Elders are God's Men for Shepherding the Flock of God According to God's Will and Way
1 Peter 5:1-5
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes for young children to answer are throughout sermon)
Please turn to 1 Peter 5:1-5. We are coming toward the end of the epistle, but we are not quite finished. Before Peter ends his epistle, he starts to exhort men who hold the office of elder. As you turn to the passage, I want us to be thinking about the various titles that can be applied to men who operate in leadership ministry in the local church community. Maybe you have heard such men being called "reverend." You might be familiar with referring to such a man as "preacher." In some places, it is common to refer to these kind of men as "clergymen." It is not unusual to hear of one being called "the minister." All of these titles that people use are generally referring to the same thing. They refer to a man who has been gifted and ordained to be something that has various labels that God gives to them in the Bible. Biblically, we find that such men are called elders, overseers, shepherds, bishops, pastors, and stewards of God; they're also called those who rule (cf. 1 Timothy 5:17) etc. As we get into this, I want us to consider that just like there are various names that people apply to men who are in the spiritual office of Pastor, there are also various things that people think that a Pastor is. People also have their ideas of what a Pastor is supposed to do. Without a Biblically based recognition of God's design, function, and purpose for these men, all kinds of ideas, and philosophies, trickle down into theory streams, and all those streams flow down through the river of culture in an attempt to define a pastor, and what a pastor's role should be. Maybe you have wondered about Pastors. Maybe you have asked yourself:
What exactly is a pastor?
Why are there pastors in the church?
What does God want Pastors to do?
We are going to endeavor to explore pastors and pastoring this morning, by gleaning from God's word on the matter. The context is that Peter is teaching to Christian men who have leadership in the church. Let's read the passage now. Peter says,
"1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the determination of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders;" 1 Peter 5:1-5
Please prepare your heart to learn, along with me, from this sermon with the theme,
"Elders are God's Men for Shepherding the Flock of God According to God's Will and Way"
[prayer]
A survey of the New Covenant Scriptures reveals to us that elders are important for the body of Christ. It is not an importance that is to be higher than what God says it is to be. It is not an importance that is to be lower either. No man who is an authentic elder (in the biblical sense of the word for shepherding the flock) has given themselves this importance. God is the one that gives elders, and eldership, the importance that He thinks is necessary. My hope is that we will learn some key principles for understanding what it means when we say that Elders are God's men for Shepherding His flock. My hope is that we will also gain a robust understanding of how they are to do this according to God's will and way.
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The first principle we will explore concerning the fact that elders are God's men for shepherding His flock according to His will and way, is that Elders are to manifest spiritual stability in the midst of the persecution and volatility of the lost world culture. Peter starts the section with,
"1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, "
There is something very important here that explains a vital element for this exhortation. If we do not notice it, then we will be limiting the full impact of what the Spirit is conveying in the exhortation. It is vital that we focus upon the fact that Peter starts into his topic here by saying "therefore." That word is our key. What Peter is doing, is referring to what he just said about the fiery ordeal that Christians should expect while living among the lost world culture. The fiery ordeal of the lost world culture has a lot to do with the design, function, and purpose of elders shepherding the flock. Contextually, Peter is writing to Christians who are actually going through intense ordeals of suffering for the faith. Peter's reminder that we should not suffer as evildoers is key. Instead, we should suffer according to the will of God in,
"... doing what is right." 1 Peter 4:19; cf. 1 Peter 3:17
This is the huge point that Peter is pointing back to when he says, "therefore." All of us should be making it our ambition to do what is right, in the Lord, for the Lord, even if the consequences result in fiery ordeals from the lost world culture. When the fiery ordeals come, it can look like everything is going wrong all around us. This is what Peter is bringing over to addressing elder-leadership of God's flock. Elders are men who should reflect the biblical pattern of spiritual stability in the fiery situations that the flock is going through. One of the primary manifestations of the spiritual stability is that they are to be guiding the flock to also be spiritually stable. This is done by exhorting the church to do what is right according to God's enduring word. This is exactly what Peter, as a fellow elder and apostle, is doing with this letter he is writing.
Notice that he points out that he gives this teaching as a fellow elder. Peter knows that the elders of the flocks already recognize this about Peter; but he says it anyway. In Acts 15:2, Peter was called an apostle and an elder as part of the Jerusalem counsel. The churches all know who, and what, Peter is. So, I want us to think about why Peter would suddenly refer to himself as a fellow elder. Essentially Peter is demonstrating what He is preaching. He is demonstrating what all elders should demonstrate. Peter is stable as a ministerial leader of God's people. But Peter is more than a fellow elder who has demonstrated stability while in the chaos of the lost world culture. He is also an eyewitness of the sufferings that began with the suffering of Messiah. Peter has seen, from the beginning, what the fiery legacy of living for Christ means. It means suffering which started, at the beginning, with the suffering of the very Lord that we cling to for salvation. What Peter is doing is pressing us toward standing firm in spiritual stability in the midst of fiery ordeals because those ordeals are going to mess with your mind. They are going to pummel your faith. So, he is giving instructions, encouragement, and exhortations, as a primary witness, apostle, and elder, who has the scars to showcase in respect to his stability. And what Peter wants to happen, is to personally connect with the elders he is writing to. He wants them to reflect the stability he has acquired. But Peter was not always that way. The fiery ordeals messed with Peter's mind in an agonizing way. His faith was pummeled to smithereens. Remember, Peter had argued with Jesus when Jesus explained that He must be rejected by the Jews, then be crucified by Gentiles, and then raise up three days later. Later Peter ran away from Jesus at that pivotal moment in the garden of Gethsemene when Christ was arrested. That same night Peter actually denied that he ever knew Jesus. But now Peter is an apostle. And in relating to the elders that are scattered across the land, he says that he is a fellow elder who shares their faith and calling. And yet, a primary apostle was unique. A primary apostle is someone who was commissioned by Christ to go out and do the foundational missionary work to establish the Christians (and the local flocks of Christians and their leadership) in the first generation of the church. One of the traits of a primary apostle was that he had seen Christ; another is that he had been personally commissioned by the Lord for the special ministry. In pointing out this fact about himself, Peter is showing that he an expert who knows all about the suffering, the problems, and the difficulties; but he also knows what? He knows the risen Christ and His gospel. Peter knows that the good news remains good in the midst of the bad that is going on all around us. Here's the point:
All fellow elders must guide the flock in the same way.
I want us to notice that Peter also identifies himself as a fellow partaker of the glory that is to be revealed. The allusion here is that though you have been rejected by the world for being a Christian, you will experience the future glory that awaits you at the end of the fiery ordeals of life. So, in looking at these things so far, we understand that a huge part of an elder's role is to be spiritually stable; but from that, it is also to be encouraging the flock to be stable as we await our future, glorious, exit from this world.
At this point, I think it is necessary for us to have a certain fact made crystal clear. We need to fix it in our minds to avoid confusion. It has to do with the term "elder." Peter is using unique Bible terminology that God has ordained for the church. The Greek word for elder is presbuteros. In the Roman world, this word could have actually referred to an "older man" in a general cultural sense. But, in the church context of the flock, the Spirit has given it the distinct meaning of a qualified leader in the church. This is why a church that calls itself a presbyterian church is composed of a plurality of elders. Presbyterianism gets its name from presbuteros. The elders in a presbyterian church are also called presbyters. It is important for us to recognize that the men who Peter is writing to readily understood what Peter was talking about in respect to the elders. They knew, for instance, that Peter was not referring to them, and Himself, as senior citizens in the geriatric sense of old men. Also, Peter was not saying that they were men who had been Christians for a great length of many years of time. There are Christians who have been saved for over fifty years, and they do not remotely qualify to the Biblically defined office of elder. The apostles distinguished the terms quite well. For example, when an apostle wanted to explain his old age, he would do it in a different manner. Paul described himself as Paul, the aged, in Philemon 1:9 to describe himself as being an old man. Paul also described older men with a word that is similar, but different to the one that Peter is using here. Paul used that word in 1 Timothy 5:1 to describe men of older age. Earlier in 1 Timothy, Paul used the same word that Peter is using here to describe the office of elder, which is a Pastor, who is a shepherd, who is an overseer, who is a steward of God as a leader in the church. It is important to recognize that in that culture, this word was already being used for leadership before being adopted by the Christians. Its leadership usage is where its semantic roots are found in respect to being used for the leadership ministry of the Christian flock of God. You see, the designation was already being used in the Jewish synagogues. The synagogues had Jewish religious leaders called elders. It was already being used in the Jerusalem temple for the temple leadership. Later on it was logically used by the apostles. In God's determination, an elder is meant as someone who has Biblically outlined authority within the formal church context. The authority is based upon a call from God in accordance with qualifications of moral; spiritual; and reputable character that are outlined in Scripture. Those qualifications are found listed in 1 Timothy, and Titus. Stability in the faith in the midst of the fiery ordeals is but one of the qualifications. Yet it is necessary, from God's perspective, for leading His flock.
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This leads us to the second principle to glean concerning the God-determined task of elders. God has placed elders in His church, as leaders, for the purpose of shepherding oversight,
"2 shepherd, the flock of God among you exercising oversight ..." 1 Peter 5:2
@1 God wants pastors to shepherd the flock of God among them spiritually through ____________________. 1 Peter 5:2
The word "shepherd" is the Greek word that means, to be about the business of pastoring (poimaino, re. poimanate). A shepherd is a pastor (poimeen). To shepherd is to pastor. "Pastor" is a label that most of us are familiar with. Pastors are mentioned in Ephesians as God's gifting for the body of Christ. Paul said that God,
"... gave some ... as pastors [who are] teachers, 12 for the equipping of [Christians] for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;" Ephesians 4:11-12
@2 God gives pastors who are teachers as gifts to the church for the ___________________________ of everyone for the work of service. Ephesians 4:11-12
God has an ingenious plan for His church according to His determination. In His plan, he gives pastor-teachers to the body of Christ as part of His gifting. They are gifts to you, for you, from Him, in serving Him. Paul explains what their specific work of service, in shepherding oversight, is supposed to be. It is to build up the body of Christ. I do what I do to build you up spiritually. One way I accomplish this, is by teaching, and encouraging, us, the church, to think and do what is right no matter how wrong everything else seems to be around us. Part of this has to do with equipping the body for the work of service. This is an important point, because God has placed all of us (including you) in the body to function according to our gifts. This means that pastors are not placed in the body of Christ to do the work of everyone. I am not here to do your work of service. Pastors do not exist to do everything in the church. Of course, the Pastor is there for our benefit. But, think about how we all benefit from teaching, urging, oversight in being equipped for our own tasks in serving the Lord. We are all feeding from God's word. We are all fellowshipping with the flock. We are all exhorted to love and good deeds. In other words, we are established in the precepts of the faith, for a reason. What is it? It is so that we will be edified (built up) to go onward and manifest more of Christ out of our selves in our high calling. Our minds are renewed. Our hearts are encouraged. Our spirituality is being built up for the Christian life. Notice the actual language; Peter urges elders to shepherd the flock of God. When you think of a shepherd, think of someone who feeds, guides, guards, and tends to the needs of sheep. The sheep feed on the nutrients that the Shepherd leads them to, and brings to them. The question is:
What are the nutrients that a pastor feeds to the flock?
The nutrients are God's word through exhortation and grounding in the theology, and doctrine, it contains.
Doctrine drives our actions; and our actions manifest our doctrinal growth. In this process, the sheep grow. Now think about this: The growth of each of the members of the body is manifested in each person providing their service to others through giving of themselves through self sacrifice. It is manifested in serving God through evangelism. It is manifested in recognizing false doctrines. It is manifested in spiritual security. Again, doctrine drives your actions. Think about the various ways that actual sheep in the flock metaphor serve through giving of themselves. Agriculturally oriented people readily understand that sheep give of themselves in giving wool, in giving skins, in providing food for people. Sheep are used for trade, and sales. They are used for increasing the flock in multiplication. They are used in organizing a united group called "a flock" for the sake of management, protection, and community. The flock's job is to be an identifiable, united, group. The shepherd's job is to guide, and nurture, the group toward moving onward in their service to the Grand Great Shepherd and Guardian of our souls--Jesus Christ. When we think about this, there is no wonder that the Spirit has chosen to use "shepherd" and "flock" language for the church. All these kinds of things are applied to us in a spiritual sense.
Considering shepherds and flocks, when it comes to preaching the nutrients of the word, (like what I am doing now) three elements of the shepherd's task are clear. It's like the classical trivium. One is that God's shepherd helps define and bring out the language aspect of God's truth. We can put it into the category of grammar. This is what I am doing now. I am identifying and teaching Christian language based on God's truthful word. I am also endeavoring to show the logic of God's truth. In other words, I am seeking to give the reasoning of God's truthful word, based upon premises, both inductive, and deductive. My task is to teach theology, doctrine, apologetics, precepts and timeless life-principles for all of us to attain to successful living as God's royal priesthood, set apart nation, household, and flock. There is a trivium that I am explaining here. First there is the grammar aspect of teaching. Then there is the logic of it all. And then God's shepherd encourages you to think it all, be it all, and go out and use it all for God's glory. I do this in urging, and exhorting, us to love and good deeds. Why? So that we, as the flock, will be equipped, and encouraged toward eternally relevant thoughts, and actions, in the midst of the fiery ordeal of the lost world culture. All these three things are like the trivium of classic education where we grow through learning grammar, then we learn logic, and then we grow in the dialectic which is application. When it comes down to it, what is going on is that God's shepherds are equipping the flock of God for the work of their own service in exercising their own gifts. Whenever you think, and use, what you are being built up in, then my elder-shepherding purpose has been achieved by the Spirit. This is all God's biblical ordination and orchestration.
But, there are a few maverick Christians, disgruntled Christians, and hurt Christians, who sinfully despise the Holy Spirit ordained office of elder. From, my own experience with various people like this who deny God's mandate for pastors, I have found that they base their attitude upon faulty exegesis of Scripture and a specious view of church history. Unfortunately, I have found that they are not usually able to be helped out of their smug contempt for God's leadership gifts for the flock. But I have noticed that there are others. What I mean is that the rest who have a problem with pastors, are typically reacting to distasteful experiences. They can point to bad experiences, and because they look at that unbiblical experience that has involved church leadership, they commit a spiritual fallacy. They throw out what God mandates in light of what they personally can point to as a bad example. This is a shame that blights the church. God does not want Christians to neglect God's determination in ordaining, and making, the existence of Pastors. At the same time, God wants us pastors to abide by His design for us as is laid out in passages like this. This is the only way that a pastor is going to exercise proper oversight.
When Peter mentions oversight here, the very mention of the task gives us a bigger picture of what pastors are to do in God's plan. The Greek word for "oversight" is episkopeo. Someone who practices oversight is an "overseer" which is the Greek word episkopos. This same word is sometimes translated as bishop. Bishops and overseers are exactly the same thing. They are also the same thing as Elders, Pastors, and shepherds. The Episcopalian denomination gets its name from episkopos. Like Presbyterian, Episcopalian describes the church government. Once again, this is the second principle I have been covering. God has placed elders in His church as leaders for the specific purpose of shepherding oversight.
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This leads us to the next principle to glean concerning the fact that elders are God's men for shepherding the flock of God according to God's will and way:
God is the one, in the spiritual realm, who ordains pastors in the physical realm. And in God's determination, God is the one who is answered according to the call; both voluntarily and eagerly,
"2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the determination of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;"
When we look around us, the church can often seem like a human enterprise. After all, the flock is made up of people. A pastor is a person. With this in mind, it is easy to think that men are the ones who call, or ordain, men to actually become pastors. Actually, there are many men who act as pastors and they should not be. These kinds of men have been merely ordained by men only, but without ordination from God. They are neither called by God, nor qualified by God, to be Pastors. The consequence is that in this kind ordination, they operate outside of God's true anointing, true gifting, and true calling. This is why God has given us certain qualifications in His word to help us identify, and confirm, those who are truly ordained by the Spirit to be real pastors. But there is another problem. Basically, men are imperfect. So, because men are imperfect, we can look at God's called and qualified pastors, (just like you can look at me) and we can scrutinize them more than we are supposed to do. I want to alert you to something to be aware of. Watch for it in others, but more importantly, watch for it in yourself. What I mean, is that there is a real danger of Christians scrutinizing elders in a more graceless manner than they scrutinize other Christians based upon the law of Christ's love. It is weird how people will treat a pastor this way as if there is some other law that God has for condemning a pastor when he fails, or a failure is perceived. But there is no special graceless law like that. A pastor is no more perfect than you are, and he should not be expected to be perfect. Yes, there is a high standard for pastors. But no, they can not maintain flawless perfection. They may put on an act in front of everyone that has the appearance of flawless perfection. They may have their organizational PR system in place that bolsters this image; but the fact remains that pastors do not walk on water. My point is that if we require perfection, then we will never be able to recognize the imperfect men that God calls into Eldership oversight ministry; and folks,
God always calls imperfect men to serve Him.
I am but one example. The point is that God is the one, in the spiritual realm, who ordains authentic pastors in the physical realm. In fact, the Holy Spirit Himself is the One Who actually makes men into overseers to shepherd the church of God as something that you may have never thought of before. It is an amazing fact.
I am talking about the fact that men are made into being pastors as a miracle action.
Godly men simply recognize it. Then they agree voluntarily and eagerly with the call in accord with the qualifications given in scripture. In Acts, we read of the Spirit's miraculous work,
"Paul sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders [presbuteros] of the church. 18 And when they had come to him, he said to them; ... 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock [the church], among which the Holy Spirit has made you;
[there it is. It is God's ordination and the Spirit does it as His miracle work)]
overseers (episkopos), to shepherd (poimaino) the church of God. ..." Acts 20:17-28
@3 The Holy Spirit is the One who makes overseers. He makes them to _________________________ the church of God. Acts 20:17-28
The principle is that God is the one in the spiritual realm who makes a man an overseer in the physical realm; and God makes a man an overseer for the specific work of ruling within the local body of Christ--the flock. In God's determination, God is the one that a man answers according to the call both voluntarily and eagerly.
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This leads us to the next principle to glean concerning the fact that elders are God's men for shepherding the flock of God according to God's will and way. It is important to not shepherd the flock because of lust for monetary gain. Peter says,
"... and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;" 1 Peter
Now if you are like me, you might be reading this passage and thinking, "What in the world does 'sordid gain' mean?" Sordid is kind of an antiquated word. Another way to say "sordid gain" is to say shameful profiteering. It is to be seeking to profit through greed for money. A good test for recognizing whether this is a motivation of someone who eagerly desires to be a pastor, or is a pastor, is to ask themselves,
"Is pastoring my business opportunity to fulfill my desire for money?"
The issue is not whether a Pastor is supported by the church so that he is enabled to minister full time. Full-time pastors, who are supported financially happen to get paid for what they do by necessity. Money does not grow on trees like fruit. It grows out of the fruits of the Spirit that come from the branches of the body of Christ. Pastor's are ministers of God. When they get paid, then that payment just happens to be their means for paying the bills. Many pastors, particularly those starting a church, will work simultaneously at another job. My own experience was this way. When I could finally match my budget from support from the church body, I quit the other job. The reason that pastors do this, is because there is no way to keep up the pace of nurturing the church, which is done eagerly, and also do another job while cultivating their own family, while devoting their time to intense study and sermon preparation. Pastors typically spend time in pre-marriage and marriage counseling, organizational matters, visitations, weddings, outreach, and things like that. These things take time, so pastors need to be supported because they do things that take up the time in each day. Most pastors make it their goal to do the primary thing that pastors are called to do which is preach and teach accurately and thoroughly. Sermon preparation, by necessity, takes a lot of time. This is one reason why I make my sermon transcripts available online for free. I am extending my ministry to other pastors to help them in their sermon preparation. I want to help them alleviate some of the time crunches that we all experience. At this point in my ministry, my typical time that I spend on sermon prep is about 35 hours. but usually I apply much more time. If it is a sermon that deals with a really difficult doctrinal issue, or requires a lot of research, then I'll spend as much as 45 hours on it. I've spent even much more time on certain doctrinally difficult sermons. I work on sermons in advance. I have a system. I work on sermons in advance to give me more time to research, to think through, to pray, and to develop the details. This is the way it is with most studious pastors. The point is that by necessity pastors pastor full-time. Also by necessity, the flock supplies their needs. Now, someone might try to equivocate. They may even stretch the metaphors that God has chosen, in an attempt to be contentious, or stingy, with this principle. Someone may say,
"But the flock is shepherded by the pastor. How does the flock take care of the pastor?"
The answer is simple: From one direction, God blesses the flock to provide for the physical needs of the shepherd where the flock operates as tools in God's hands. From the other direction, the shepherd is a tool in God's hands who is provided to the flock for blessing them by providing certain spiritual needs. This should clear up any confusion--even in respect to what Peter is saying. But what is Peter saying? Peter is warning about people who are out to make a buck by using ministry to get there. They are the kinds of people who think that being a pastor is just another scheme for doing it. Paul sheds more light on this when he says,
"An overseer must be above reproach as God's steward ... not someone who is fond of sordid gain," Titus 1:7
In Paul's parallel instruction in 1 Timothy 3 he says something that even magnifies the whole sense even further. An elder must be
"free from the love of money" 1 Timothy 3:3
As we think about this, we recognize that God wants us to trust Pastors, right? God wants men who are pastoring the flock to be doing so according to a true spiritual calling to shepherd. Someone who is a lover of money--having a fondness for sordid gain--can and will, use their position to manipulate, and use, the flock. Now, what are some things to look for in people like this. A pastor who dwells on an inordinate continuous appeal for, or desire for, money, is showing that he is being a greedy lover of money. Even his lifestyle reflects his heart. If he is showing that he is always wanting to purchase things that are unneeded, or if he is showing a materialistic interest in temporal possessions where he is always wanting what is beyond his needs, then he is showing that he is a lover of what money produces, and so his sordid gain is demonstrated in the stuff he can get from the money. If he shows that he does not give; and that he only expects others to give, then he is demonstrating that he is a lover of money who has an agenda of sordid gain. God says that this kind of pastor is not fulfilling a biblical calling as a pastor. In light of this, he and everyone else, should seriously question if he has really been called in the first place. On the other hand, we must be careful that we do not become judgmental of certain Pastors because they have material things, or things that are nice, or they have something we wish we had but we don't because we can't afford it. We need to be careful not to be judgmental concerning God's anointed elders. That particular pastor may be a good manager and budget keeper of the resources God has blessed Him with. He may have saved for a long tome to get what he has. Maybe someone gave it to him as a gift. Isn't God allowed to bless people, which would include pastors? You think it is okay when God blesses you, right? The point is that we should seek to discern with wise judgments, or we will be guilty of sinning against God's servants based upon our own expectations, prejudices, and envy. Further, God wants you to look at yourself. You are accountable to Him too. This is why we all should seek not to be stingy in our own calling to be stewards who support those who serve us. This is why Paul said,
"17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching." 1 Timothy 5:17
"6 One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." Galatians 6:6
"14 So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the good news to get their living from the good news." 1 Corinthians 9:14
In the context of 1 Timothy 5, the double honor is financial provision. In the context of Galatians 6:6, the good things, that the one who is taught, is to share, is financial provision. In the context of 1 Corinthians 9, Paul is saying that God has ordained that the ox should share in eating from the wheat of his work and that God meant that the command was for His spiritual minister's sakes in being supported from their ministry labors. The main point is that a Pastor should be serving voluntarily and eagerly for the Lord, in mind of His calling, and the needs of the flock, rather than for sordid gain.
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This leads us to the final principle to glean concerning the fact that elders are God's men for shepherding the flock of God according to God's will and way. An elder is not to lord over those allotted to his charge. Instead, he is to prove to be a godly example.
"3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock" 1 Peter 5:3
@4 An overseer must not be ___________________ over people, but should prove to be an example. 1 Peter 5:3
What this means is that a pastor is not to act like a master who treats other Christians like underlings. It means that an elder is not to act like a boss of a flock where he treats them like a group of employees. This may come as a shock to many people who have been breastfed on the faddish trends of our age concerning "doing" church, but pastors are not CEO's, and the church is not his company. A pastor is a servant-leader, and so he is to act as a servant leader that guides the flock in spiritual truths. Even in protection and encouragement in the faith he does not act like a military commander. He guides by truth, example, and necessity. This particular thing is so important because an elder is someone who rules. In 1 Timothy, we see the charge,
"17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching." 1 Timothy 5:17
Ruling is part of the Pastor's work; and we should make no mistake about it--pastoral ruling is a fine work:
"1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do." 1 Timothy 3:1
Now, think about this. If the work of a pastor is to rule in respect to those allotted to his charge, then it could be easy to consider this kind of authority as an opportunity to lord over people, right? But what the Spirit indicates is that Christ, the true Lord, wants the men that He ordains to be elder's who are humble when we teach the word. He wants us to diminish ourselves in exercising protection of the flock. He wants us to glorify Him as we live the word in humble servanthood. In other words, God wants pastors to use what they were called, gifted, and ordained to do; but do it while manifesting all the fruits of the Spirit while operating in equality to everyone else--yes, simple equality. This is what governs the extent of the ruling role of the pastor. Teaching, of course is primary,
"17 The elders who rule ... especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching." 1 Timothy 5:17
@5 The primary job of elders in their shepherding work is to ______________________ and ______________________. 1 Timothy 5:17
By the way, in Scripture, Elders are always described as being able to do the shepherding work of preaching and teaching. It is the primary method of ministry that God has ordained for a pastor. If you are not able to teach, and preach, then you are not a pastor. It is that simple. We find it in 1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:24; and Titus 1:9, and so on. But the urging is to teach in such a way that the humble motive of serving God in serving the flock is made evident. The primary way we do this in keeping from exalting ourselves in personal lordship, is by practicing what Peter says to do. What does Peter say to do? He says to be an example. Paul told Timothy the same thing in the epistle where he lays out the qualifications for elders,
"show yourself an example," 1 Timothy 4:12
Paul told Titus in the other epistle where he lays out the qualifications,
"7 In everything set an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity," Titus 2:7
In the midst of the fiery ordeals that we relentlessly experience from the lost world culture, teaching by mouth, and also by example, is vital for encouraging the church to do what is right, no matter how wrong everything else seems to be going around us. Both go hand in hand. But being a humble teacher by mouth and example is what the Spirit wants. Teaching by humble example means expressing godliness in such a way as manifesting the fruits of the Spirit. This principle seems almost too simple to miss, but unfortunately, it is missed by way too many men who claim to be pastors. But the fact of the matter is that the example of humbleness is one of the biggest attributes that God looks for, and uses, more than anything else in the men He has called to shepherd. Peter reemphasizes the cornerstone teaching for pastors and all Christians. He says in verse 5,
"and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, [and then Peter quotes Proverbs 3:34] for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace [favor] to the humble."
Paul also knew that pride was something that could easily infect a person wanting to be an elder. That is why he says that an elder should not be
"a new convert, so that he will not become conceited," 1 Timothy 3:6
The final principle then, is that an elder is not to lord over those allotted to his charge. Rather he is to prove to be a godly example.
Let's recap all we have explored this morning: We must recognize that elders are God's men for shepherding His flock according to His will and way. This means that Elders are to manifest spiritual stability in the midst of the persecution and volatility of the lost world culture. Pastors are guides. We must also recognize that God has placed elders in His church, as leaders, for the purpose of shepherding oversight. The principle is real. We need to embrace it. We must also remember that God is the one in the spiritual realm who ordains pastors in the physical realm. Be thinking of miracle. The making of a pastor by the Holy Spirit is His miracle work. It is much more than a speculative practice of men in which they vote for a candidate that they think might do a good job. It is much more than another good idea that you might pursue. But there is some scrutiny. This is why God gave us the qualifications for overseers in both 1 Timothy, and in Titus. The qualifications are identification markers to help us see who the Holy Spirit has made into an elder. One of the things we scrutinize is whether a pastor has a love for money in seeking sordid gain. Then after becoming a pastor, the Spirit is urging a continuous check. All pastors must make sure that they do not seek sordid gain. Finally, elders are also urged not to lord over those allotted to their charge. God wants His leaders to be humble loving servants. It is where our life becomes a tangible sermon illustration that speaks forth penetrating truths that are sometimes clearer than the words we preach with our lips. Amen.
@1 God wants pastors to shepherd the flock of God among them spiritually through ____________________. 1 Peter 5:2
@2 God gives pastors who are teachers as gifts to the church for the ___________________________ of everyone for the work of service. Ephesians 4:11-12
@3 The Holy Spirit is the One who makes overseers. He makes them to _________________________ the church of God. Acts 20:17-28
@4 An overseer must not be ___________________ over people, but should prove to be an example. 1 Peter 5:3
@5 The primary job of elders in their shepherding work is to ______________________ and ______________________. 1 Timothy 5:17
