In the previous message we saw that shepherding and teaching are in Christ's ministry for carrying out God's eternal economy. In this message we want to see the shepherding and teaching in the gifted persons and in the eldership.
Shepherding and teaching are the essential functions in the gifts (among the gifted persons) given by Christ the ascended Head to the churches for the building up of His Body.
Among the four kinds of gifted persons, the ministry of the first three, that is, of the apostles, prophets, and evangelists, depends upon shepherding. This is confirmed by the Lord's charge to Peter in John 21:15-17. The functions of these leading gifted persons depend upon shepherding. Without shepherding, the apostles, prophets, and evangelists cannot function.
The preaching of the gospel is the top shepherding of sinners. The Lord Jesus was the first New Testament preacher. John the Baptist was the forerunner. The first gospel preacher, Christ, carried out His ministry by shepherding. He went to Jericho just to visit one person, a chief tax collector (Luke 19:1-10). He did not go there to hold a big gospel campaign with thousands of people. His desire was to preach the gospel to gain one person, and His preaching was a shepherding.
John 4 says that while the Lord was on His way to Galilee, "He had to pass through Samaria" (v. 4). He detoured from the main way to Sychar, near Jacob's well, in order to contact a sinful Samaritan woman, who previously had five husbands. The Lord foreknew that she would come to the well of Jacob. The well of Jacob is a type of Christ, who is the spring of water gushing up into eternal life (v. 14b). We have to learn of the Lord's pattern in purposely detouring to Sychar to gain only one person.
To spend three years to gain one person is worthwhile. If you spend three years to visit one person continually, you will gain him. After twelve years you will have four new ones following you to the church meetings. If one hundred saints in a local church practice this, their number can be increased to five hundred after twelve years. In this light we need to consider how much increase we have had in our locality in the past twelve years. Where is the increase among us? The proper increase is due to the gospel shepherding, and shepherding means that we have to go and visit people. Christ visited the sinners by coming down from heaven to earth to find the lost sheep, one by one. We have to learn of Him.
John 21 is a chapter on shepherding. In our crystallization-study of the Gospel of John we saw that this chapter is not merely an appendix but also the completion and consummation of the Gospel of John, a book on Christ being God coming to be our life. The writer of this Gospel spent twenty chapters to unveil such a Christ. Eventually, such a book has a conclusion on shepherding. If we do not know what shepherding is, the entire Gospel of John will be in vain to us. It is only when we shepherd others that we can know John in an intrinsic way. Shepherding is the key to the Gospel of John.
John 21:15 says, "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." Peter said, "Lord, You know," because he had denied the Lord three times. He lost his natural confidence in his love toward the Lord. In restoring Peter's love toward Him, the Lord charged him to shepherd and feed His sheep.
In his first Epistle, Peter spoke in 2:25 of Christ being the Shepherd and Overseer of our soul, our inner being and real person. Then in 5:1-2 he told the elders that their obligation is to shepherd God's flock according to God. According to God means that we must live God. We must have God on hand. We have God in our understanding, in our theology, and in our teaching, but we may not live God when we are shepherding people. When we are one with God, we become God. Then we have God and are God in our shepherding of others. To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to what God is in His attributes. God is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. According to God is at least according to these four attributes of God. We must shepherd the young ones, the weak ones, and the backsliding ones according to these four attributes. Then we will be good shepherds.
Without shepherding, there is no way for us to minister life to others. John is the Gospel of life. If we want to enjoy life and minister life to others, we must shepherd them. The real ministering of life is shepherding by visiting and contacting people.