We Shepherd others by Teaching them in Love the Healthy Teaching of God’s Economy

Shepherding depends on teaching; for us to shepherd others, we need to be filled with the healthy teaching of God’s economy and teach others in a loving and caring way.

In the church life, we are learning from the Lord Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, to shepherd one another. To shepherd is to render all-inclusive, tender care to the sheep.

We are both sheep and shepherds; on one hand, we are the Lord’s sheep, and He is shepherding us, and on the other hand, we are little shepherds, learning from the Lord to shepherd one another.

In order to shepherd one another in the church life, even to shepherd others according to God, we need to know the loving and tender heart of God our Father.

When Christ was on earth, He always had fellowship with the Father, and He wanted to bring us also into this communion with the Father.

No matter what Christ had and did, He always related to the Father, taking the Father as His source and unique goal.

The Father cares for us in a loving, tender way, and He has a heart full of love toward us.

God the Father is always loving and forgiving, and He wants us to realize that His loving and forgiving heart is always there for us.

As we learn to shepherd one another according to God, we need to know God’s heart and allow His heart to become our heart.

We shepherd not according to what we like or dislike; we shepherd others according to God.

Christ is the Good Shepherd; He shepherded us in His earthly ministry while on the earth, and He is still shepherding us today in His heavenly ministry.

He has a shepherding heart and spirit, and He is in us as the Good Shepherd to lead us to waters of rest, pastures, and satisfaction.

As we enjoy the Lord’s shepherding day by day, we are learning to cooperate with Him to also shepherd others. We all are on the same level in the church life.

There is no “head sheep” – we all are sheep, and we all learn to shepherd one another.

Unfortunately, the concept of hierarchy in Christianity still is in the back of our minds when we practice the church life, and we think that the brothers on the front row or those who give the messages are those who need to shepherd us, and we just need to passively enjoy and wait. Oh, Lord Jesus!

Just as in the human body all the members function and care for one another, so in the Body of Christ all the members should function and care for one another in love!

We all are both sheep and shepherds, shepherding and being shepherded in mutuality.

May we learn to shepherd others according to God so that we may be those who give them food at the proper time, care for them in a tender way, and therefore participate in Christ’s heavenly ministry of shepherding His sheep.

Shepherding Depends upon Teaching: We Shepherd others by Teaching them in Love

The Bible says that, in order for elders to shepherd the saints, they need to be apt to teach; shepherding depends upon teaching, for we shepherd others by teaching them in love.

However, shepherding is not the function only of the elders or leading ones; we all need to learn to shepherd one another.

When we shepherd others, we don’t give them lectures, sermons, or messages; rather, we give them edifying and nourishing instructions.

We are announcing Christ and we admonish every man and teach every man in all wisdom so that we may present every man full-grown in Christ (Col. 1:28).

We love the Lord Jesus, we love His word, and we eat Him in His word; spontaneously, something comes out of our being toward others to teach them in love, therefore shepherding them.

In Eph. 4 we are told of the gifts the Lord gave to His Body; shepherds and teachers are one category of gifts, and a shepherd must teach while a teacher must shepherd.

In the Bible, someone who shepherds others teaches them in love, and a teacher must shepherd those to whom he speaks.

If someone can only speak for a long time and expounds the Scriptures, yet without caring in love for those to whom he speaks, this is not good enough; he needs to learn to care for those to whom he speaks.

If someone just loves to make others happy by doing all kinds of things with them, yet he does not impart something of Christ as teaching to them in love, this is also not good enough; we need to shepherd and teach, even shepherd by teaching.

And we cannot rely on the elders to do this; we cannot say that the elders’ function is to shepherd and teach the saints, therefore we don’t have to do it.

Rather, we all need to shepherd one another and teach one another in love.

We teach others not by giving a long speech concerning God and Christ; we teach them by what we do.

We may sit next to a new one in the meeting who cannot find the hymn we’re singing or doesn’t know where the book of Isaiah is in the Bible; by helping them in these things, we teach them.

We may visit someone in their home and have a nice meal, and we may just fellowship with them concerning the Lord Jesus, explaining some things about God’s salvation; in this way, in a loving atmosphere, we shepherd them by teaching them.

We all need a lot of shepherding by teaching.

We all need to be taught and perfected, and this is done by shepherding by teaching.

When we render such help to others, they are built up, and they can function in a proper way in the Body. In this way, we build up the church.

Both brothers and sisters need to shepherd others by teaching them.

The sisters may attend many meetings, go to conferences, and be in trainings; there is a rich deposit of Christ and the healthy teaching of God’s economy in their being, and they can shepherd others by teaching them.

The sisters who are stay-at-home mothers may think they don’t know how to teach others and may not be clear about what to do to shepherd them.

Just as they are not qualified to teach the English language in school yet they can teach their children to speak English, so they may not be qualified to give a message in the meeting but they can shepherd others in love and teach them concerning loving the Lord and reading the Bible.

The Lord needs to recover this way of functioning among us.

We may not have the maturity in life or the portion to be an elder or a leading one, but we all can shepherd others by teaching them in love.

Shepherding depends upon teaching; if we cannot teach, we cannot shepherd (Matt. 28:19-20; 9:35-36).

May we come to the Lord concerning our being and our function in the church life and just open to Him about this, telling Him,

Lord Jesus, we love You. We open to You. We give ourselves to enjoy You. We want to cooperate with You to shepherd others by teaching them in love. Fill us with Yourself today. Saturate us with Your word. Grant us to have a clear, controlling vision of God’s economy so that we may speak the truth to others in love and shepherd them in the church life. Amen, Lord, we want to learn from You to be with people in a shepherding way. We want to imitate You by being one with You to shepherd others by teaching them in love. Be expressed through us today. Be the Shepherd in us who is expressed through us as we meet the new ones, fellowship with the saints, and visit others. Amen, Lord, recover our function of shepherding and teaching for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!

Shepherd others by Teaching them the Healthy Teaching of God’s Economy

We all can testify that we have met and seen brothers and sisters who are so shepherding toward others; simply being in their presence is a shepherding.

They may not say much in front of all the saints in the way of giving a message, but their being with us and their words, as simple as they are, minister life to us and cause us to go on with the Lord.

We all need to learn from such ones.

We need to learn to have a loving concern for the saints and care for them in love, and we need to shepherd others by teaching them the healthy teaching of God’s economy. Shepherding and teaching go together (Eph. 4:11).

Our shepherding should always be with teaching, and our teaching should always be with shepherding (Acts 2:42; 20:28; Col. 1:28).

The functions of the leading gifted persons depend upon shepherding; if they do not shepherd the saints, they cannot function in a proper way.

Without shepherding, the apostles, prophets, and evangelists cannot function.

The elders, similarly, need to shepherd the saints, and they need to teach them (1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17).

What do we teach one another? Is it only secular teaching, how to raise our children, how to have good habits, etc?

What we teach one another is what Christ taught in the Gospels and what the apostles taught in the Epistles.

Not only do the elders need to be apt to teach but we all need to be filled with the healthy teaching of God’s New Testament economy and be apt to teach others in love as we shepherd them.

We may be quiet by disposition, and we may not be outgoing, or ready to speak to others.

However, as we contact the Lord and enjoy Him, He in us will be apt to talk, apt to teach.

Shepherding others by teaching them is something that goes against our natural disposition; we need to deny ourselves and be one with the Lord to function in the church life.

May we have the habit of shepherding others by teaching them, always having a portion of the truth ready to dispense to others for their edification unto the building up.

When we meet with the saints, we should not speak vain things but focus on the truths of God’s economy.

We need to be equipped by the Lord’s grace to speak for Him.

This doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear how the saints are doing, what their situation is, etc; rather, as we speak to others, our intention must be to minister something of Christ to them for the building of the church.

We need to know and be filled with the high peak truths in God’s eternal economy, and labor in the word and teaching (1 Tim. 5:17).

We may even have to expose some erroneous teachings and shepherd others by teaching them the healthy teaching of God’s economy.

Our shepherding and teaching always go together.

On one hand, we need to shepherd others; on the other hand, we need to teach them the healthy teaching of God’s economy (1 Tim. 1:3-4).

This is something we must practice again and again.

We ourselves are so edified and built up when others shepherd us by teaching us, and we can cooperate with the Lord to shepherd with teaching in the church life.

This is an organic function, something we need to develop before the Lord in a personal way, learning together to shepherd one another by teaching one another.

The Lord Jesus taught us simply by using what was happening around Him and the things He encountered, even the opposition He went through; He took every opprtunity to reveal something of God to us.

The Apostle Paul also taught by using what was happening in those days and the environment, and he had a deep loving concern for the saints he was shepherding.

May we have the heart love and care of our God and the seeking and shepherding Spirit of our Savior Christ as we learn to shepherd others by teaching them in love.

And when we speak, we need to speak the same thing – Christ Himself – so that there would be no divisions in the Body (1 Cor. 1:10).

Lord Jesus, grant us to have the Father’s heart of love and concern for the saints in the church life. May we have the seeking and shepherding spirit of our Savior Christ as we learn to shepherd others by teaching them in love. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You today to just enjoy You and be filled with You. We want to be constituted with the truths of God’s eternal economy and be clear concerning God’s intention and His eternal purpose. May our shepherding always be with teaching, and may our teaching always be with shepherding. Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to learn to shepherd others in love by caring for them, cherishing them and nourishing them, and teaching them the healthy teaching of God’s economy. Make us those who have a heart for others to shepherd them according to God by imparting the truth to them in love. Amen, Lord, recover our function of shepherding one another by teaching one another in love for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 2, “All Ages for the Lord’s Testimony,” ch. 4, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, An Overview of the Central Burden and Present Truth of the Lord’s Recovery Before His Appearing (2023 July Semiannual Training), week 6, entitled, Shepherding according to God.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Restoring Fellowship in the Body of Christ: If we allow the loving and forgiving heart of the Father and the shepherding and seeking spirit of the Son to abide in us, we will spontaneously desire to restore those who have fallen away from the Lord and the fellowship of His Body. Read more via, Shepherding Words.
  – The economy of God as the source, content, and issue of Paul’s teaching in Ephesians, article by John Pester in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – 9 Crucial Practices for Building Up a Vital Christian Life, article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Elders being apt to teach, a portion from, All Ages for the Lord’s Testimony, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – The Crucial Role of the Sisters in the Church Life: Every saint, including the sisters, should serve the Lord both in practical matters and in preaching the gospel and shepherding others. Read more via, Shepherding Words.
  – The Urgent Need for Prayer and the Preaching of the Gospel, article via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Should we speak the words of warning that are given in the New Testament? Read more via, Living to Him.
  – God’s economy vs. doctrinal diseases, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – What Is God’s Economy? Read more via, Amana Trust to find out.
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• Hymns on this topic:
  – In the divisions He sought us, / Weary and famished for food; / Into the good land He brought us, / Oh, to our spirit how good! / Jesus Himself is our pasture, / He is the food that we eat; / We as His sheep are fed richly / Each time, whenever we meet. (Hymns #1221 stanzas 2-3)
  – Speak Thou for us, O Lord, / In all we say of Thee; / According to Thy Word / Let all our teaching be; / That so Thy lambs may know / Their own true Shepherd’s voice, / Where’er He leads them go, / And in His love rejoice. (Hymns #902 stanza 3)
  – In the church of Jesus there is love for you, / Love most pure and tender, love most deep and true; / Why should you be lonely, why for friendship sigh, / When the church of Jesus has a full supply? / In the church of Jesus there is life for you, / Warm as summer sunshine, sweet as morning dew; / Why should you be fearful, why take anxious thought, / Since the church of Jesus cares for those He bought? (Hymns #1278 stanzas 1-2)