Outline
Ⅴ
Peter charged the elders to shepherd the flock of God according to God—1 Pet. 5:2:
A
According to God means that we must live God.
B
When we are one with God, we become God and we are God in our shepherding of others.
C
To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to God's nature, desire, way, and glory, not according to our preference, interest, purpose, and disposition.
D
To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to what God is in His attributes.
E
In order to shepherd according to God, we need to become God in life, nature, expression, and function:
１
We need to be filled to the brim with the divine life, enjoying the Triune God as the fountain, the spring, and the river to become a totality of the divine life, even to become the divine life itself—John 4:14; Col. 3:4.
２
We need to become God in His attributes of love, light, righteousness, and holiness.
３
We need to be the reproduction of Christ, the expression of God, so that in our shepherding we express God, not the self with its disposition and peculiarities.
４
We need to become God in His function of shepherding the flock of God according to what He is and according to His goal in His economy.
Morning Nourishment
1 Pet. 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not under compulsion but willingly, according to God…Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for building up, according to the need, that it may give grace to those who hear.
In his first Epistle, Peter speaks of Christ being the Shepherd and Overseer of our soul, our inner being and real person (2:25). Then in 5:1-2 he tells the elders that their obligation is to shepherd God’s flock according to God. According to God means that we must live God. We must have God on hand. We have God in our understanding, in our theology, and in our teaching, but we may not live God when we are shepherding people. When we are one with God, we become God. Then we have God and are God in our shepherding of others. To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to what God is in His attributes. God is love, light, holiness, and righteousness.. We must shepherd the young ones, the weak ones, and the backsliding ones according to these four attributes. Then we will be good shepherds.
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. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 114-115)
Today’s Reading
Years ago I thought that the overseeing was to observe who is wrong and who is right, who is doing well and who is doing poorly. Later, I came to realize that to oversee is mainly a matter of overseeing the need…[A shepherd’s] oversight is related to protecting the flock, leading the flock, and feeding the flock. As Peter says, the elders should oversee “willingly, according to God” [1 Pet. 5:2]. To oversee according to God means according to God’s nature, desire, way, and glory, not according to man’s preference, interest, and purpose. The elders should not oversee according to their opinion, concept, or likes or dislikes. Instead, they should oversee according to God’s choice, desire, intention, and preference. The elders must oversee the church altogether according to God’s thought, feeling, will, and choice. They must oversee according to God’s likes and dislikes.
In 5:2 Peter warns the elders not to seek gain through base means but to eagerly exercise oversight. This means that the elders should not take advantage of the eldership and use it as a means to gain money. They should eagerly take the oversight like parents who eagerly exercise care over their children. (Life-study of 1 Peter, pp. 290-292)
How much we can help these members [who have a peculiar, stubborn disposition] depends on how much our own disposition has been dealt with. The Lord uses their disposition as a mirror to reflect our disposition. We may say that their problem is their disposition, but the Lord may ask us, “How about your disposition?”…If our disposition has been dealt with by the Lord, they will know this…This will help them to allow their disposition to be dealt with…Today the church in our place is tender and fresh, but after a number of years the peculiar dispositions of some of the saints will be manifested. Whether we can help them depends on how much we have allowed the Lord to touch our disposition.
Fellowshipping with brothers and coordinating with them may help us to get out of our disposition. We may receive help simply by following the brothers with whom we are coordinating…Most people with strong dispositions think that they are smarter than others. They think that they have more insight and more foresight than others. Thus, they do not trust in others, and as a consequence, they do not follow others…This kind of person may be helped by simply following others.
In order for us to help people to be dealt with in their disposition, we must take the lead to have our disposition dealt with. (CWWL, 1977, vol. 2, pp. 487-489)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” ch. 7