SERVING THE LORD BY CARING FOR PEOPLE (5)
After we have a thorough dealing with the Lord and pick up a burden, we must learn to be interested in people. Because of the fall, many of us are not interested in others. We consider that whether others go to heaven or to hell is their own business. We do not care whether others grow in life, and we feel that it is sufficient for us to care for our own spiritual welfare. However, the church service requires every one of us to be involved with others. We need an interest in the Lord’s people. We may illustrate this interest by the taste for certain foods. Many Chinese people are interested in Chinese cooking and have the taste to go to Chinatown. We, however, need to be interested in the Lord’s people. Every day the Lord’s people must be our “food” (John 4:31-34). Some older teenage sisters should say, “All the young girls between ten and fifteen years old in the church life are my food. I am interested in the young people to this extent.”
However, we must not be interested in people in a natural way. Some people were born with the inclination to talk and even gossip. That is not what it means to be interested in people in a proper way… We must forget about this kind of gossip. This is the natural, social way. Rather, we must be interested in people in the way of life… We should all pray, “Lord, burden me. I want to be fully interested in and involved with all Your dear saints, not in a natural or social way but in the way of life. Lord, I am willing to pay any price, even at the cost of my life. I love these people, and I would die for them. I want to see them saved, grow in life, and become matured.”
Then we can pick up the burden for some specific persons. We should make a list of their names, always keep it in front of us, and pray for them one by one… We may be too spiritual and say, “Lord, this is not for my sake.” However, the Lord may say, “Because you have a genuine burden for this one, I will save her for your sake.” Eventually, the sister will see the little one be saved. After this she may say, “Lord, this little one is now saved, but she does not love You. I can never be satisfied with this. Do something in her so that she will love You, Lord, as I love You.” Again, the sister will see the Lord answer her prayer… Many in the church need our shoulders to bear them and our breast to embrace them (Exo. 28:9-12 , 15-21 , 29). We must love them. When they fall, we should weep, and when they rise up, we should be joyful. We must bear them as our burden. Our service is not to arrange the chairs, do the cleaning, usher, or do clerical work. These are temporary matters as the means, instruments, and channels for us to take care of people. We must all go to the Lord, pray, and pick up this burden. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church”, ch. 1, pp. 530-531)
The church in Zamboanga 