Learning to Cherish the Believers as a Nursing Mother and Not Assuming any Authority

In looking at the pattern of the apostle Paul as one who was one with the Lord in His heavenly ministry to shepherd the saints, we need to learn to cherish the believers and even yearn over them as a nursing mother would cherish and yearn over her own children.

On the one hand, the apostles didn’t stand on their own authority or dignity as “apostles of Christ”, and on the other, they cherished the believers under their care, nourishing them and yearning over them as a mother would do to her little children.

It is good to see snapshot after snapshot of how the apostle Paul was with the believers, as recorded in the Acts and in the Epistles, for they give us a panoramic picture of how we should be as those learning to shepherd one another.

The Lord Jesus is in ascension as the Great Shepherd of the sheep, caring for the welfare of our soul; He is looking for many believers as members of His Body on earth to cooperate with His heavenly ministry and shepherd people according to God.

The apostles were struggling and speaking the gospel in the boldness of God; they were not naturally bold but rather, even though they suffered persecution and rejection, they were struggling and speaking the gospel in the boldness which came from God.

We need to be those who are free from any deception, uncleanness, and guile; we need to be pure in heart and motive, seeking only to minister Christ to others for their growth in life – with no ulterior motive or desire.

The only way this is possible is if we come to the Lord, open our heart to Him, and let Him search our heart, prove it, examine it, and let Him approve us and entrust us with the gospel.

Our service to the Lord especially in shepherding the saints involves our heart; if our heart is not proper, if our heart is not tested and approved by Him, we may say the right words, but others will not receive from us simply because our person is not right.

When the Lord approves us and entrusts us with the gospel, we will speak not to please men but God, seeking His glory and not our glory or purpose.

When our heart is examined, tested, and approved by God under His light in our personal and intimate time with Him, we will not pretend to be godly for the sake of gain, neither will we fall into Satan’s trap of seeking glory from men.

Killing the Deadly Disease Germ of Assuming a Position in the Church Life

Paul was an apostle approved and sent by God in the Body to preach the gospel; however, he didn’t stand on his authority or dignity as an apostle when he spoke the gospel or shepherded the new believers (1 Thes. 2:6).

We may love the Lord, care for His interest, and desire to shepherd the saints and be involved in the church life; this may bring about others’ appreciation and even honor, and we may have an assumption that we have a certain position that demands honor and dignity. Oh Lord Jesus!

The apostles were not standing on their apostleship but considered themselves just brothers serving the believers as slaves; we should not assume any position in the church, we should not stand on our dignity, but consider ourselves as slaves to the saints for the Lord’s sake.

For example, in the church life the saints may regard the leading ones, the elders, or even those serving full-time as “dignitaries”, on a higher position than them.

But there’s no such a thing as “dignitaries” in the Body of Christ, in the church life; rather, we all are brothers and sisters, and we all function in our measure for the building up of the church.

The wife of an elder in the church is not a “First Lady” but simply a little sister serving the church, and according to the New Testament, an elder is one appointed to serve the church as a slave.

If we look at the saints in the meeting or meet them afterward and expect that they would salute us or give us some honor, we still stand on our dignity; our only dignity is that of a slave – no dignity, just being one who serves the Lord and the saints in spirit.

To assert authority, dignity, or right in Christian work damages the work. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He gave up His dignity, and He humbled Himself to wash His disciples’ feet (John 13:3-5) and even to give up His own life for them.

The Apostle Paul preferred not to use the right or position of an apostle (1 Cor. 9:12), so that he would not hinder the gospel.

We need to follow the Lord’s pattern and the pattern of Paul to not stand on our authority or dignity but rather learn to serve the saints in spirit, having no dignity but that of a slave.

If we follow the pattern of the Lord and of Paul, we will kill a deadly disease germ in the Body of Christ – the germ of assuming a position (Matt. 20:20-28). We all have this germ in us, and as soon as the opportunity arises, there may be something in us rising up to simply seek for a position or assume a position.

We need to come to the Lord again and again and let Him deal with any self-seeking, any glory-seeking for the self, and any assuming of authority or position, realizing that we are simply members of the Body loving one another and serving one another in spirit.

Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with You to kill the deadly disease germ of assuming a position in the church life as the Body of Christ. Keep us in Your presence, Lord, as we learn to shepherd the saints according to You. Save us from assert any authority, dignity, or right in our work for the Lord. Save us from assume any authority or dignity in shepherding the saints. Save us from having any expectations of praise or glory from others. Lord, grant us the spirit of a slave in serving others, realizing we are members of the Body under You as the Head.

Learning to Cherish the Believers as a Nursing Mother would Cherish her Children

The apostles didn’t just preach the gospel, set up local churches, appoint elders, and then move on to another city; they cherished the believers and even yearned over them, as a nursing mother would cherish and yearn over her own children (1 Thes. 2:7-8).

First of all, God cherishes us as His own children; we may forget about Him, but He can’t forget about us just as a nursing mother can’t forget about her child (see Isa. 49:14-15). We may think that God forgot us because we have certain expectations on how He should save us, treat us, release us, relieve our sufferings, and do things for us; but actually He doesn’t forsake us but cares for us in love.

The Lord cherishes us – He extends peace like a river, He carries us on the hip, and He bounces us on the knee; He comforts us just as a mother would comfort her children (Isa. 66:12-13).

Our God is a baby-bouncing God; He cherishes us as the ultimate nursing mother and exhorting father, and the apostle Paul was His duplication to be our pattern.

To cherish people is to make them happy, to comfort them, and to make them feel that you are pleasant to them, easy to be contacted in everything and in every way.

A mother is very approachable to her children, and they always run to her and cling to her; a nursing mother is tender, loving, yearning over her little ones, and always caring for them even at the cost of her life.

May the Lord reproduce Himself in us as the One who really cherishes and nourishes people.

When He was on earth, the Lord Jesus was so approachable that all the sinners and tax collectors would hang out with Him, not being condemned by His presence.

The apostle Paul as the Lord’s reproduction cherished the believers and yearned over them not as an apostle but as a nursing mother would cherish and nourish and yearn over her own children.

What rank, dignity, or authority does a nursing mother have? She really is a slave to her children, laboring day and night in love until they are fully grown. We should have no thought of dignity, position, or authority, but we should be those willing to cherish the believers, causing them to feel comfortable in our presence, and taking a tender care of them in love.

To cherish is something very tender and lovely; it is not to control, exercise authority over someone, or even merely serve, but be full of tenderness in caring for others. We need to be affectionately fond of the saints, affectionately desirous of them, like a nursing mother is affectionately interested in her child whom she nourishes and cherishes.

To cherish people in our natural humanity, however, is not genuine; we must cherish people with the Lord’s presence as the charming factor, as the reality of resurrection. We have to admit that we do not possess the charm needed to care for people; only the humanity of Jesus in resurrection is the real charm and attracting factor.

On the one hand we need to cherish the believers with the Lord’s presence, and on the other, we need to nourish them with the all-inclusive Christ in His full ministry of three stages (Eph. 5:29).

We don’t just spend a lot of time socializing with others and having a good time together as “buddies”; what we want is to minister Christ, the all-inclusive One, to the believers so that they would grow in life unto maturity and be perfected to function in the Body of Christ.

The full ministry of Christ in the stages of incarnation, inclusion, and intensification is the substance, the truth which needs to constitute us and flow from us to others to feed them.

Thank You Lord for not forsaking us or leaving us; You are always with us, always caring for us, and always cherishing us. Thank You for extending peace like a river to us, holding us on Your hip, and bouncing us on Your knee as Your beloved children. Lord, duplicate Your cherishing heart into us so that we may also have the same heart in caring for others. We admit that in our natural humanity we are not interested in people or desirous of caring for them. May Your presence fill us and become the charming factor in us to cherish others, and may the truth in the Bible saturate us and flow from us to nourish them.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru C. for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, pp. 101-102 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Cooperating with the Heavenly Ministry of the Ascended Christ (2017 Spring ITERO), msg. 3 (week 3), The Pattern of the Apostle Paul in Cooperating with Christ’s Heavenly Ministry to Shepherd People for the Building Up of the Body of Christ.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # You’re the One inside who cherishes me, / Feeding me with milk from Your holy Word, / Lord, You bring me just to feast upon You. / And You feed me richly… / And now I see… / You’re the One who’s always shepherding me. / And I see… / You’re the One who’s feeding, watering me. / And I see… / You’re the One who loves me as Your sheep. / And I see, Lord, You shepherd me. (Song on the Lord’s shepherding)
  # We must ever preach the gospel, / Cherishing and nourishing; / Loving them as our dear children, / As our priestly offering. (Song on preaching the gospel)
  # Can a woman forget her nursing child, / That she would not have compassion on the son of her womb? / Even though they may forget, / Yet I will not forget you. / I have engraved you on the palms of My hands, / I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; / Your walls are continually before Me. (Scripture song)