SHEPHERDING AND TEACHING—THE OBLIGATION OF THE VITAL GROUPS (3)
In the previous chapter we saw that shepherding and teaching are in Christ’s ministry for carrying out God’s eternal economy. In this chapter 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… 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… 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. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups”, ch. 7, pp. 109-115)
The church in Zamboanga 