Shepherding Lesson: A Minister to the Gentiles

In shepherding, I have learned a lot of lessons first hand. According to the Bible, having enjoyed the Lord's shepherding I must shepherd others. I have been shepherding a good number of families and individual seekers and saints. Some of them spanning a decade and more. Some of them have come into the church-life, and still, some of them began to show signs of disinterest. 

On the positive side, I am more than willing and happy to shepherd those who are open to shepherding. On the negative side, to those who directly or indirectly indicated to me about their disinterest, I have no way to force myself into shepherding them. I have tried my best to knock on their doors again and again until I discerned their disinterest. For them, I prayed to the Lord that I would give them up, for now, my active shepherding. I did not do this lightly. I took their matter before the Lord in prayer a couple of times and had the feeling from deep within that I should take a break for these closed ones. In my time with the Lord, I told Him that I am still willing to spend my time, energy, and money to take care of them, provided that they are open to shepherding. Therefore, temporarily I will withhold my shepherding to these ones until and unless they themselves called me and confirmed their need to be shepherded again. This was a painful decision I took before the Lord in prayer. 

As I pondered on this matter over and over again, I was reminded of the record in the gospel how the Lord was rejected by His own people, the Jews, and how He was forced to turn to the Gentiles. I took this as a pattern, and now decided to spend most of my time on shepherding the new ones and the Gentiles, especially. I even fellowshipped with my wife not to spend too much time on believers who are not so open and pure. After all, they are believers already, they are saved, and they know how and where to receive the spiritual food supply. When they are in need they will definitely come to us. We do not close the door, in fact, the door to all seeking believers will ever be open. But we will not initiate to shepherd them unless they invited us again. We will rather invest our time on the Gentiles henceforth.

The Lord Jesus Himself and the Apostles had the same experiences of being turned down by the Jews, which turned out to be good for the Gentiles. I believe the time has come for me to do the same. The majority of my countrymen are yet to know and believe into the Lord Jesus Christ. Its high time I fully focus on the gospel preaching in coordination with the white horse running these days amidst the global pandemic. I believe this is the Lord's timely leading. And henceforth, I shall serve among the Gentiles as a minister of Christ Jesus, a laboring priest.

That I might be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, a laboring priest of the gospel of God, in order that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, having been sanctified in the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:16