1 Peter 5:1-4

1 Peter 5:1-4 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away (NIV).

   I am fortunate to have some loving friends who are in the Roman Catholic denomination, and I cherish their friendship. We will always have certain doctrinal disagreements until we are in heaven however. Not only are there a number of serious doctrinal differences between the Roman Catholic denomination and most other Christian denominations, but there is a fundamental difference in theology concerning their church government. Roman Catholic doctrine throughout history has placed their Pope, though in varying degrees at various times, to be a Vicar of Christ. This belief is based on Matthew 16:18 where Jesus identified Simon as “rock,” and states that on this rock His church will be built. Yet what is being missed is the whole quotation. Matthew 16:17 records that Jesus starts off by saying that Peter’s identification of Jesus as the Christ was not revealed by man, but by the Father in heaven. The rock that Jesus was building His church on was not a man, rather a revelation from God. The revelation through Peter is that Jesus is the Messiah. The Church of Jesus Christ is built on the rock of the revelation of the Christ, the “Anointed One.”

   Proper church government is revealed here by Peter. Peter, who identified himself as an apostle at the beginning of this epistle, is now identifying himself as a “fellow elder.” He is in effect saying to church leaders, ‘At the core, I am simply one of you.’ Peter was no God. Peter was not vying for a position as the greatest apostle. Peter here addressed his “fellow elders.” Elders were those individuals with the gifts and maturity to have leadership roles in their local churches. And Peter was one of those leaders.

   Another nugget here; Peter states he was “a witness of Christ’s sufferings…” We are reading Scripture written by an apostle who was an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ. The popular ‘modern’ academic practice has been to claim that books of the Bible were not written by the authors identified as the authors by ancient Christian writers. Many professors at a number of colleges, universities, and seminaries claim that books of Scripture were written by unknown individuals and then later attributed to an apostle, or were written by the Jewish people attributed as authors by the church for many centuries, but drastically edited by unknown folks at a later time. They are wrong because they neglect the study of ancient Christian writers. Those writers identify authors of Scripture. Those writers discussed the content of written Scripture. Thus we can count on Peter as the author of this inspired epistle. Thus Peter was a Jewish man who witnessed the Christ suffer.

   And the charge by a fellow elder? It is to shepherd God’s flock. Just as Jesus commanded Peter to feed His sheep (recorded in John 21:15-20), Peter is commanding his fellow elders to take care of the flock, which comprises of the children of God. If your calling is to be a leader in a church, then you have the responsibility of overseeing the flock. It is momentous calling.

   I have served as a youth pastor, and in doing so, I have learned that my gifts are on the teaching end. When I was a youth pastor, I had a rather small youth group, which was suitable for me. I was thankful to have a small youth group, because my gifts are not fitting to be overseeing a huge group. On the flip side, if I am speaking, I do not mind if there are hundreds of people, because I have a preaching gift. I spoke at a high school chapel service once to over three hundred students, and my thought at the beginning of the talk was: “This is fun.” Different people have different gifts, thus learn your gifts and pastor accordingly. But whether you are a in a small church or a mega church, whether working with a small group or a huge group, or whether part of a small team of leaders or a large team of leaders, you have a serious responsibility which you need to rely on God to carry out.

   I add that the word “overseer” is not used often in Christian churches. Bishop is the word that has replaced this word in some denominations. The problem with this term is that it has gained a connotation of ruler for many.  Ruler is a better word for a king than a pastor.

   Peter even states: “not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (NIV). Examples! That is what we need more of in our churches today! I was extremely active in Boys Scouts in my youth, a dedicated member, and eventually an Eagle Scout, in Troop 150 in Annandale, Virginia. Our leader was Mr. Holly Burns, a special Scoutmaster, and our Assistant Scoutmaster was Col. Milt Irons. Col. Irons later on became Scoutmaster after I was away at college at Virginia Tech. Col. Irons was a great leader. And a key reason why he was a great leader was because he led by example. One year our troop was on our annual “wilderness survival” campout at “Patrick’s Farm.” That place consisted of many acres of forest, and was owned by a farmer who allowed our troop to camp there every March. The nature of a “wilderness survival” campout for Troop 150 was that we could not bring tents, pots and pans, matches, or lighters, which we had on every other campout. Instead of having a tent, we had to make lean-tos out of wood. Instead of pots and pans, we had to cook in tinfoil. And to start a fire, we used flint and steel. I cannot remember, but we may not have even been allowed to have sleeping bags, because I remember one year being in a “space blanket.” But that may have just been one year.

   So, one morning I was the cook for the Leadership patrol for breakfast. Our menu was eggs, sausage, and grapefruit. How do you cook such without pots and pans? First, since utensils were available, we cut open the grapefruits. Then we sectioned out the grapefruit pieces. Then we removed the grapefruit pieces so that people could eat them. Then we totally gutted the grapefruit. Then we lined the grapefruit with the smushed sausage. Then we plopped an egg into the sausage lined grapefruit. Then we put the grapefruit, open side up, on coals. I think I even put tinfoil on top to trap heat. Then we cooked sausage and a fried egg in each grapefruit rein, one per person. Then each person got to chow down.

   Going back to the early stage of sectioning the grapefruit, after I cut the grapefruits open, I stared at them for a while. Col. Irons noticed I was stalled in the process, and he asked how I was doing. I told him I had never been good at sectioning grapefruits. Truth is I was never good at it because my mom usually did that for me. So what did my special leader do? Col. Irons asked, not demanded, if it would be fine with me if he sectioned the grapefruits. When I said yes, he then asked if I could line the grapefruits with the sausage. Then when he was sectioning the grapefruits, he gave a few gentle pointers on how to best do that. That was Col. Irons. He led by example. He was one of the great leaders I have ever known, because leading by example was his leadership gift.

   Col. Irons was a Christian who served as a Scoutmaster, and he was a great leader. There was no financial gain for him by being a Scoutmaster. Col. Irons gave up every Monday evening, one weekend a month, and much other time, simply because he had a calling to invest in Scouts. He was not a control freak, yet he was a leader. And he was willing to lead by example.

   What God is calling for among Christians is leaders who will lead by example. I have the sad experience as a youth pastor of working with students who have parents who have not led by example. Nothing confuses a child more than a parent who demands that they do not drink alcohol, but then who gets drunk. Nothing confuses a child more than a parent who says do not have sex outside of marriage, but then who has sex outside of marriage. The parents may qualify statements by saying they cannot do those things when they are young. If that is the case, when the student reaches a certain age, that student, who is likely eager to be an adult, will do those things as soon as they are in more of a position to do so.

   Likewise, pastors who are not a living example to the flock are confusing the flock, not helping the flock. Leading by example is the call of God. I add that we people are not perfect, and part of leading by example is being willing to admit your flaws and your mistakes. I find young people admire adults who are willing to admit the times when they messed up.

   Now you may live a godly life that most people never even physically see. But doing so is a spiritual way of life, and you will develop into a spiritual person that the willing will recognize sooner or later. You will become a mentor.

   One last encouragement for you pastors and those of you who will be pastors in the future, first and foremost, always remember that Jesus is the Chief Shepherd! Peter was not the Chief Shepherd, rather Jesus is. The first step to good pastoring is to go by the guidance of the Chief Shepherd, and the second step is to be yourself. Relying on the love of Jesus, you can do pastoring work. Glory will result.

Hunter Irvine