!
The Shepherding in Mutuality Builds up the Body of Christ – we need Mutual Shepherding!
What builds up the Body of Christ is shepherding in mutuality; it is the mutual shepherding the builds up all the members in the Body and builds up the Body (1 Cor. 12:23-26).
Looking at our human body, the members of the body which we consider to be less honorable, those we clothe with more abundant honor, and our uncomely members come to have more abundant comeliness, while our comely members have no need.
God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked, so that there would not be division in the body, but that the members would have the same care for one another.
For example, when one member in the body suffers, all members suffer with it, and when one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it.
It is the same in the Body of Christ – shepherding in mutuality builds up the Body, and there’s no preference among the members but rather, those who seem to have less comeliness, the Body through its members covers them with more honor.
The kind of shepherding that we need in the church life is mutual shepherding – I shepherd you and I receive your shepherding.
Shepherding is not a one-way matter; as we shepherd others, we need to be open to being shepherded by them. We may think we care for a new one or a young one, but as we do this, we need to open for them to also shepherd us.
We need others’ portion and they need our portion. We may be at different stages in the growth in the divine life, there may be a great difference in our age, but we are members of the Body, and there’s no clergy-laity – we are simply members, we are shepherding in mutuality.
We are both shepherds and sheep; we are both sheep and shepherds to one another.
And if we open to the Lord concerning this, we will be shepherded by all kinds of saints in various stages of growth in life in their divine humanity.
To shepherd is to take all-inclusive, tender care of the flock (John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28).
All believers – regardless of their stage of spiritual growth – need shepherding; the elders in the church need shepherding, and so do the young ones.
All of us need to be under the organic shepherding of Christ and be one with Him to shepherd others (1 Pet. 2:25; John 21:16).
As we love the Lord and enjoy Him, He commissions us to shepherd others and feed the lambs.
We need to shepherd the flock of God according to the Father’s loving and forgiving heart and according to the Son’s seeking, finding, and shepherding spirit (Luke 15:4-24, 32).
In the Body of Christ, we are just members, and as members, we need one another; we are both sheep and shepherds, shepherding others and being shepherded by others in mutuality.
Through the mutual shepherding, the Body builds itself up in love (Eph. 4:16).
Our Lord in the heaven is carrying out His heavenly ministry as the Great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, and the Shepherd of our soul, and His heart is to see the Body being built up to become the prepared bride.
The only way that the Body can be built up in reality and practicality is through our shepherding in mutuality.
Christ is the Shepherd according to God, and He is the Spirit in our spirit; as the pneumatic Shepherd in our spirit, He not only shepherds us but also brings us through the process of becoming little shepherds according to God.
We really look to the Lord that He would move throughout the earth in every place, in all the thousands of saints, so that He would raise up the shepherding in mutuality, the mutual shepherding, for the building up of the Body!
May we learn to shepherd others and receive shepherding from others, so that the Lord may have a recovery full of mutual shepherding!
Lord Jesus, we look to You to move throughout the earth in every locality and in all the saints to raise up shepherds according to God’s heart! Amen, Lord, raise up so many brothers and sisters of all ages, at all stages of growth in life, who shepherd in mutuality for the building up of the Body of Christ! May there be a recovery of mutual shepherding among us in the church life so that the Body may be built up in our lifetime, the bride may be prepared in our lifetime, and the Lord would return to take us to Himself in our lifetime! Amen, Lord, fulfill Jeremiah 3:15 – give us shepherds according to Your heart! Do this for Your recovery, for the glory of God, and for the utter defeat and shame of the enemy! Amen, praise the Lord! Thank You Lord, You will do it, for this is in Your heart!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “A Word of Love to the Co-workers, Elders, Lovers, and Seekers of the Lord,” chs. 2-3, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations, week 11, Shepherds according to God’s Heart.
- Hymns on this topic:
– I love my Shepherd’s voice: / His watchful eye shall keep / My wand’ring soul among / The thousands of His sheep: / He feeds His flock, He calls their names, / His bosom bears the tender lambs. (Hymns #80)
– In tenderness He sought me, / Weary and sick with sin, / And on His shoulders brought me / Into His flock again….So while the hours are passing, / All now is perfect rest; / I’m waiting for the morning, / The brightest and the best, / When He will call us to His side, / To be with Him, His spotless Bride. (Hymns #1068)
– Foll’wing Thee, Good Shepherd, I would feed, / Shepherd those allotted me, / E’er I’d touch Thy heart’s desire, / Live in Thine economy. / O my Lord, All thanks to Thee! / Goodness, mercy follow me; / I’d ever dwell within Thy house, / As Thy Body glorious! (Song on, Shepherding in Love)
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