We Must Love All Mankind

Those who work the work of the Lord must not only love the brethren but also love all mankind. “Whoever mocks the poor,” said Solomon, “reproaches his Maker” (Prov. 17:5a). All men are created by God; therefore all are to be loved. If a worker does not have sufficient love for the brethren, or if he has the love of the brethren but no love for mankind in general, he is not qualified to serve God. For loving men or showing love to men is an essential quality to have in God’s service.

All who view people with annoyance and despise them are definitely unfit to be the Lord’s servants. We ought to see that though all men have fallen, they are nonetheless the object of the redemption of our Lord Jesus inasmuch as they were all created by God. In spite of their hardness of heart, the Holy Spirit still convicts them. The Lord Jesus came to this earth; He came to be a man. Like the rest of mankind, He grew up gradually from birth to maturity. For God intends to set up on earth a Model Man, a Representative Man – one upon whom rests all the purposes of God. After the ascension of the Lord Jesus, the church came into being, and yet the church is but the formation of a new man. The whole plan of redemption is to exalt and glorify men.

One day when we come to a deeper understanding of the word of God, we shall find the term “man” more palatable than even the term “children of God.” For we shall realize that God’s preordained plan and election is to obtain a glorious man. As we gradually perceive the place of man in God’s plan as constituting the focus of His counsel, and when we truly see God humbling Himself to be a man, we shall be impressed with the preciousness of man.

While our Lord Jesus was on earth He declared that “the Son of man also came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for man” (Mk. 10:45). The word the Lord says here is so plain; the Son of man comes to serve men. The Son of God becomes the Son of man on earth in order to serve men. Thus are we shown the attitude of the Lord Jesus towards mankind.

Many who work for God have a serious deficiency, which is, that they are totally lacking in the love of humanity. They lack the proper respect towards men, and they lack as well a knowledge of the value of man in God’s sight. Today we feel elated because we seem to have learned a little love for the brethren. Formerly, we loved no one; now, we can show our love towards the brethren by doing something for them.

No wonder we are high-spirited. Yet this is far from sufficient. We need to be so enlarged by God that we come to see that all people are to be loved and valued. Whether or not you are successful in your future work for God depends chiefly on your attitude towards the value of man. The depth of your work is to be measured by your interest and feeling towards men. By this we do not mean your interest in one or two clever or special persons. We simply mean your interest in “man” per se. This is a very significant issue.

The primary sense of Jesus’ phrase “the Son of man came” lies in the Lord’s tremendous interest in man—so much so as to become a man Himself. Such is His interest in man; but how about you? Many people do not meet your eyes; many people do not arouse your sympathetic feeling. Let us inquire, however, what the Lord’s attitude towards them is. He asserts that “the Son of man came.” Which means that He takes the place of a son of man among men. He is interested in man, He feels for man, and He values man. His interest in people is so great that He verily stands on the human level in serving mankind.

How strange that many brothers and sisters have no interest in man. Should this not arouse our righteous anger? Let us ask ourselves if we really understood what this word “The Son of man came” truly signifies. As we are in the presence of God we ought to see that this word of our Lord Jesus reveals His enormous interest in man. How can we ever think or say that we have no interest in the people we are with? Such an attitude is really preposterous.

Hence in the life of a workman of God there is another basic element in his character formation, which is, that he has an interest in all people. This, however, is not to suggest that he can choose whom among men he will be interested in—that he will only consider a particular person or persons whom he deems as interesting and lovable. No, he must be interested in man per se. For let us observe the characteristic of the Lord Jesus, that He had a keen interest in all of mankind.

There was such a love in Him towards all of humanity that He could say, “the son of Man came.” Suppose we go to a certain place to work for God. If we can say that we come to that place not to be served by the people there but to serve them, then our attitude is proper, our way is correct and our position is right. We shall be like Jesus, the Son of Man.

We should always have in mind that as the servants of God we must not withhold our love in a place until some Christian brethren arrive on the scene. All who hold this misconception—namely, that their love is to be reserved for the brethren only—are unable to do the work of God. Let it be known and unequivocally declared that the love of the brethren comes afterwards, and that it is a totally different proposition.

You need to have a love for the generality of mankind and compassion towards them. For John 3:16 makes plain that “God so loved the world.” What is “the world” here? It refers to all the people in the world, including the unsaved and ignorant. Those whom God loves are the people of the entire world. He loves everyone on the earth. If you are not interested in a person whom God loves, and furthermore, if you will love him only after he becomes a Christian brother, your disposition is quite different from the Lord’s; and therefore, you cannot serve God. Your heart will need to be expanded to such a degree that you feel that all people are to be loved. As long as this one or that one is a person, you love him. And only then shall you be qualified to serve God.

Taken from The Character of God’s Workman, by Watchman Nee; pp. 19-23; Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc.; New York; 1988.

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