约二一15 ……主啊，……你知道我爱你。耶稣对他说，你喂养我的小羊。

　　　　　17 ……彼得……对耶稣说，主啊，你是无所不知的，你知道我爱你。耶稣对他说，你喂养我的羊。

　　有些人会争辩说，牧养不是每个弟兄或姊妹都有的恩赐。然而，……无论智愚，每个作父母的都有养育孩子的才能。养育孩子不是特别的才能，乃是与生俱来的才能。同样的，借着我们属灵的出生，每个在召会里的肢体都有牧养的恩赐。……有些人以为，因为他们太年幼，又不是牧师、长老或老练的基督徒，所以他们无法牧养别人。这是错误的领会和观念。……有人也许不知道如何养育孩子，但孩子来了，他们就被迫去学。……甚至得救只有几天的人，也能学习牧养（李文集一九七三至一九七四年第二册，八二一页）。

　　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)

　　我们需要建立日常的福音生活，并且我们该到主面前去，让祂给我们看见谁该受我们牧养的照顾。若是这两件事在召会里被建立，我们就会有正常、正确的召会。正常的召会不仅仅是众肢体在聚会中站起来说话。这只是我们事奉的一小部分。在召会里事奉的主要部分是日常的福音生活和牧养。……我们该领悟，年年不结果子，并且没有人受我们照顾，是很大的缺欠和羞耻。在众召会里所有的肢体都该结果子，并且一直牧养人。我们若建立这几项，召会就会很美妙。主的路总是最好、最智慧的路。祂的路不倚靠属灵伟人，乃倚靠每个肢体，就是那些有日常的福音生活连同牧养的人。我们都需要在这方面转观念。

　　三十多年前，我每周一早晨同一班事奉的人来在一起，从上午八时直到午后，彼此学习如何牧养人。这样聚会三年后，在那地方有很大的复兴。这不是由于一个运动，而是因着我们当中的建造，自然而然出来的。福音传扬和牧养都是充分且得胜的。这是今天众召会所需要的。

　　要充分地牧养人，我们不可太仓促。我们仓促的个性需要丢弃。我们无法仅仅向人说几分钟话就牧养他。因此，我们需要预备好，花足够的时间在人身上。

　　我们不该太仓促，但我们必须非常积极。积极的人常是仓促的人；缓慢的人却是被动的，甚至松散且无所谓。一位弟兄若说，“让我们去探访某人”，被动的人也许说，“我们不该这么仓促，让我们再等两周吧。”然而，母亲若这样被动地照顾孩子，她们的孩子不会存活。我们不该太仓促，但我们必须积极且守住时间。

　　我们必须学习会听别人的话，好认识他们真正的需要和实际的光景。这需要我们在牧养他们的时候，停下自己的思想、观念、感觉和说话。我们该向别人敞开，并让他们的光景对我们说话。这不容易；意思是我们必须积极却不仓促。我们不该说得太多，或者决定得太仓促。反而，我们该停下自己，倾听在我们照顾之下的人，让他说话，尽力领会他，并且设身处地领会他的情况，正如他自己所领会的一样（李文集一九七三至一九七四年第二册，八二一至八二四页）。

　　参读：为着召会的建造正常结果子和牧养的路，第八章。

　　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 8:0 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 Fruit-bearing and Shepherding for the Building Up of the Church,” pp. 609-611)

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