Shepherding and teaching are the obligation of the vital groups. If we do not do this, we owe something to the Lord, to the saints, and to all the sinners on this earth (Rom. 1:14). Shepherding and teaching are our obligation as a charge given to us by the Lord. This is the basic way ordained by God in the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate His eternal goal—the New Jerusalem.
The Gospels reveal Christ's shepherding and teaching in His ministry for carrying out God's eternal economy.
Christ sought the lost sheep for His rejoicing and the joy in heaven (Luke 15:4-7).
Christ came as the Shepherd not just to seek the lost ones but also to reap God's harvest (Matt. 9:36-38). On the one hand, those in the vital groups should go out to seek the lost sinners; on the other hand, they should go out to reap God's harvest.
Christ's shepherding was for the care of God's flock. He was the door in and the door out for God's elect (John 10:2-5). He was the door into the fold for the Old Testament saints such as Moses, Joshua, David, and Isaiah. The fold signifies the law, or Judaism as the religion of the law. When Christ came in the New Testament, He was the door out of the fold so that God's chosen people, such as Peter, John, James, and Paul, could come out to enjoy Him as the pasture. John 9 tells the story of a blind man who was healed by the Lord. Christ became his door out of the Judaism-fold.
Christ is the door to God's elect for their salvation and nourishment (the pasture) that they may have His life and have it abundantly through His giving up of His human life as the good Shepherd (John 10:9-15, 17-18). All the members of the vital groups should be like Christ. We should be the door to people for their salvation and nourishment, so that they can feed on Christ as their pasture that they may have His divine life abundantly.
In John 10:16 the Lord said, "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must lead them also, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, one Shepherd." This means that Christ was the Shepherd flocking the divided Jewish and Gentile sheep together to be one flock. Some so-called co-workers work in a divisive way. Instead of flocking the saints together, they scatter them. The proper shepherding work is to flock people together.
Christ is the Chief Shepherd, shepherding His flock through the elders of the churches (1 Pet. 5:4). All the elders are subordinate shepherds. Christ as the Head is the Chief Shepherd. Actually, we are not the ones who are shepherding. When we shepherd, it should be Christ shepherding through us. If we shepherd people apart from Christ, this is not in resurrection but in the old creation. When Christ shepherds through us, our labor is in resurrection. Only Christ is resurrection. Whatever is divine is resurrection. All the elders have to learn to shepherd the churches not by themselves in the old creation but by Christ as the shepherding Chief in resurrection.