晨興聖言-極其需要新的復興(W06-5)

第六週 • 週五

W06-d5-ch

晨興餧養

約二一15  …主阿,…你知道我愛你。耶穌對他說,你餧養我的小羊。

   17  …彼得…對耶穌說,主阿,你是無所不知的,你知道我愛你。耶穌對他說,你餧養我的羊。

 

有些人會爭辯說,牧養不是每個弟兄或姊妹都有的恩賜。然而,…無論智愚,每個作父母的都有養育孩子的才能。養育孩子不是特別的才能,乃是與生俱來的才能。同樣的,藉着我們屬靈的出生,每個在召會裏的肢體都有牧養的恩賜。…有些人以為,因為他們太年幼,又不是牧師、長老或老練的基督徒,所以他們無法牧養別人。這是錯誤的領會和觀念。…有人也許不知道如何養育孩子,但孩子來了,他們就被迫去學。…甚至得救只有幾天的人,也能學習牧養(李常受文集一九七三至一九七四年第二冊,八二一頁)。

信息選讀

我們需要建立日常的福音生活,並且我們該到主面前去,讓祂給我們看見誰該受我們牧養的照顧。若是這兩件事在召會裏被建立,我們就會有正常、正確的召會。正常的召會不僅僅是眾肢體在聚會中站起來說話。這只是我們事奉的一小部分。在召會裏事奉的主要部分是日常的福音生活和牧養。…我們該領悟,年年不結果子,並且沒有人受我們照顧,是很大的缺欠和羞恥。在眾召會裏所有的肢體都該結果子,並且一直牧養人。我們若建立這幾項,召會就會很美妙。主的路總是最好、最智慧的路。祂的路不倚靠屬靈偉人,乃倚靠每個肢體,就是那些有日常的福音生活連同牧養的人。我們都需要在這方面轉觀念。

三十多年前,我每週一早晨同一班事奉的人來在一起,從上午八時直到午後,彼此學習如何牧養人。這樣聚會三年後,在那地方有很大的復興。這不是由於一個運動,而是因着我們當中的建造,自然而然出來的。福音傳揚和牧養都是充分且得勝的。這是今天眾召會所需要的。

要充分的牧養人,我們不可太倉促。我們倉促的個性需要丟棄。我們無法僅僅向人說幾分鐘話就牧養他。因此,我們需要豫備好,花足彀的時間在人身上。

我們不該太倉促,但我們必須非常積極。積極的人常是倉促的人;緩慢的人卻是被動的,甚至鬆散且無所謂。一位弟兄若說,『讓我們去探訪某人』,被動的人也許說,『我們不該這麼倉促,讓我們再等兩週罷。』然而,母親若這樣被動的照顧孩子,她們的孩子不會存活。我們不該太倉促,但我們必須積極且守住時間。

我們必須學習會聽別人的話,好認識他們真正的需要和實際的光景。這需要我們在牧養他們的時候,停下自己的思想、觀念、感覺和說話。我們該向別人敞開,並讓他們的光景對我們說話。這不容易;意思是我們必須積極卻不倉促。我們不該說得太多,或者決定得太倉促。反而,我們該停下自己,傾聽在我們照顧之下的人,讓他說話,盡力領會他,並且設身處地領會他的情況,正如他自己所領會的一樣(李常受文集一九七三至一九七四年第二冊,八二一至八二四頁)。

參讀:為着召會的建造正常結果子和牧養的路,第八章。

WEEK 6 — DAY 5

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Morning Nourishment

John 21:15 …Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs.

            17…And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.

Some may argue that shepherding is a gift that not every brother or sister has. However,…every parent, regardless of how smart or foolish he is, has a talent for raising children. Child raising is not a special talent; it is a talent given by birth. In the same way, by our spiritual birth every member in the church has the gift of shepherding…Some think that because they are too young and are not pastors, elders, or experienced Christians, they cannot shepherd others. This is a wrong understanding and concept…Someone may not know how to raise children, but when the children come, they are forced to learn…Even someone who has been saved for only a few days can learn to shepherd. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church,” p. 609)

Today’s Reading

We need to build up a daily life of the gospel, and we need to go to the Lord for Him to show us who should be under the care of our shepherding. If these two matters are built up in the church, we will have a normal, proper church. A normal church is not merely one in which the members stand to speak something in the meetings. This is only a small part of our service. The main part of the service in the church is a daily gospel life and shepherding…We should realize that it is a great lack and a shame not to bear fruit each year and have someone under our care. All the members in the churches should bear fruit and shepherd people all the time. If we build up these items, the church will be wonderful. The Lord’s way is always the best and wisest way. His way is to depend not on spiritual giants but on every member, on those who have a daily gospel life with shepherding. We all need a change of concept in this regard.

More than thirty years ago, I came together every Monday morning with a group of serving ones from 8:00 A.M. until the afternoon to mutually learn how to shepherd people. After meeting for three years in this way, there was a great revival in that locality. This was not due to a movement. It came out spontaneously because of the building up among us. The gospel preaching and the shepherding were adequate and prevailing. This is what the churches need today.

In order to adequately shepherd people, we must not be too quick. Our quick disposition needs to go. We cannot shepherd someone by speaking to them for only a few minutes. Therefore, we must be prepared to spend enough time with people.

Although we should not be too quick, we must be very positive. Very often, positive persons are quick ones, and slow persons are passive, even sloppy and uncaring. If a brother says, “Let us go to visit someone,” a passive one may say, “We should not be so quick. Let us wait for another two weeks.” However, if mothers care for their little ones in this passive way, their children will not survive. We should not be too quick, but we must be positive and on time.

We must learn how to listen to others in order to realize their true need and real situation. This requires us to stop our own thought, concept, feeling, and speaking while we are shepherding them. We should be open to others and allow their situation to speak to us. This is not easy; it means that we must be positive but not quick. We should not say too much or make a decision too quickly. Rather, we should stop ourselves and listen to the person under our care, allowing him to say something, trying our best to understand him, and putting ourselves in his place to understand his situation in the same way that he does. (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruitbearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church,” pp. 609-611)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Normal Way of Fruitbearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church,” ch. 8

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