1 Peter 5:1-5: Shepherding God’s Flock

1 Peter 5:1-5: Shepherding God’s Flock

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of 1 Peter, and today the next passage we come to is 1 Peter 5:1-5. It says,

¹ So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: ² shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; ³ not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. ⁵ Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we pray according to Isaiah 55 that as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so would your word be this morning—that it would not return to you empty but would accomplish that which you purpose and succeed in the thing for which you send it. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Several weeks ago, our church voted unanimously to appoint Joe Urbanowicz and Shane Jordan as the newest elders of our church—joining the current three elders for a total of five men on the Elder Team. So, this morning, we’d like to officially appoint or ordain Joe and Shane to that ministry. Now, for those of you who may be newer around here or who simply don’t know who Joe and Shane are, we’ll put their pictures up here on the screens. I’m sure both of them love having their pictures displayed up here. Just in case you’re wondering, we didn’t use any Instagram filters or photo editing software on these pictures. They’re completely unedited. So, yes, Joe and Shane really are that good looking—and now you know who they are. 

And as it turns out, the next passage of Scripture we come to in our journey through 1 Peter happens to be quite appropriate for this occasion—one might even say it’s providential—because this passage is actually all about the responsibilities of church elders and the manner in which their ministry is to be carried out.

I also just want to say that this is an important passage for all of us to study and take to heart. Not only is it important for those of us whom God’s called to be elders—so that we can be reminded of kind of ministry God’s called us to and the way he expects us to carry it out—it’s also important for the rest of the church as well. The entire church needs to be aware of the things Peter writes in this passage so that everyone can have a clear understanding of the kind of ministry they should expect from the elders. Hopefully, this understanding will also help the church as a whole to have a better idea of how they can be an encouragement to the elders and also hold the elders accountable whenever needed to the principles and standards God’s set forth for elder ministry.

In fact, it’s almost impossible for us to overstate the importance of understanding what Peter teaches in this passage—because, if you look around at the church in general in our society today, it seems to be in a rather lamentable condition. We might even say it’s in a state of spiritual disarray. Why is that? Why are so many professing Christians in our society so worldly-minded? Why are they often so morally compromised? Why does sin so often go unchecked in their lives? Why do so many professing Christians embrace blatantly unbiblical doctrines? Why do they often seem so confused even about the most basic Christian teachings? Why are they so often spiritually immature and malnourished? 

Of course, we could point fingers all day long at various factors that contribute to this state of spiritual disarray—and there may be some validity to a lot of those factors—but I’m convinced that the ultimate reason for this unfortunate state of affairs can be traced back to church leaders. For the most part, people are what they are because churches are what they are, and churches are what they are because church leaders are what they are. After all, if you were to see a flock of sheep scattered all over the place—many of them having wandered into dangerous places, several of them being injured, a number of them having already been devoured by wolves, and all the rest looking rather malnourished—who would you say is to blame for that more than anyone else? Does the responsibility for that not come back to the shepherds? So, it’s vital that we understand what God calls the elders of a church to be and do—so that we can all work together to ensure that they’re seeking to fulfill their calling.

Thankfully, Peter gives very clear instructions in this passage about elder ministry. He writes at the beginning of verse 1, “So I exhort the elders among you….” Now, before we go any further, I want to make sure we all understand what the word “elder” means. When we talk about “elders” in this context, we’re not talking we’re not talking about those in the congregation who are elderly.

The New Testament uses the term “elder” to refer to the highest leaders of a church with an emphasis not on their physical age but on their spiritual maturity. It’s also helpful to understand that the terms “elder,” “pastor,” and “overseer” are all synonymous in the New Testament. That means they all refer to the same office. This is apparent in numerous New Testament passages such as Acts 20, which uses all three of these terms—“elder,” “pastor,” and “overseer”—interchangeably.  

By the way, one term the New Testament never uses to refer to church leaders is “priest.” That’s a term some denominations have unfortunately carried over from the Old Testament, but it isn’t an appropriate term to use for church leaders at all. Because, first of all, church leaders in the New Testament don’t offer sacrifices on behalf of everyone else as the priests of Israel did in the Old Testament

And also, church leaders don’t have a kind of access to God that’s fundamentally different than the access to God all Christians enjoy. In the Old Testament, priests did indeed have unique access to God and therefore acted as mediators between God and the rest of the Israelite people. That was the essence of their role as priests. But that dynamic is absolutely not continued in the New Testament. In fact, as we’ve already seen in 1 Peter, the New Testament speaks of all Christians as “priests,” indicating that we all have the same level of access to God. Church leaders aren’t unique at all in that regard. So, that’s why we don’t use the term “priests” to refer to church leaders and why we actually believe it to be quite contrary to New Testament teaching to view church leaders in that way.

So, with that in mind, let’s turn our attention again to verse 1. Peter writes, “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed….” Now, to “exhort” these elders simply means to urge them to do something. And in order to add weight to this exhortation, Peter first identifies himself as a “fellow elder” and also as “a witness of the sufferings of Christ.” Peter’s writing these things as an eyewitness of what Jesus suffered on the cross and as one who had been forever changed by the things he saw.

Peter also identifies himself as “a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.” These words foreshadow what we’ll see in verse 4 about elders receiving “the unfading crown of glory.” Peter mentions this general concept right at the outset here in verse 1 so that the elders will listen all the more diligently to what he’s about to write, knowing that their faithful ministry in the present will be richly rewarded in the future.

We then discover what Peter’s exhorting them to do in verse 2. He tells them to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you.” This is the core component of Peter’s exhortation to these elders—to “shepherd the flock of God”—the “flock of God” being a reference to the church. So, if you’re taking notes, the main idea of this passage is that God has given elders the responsibility of shepherding his flock. Again, God has given elders the responsibility of shepherding his flock.

This idea of shepherding is rooted in the Old Testament, where God is described as the shepherd of his people. The most famous example is Psalm 23, where David writes in verse 1-4, ¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. ³ He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. ⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Then, fast-forwarding to the New Testament, Jesus also speaks of himself as a shepherd. He states in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” So, if there’s a wolf or some other type of predator threatening the sheep’s welfare, a “good shepherd,” Jesus says, will actually sacrifice his own life in order to protect the sheep in his flock. Obviously, that seems a little extreme, since the shepherd’s life would be much more valuable than the lives of his sheep—but that’s actually the point. Even though Jesus had infinite worth as the very Son of God, he was willing to lay down his life for those who were utterly unworthy.

You see, the Bible teaches that you and I and everyone else in this world have all sinned against a holy God and therefore deserve to be punished in hell for all eternity. However, the good news of the gospel is that God is not only absolutely just but also incredibly merciful. And in his mercy, God the Father sent Jesus his Son to this earth in order to rescue us from our terrible predicament. Jesus did this by becoming a human being and living a perfectly righteous life in our place. He then demonstrated his love for us in an even more radical way by voluntarily dying on the cross in our place and to pay for our sin. The wrath of God that our sins deserved was poured out on Jesus so it wouldn’t have to be poured out on us. He suffered the full force of it so we wouldn’t have to. Jesus was then raised from the dead so that he now stands ready to save everyone who will put their trust in him. So, that’s what Jesus is referring to when he identifies himself as “the good shepherd” and states that “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Then, after Jesus was raised from the dead, he appeared to his disciples, including Peter, and told Peter specifically to fulfill the duties of a shepherd—and told him this not once but three times. In John 20:15, Jesus instructed Peter, “Feed my lambs.” He then told him in verse 16, “Tend my sheep.” And once more in verse 17, Jesus commanded Peter, “Feed my sheep.” And I guess Peter must have taken that to heart, because in our main passage, he passes on that message to church elders. Just as Jesus told Peter to shepherd God’s flock, Peters tells elders to shepherd God’s flock.

So, think about that analogy of a shepherd. What does shepherding involve that makes it such a good analogy for the work of church elders? One author named Alexander Strauch helpfully lists several things that shepherding involves, including hard work, long hours, sacrifice, exposure to various dangers, being present with the sheep, having authority over the sheep, and loving the sheep. These are all various aspects of a shepherds’ work.

In addition, there are also three specific tasks for which shepherds are responsible. One of these is feeding the sheep. Just as regular shepherds are responsible for making sure that their sheep have sufficient food, elders are responsible for feeding God’s flock by teaching them the Bible. This is the first and most foundational duty of church elders. It’s therefore not surprising that, when Paul is listing the qualifications for being an elder in both 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, he identifies being “able to teach” and being “able to give instruction” as necessary qualifications in those passages.

Also, in addition to feeding the sheep, shepherds are also responsible for protecting the sheep. Whereas regular shepherds have to protect their sheep from wolves and other predators, church elders are charged with protecting the Christians under their care from false teachers and other spiritual hazards that threaten to harm them.

And finally, a third responsibility of shepherds that I’d like to highlight is caring for their sheep. This might involve a wide variety of things such as leading the sheep to fresh pastures, keeping the sheep from wandering away, finding the sheep who do manage to wander away and bringing them back, and addressing diseases and injuries among the sheep in an appropriate way. Likewise, all of these responsibilities have spiritual counterparts that are included among the responsibilities that God expects church elders to fulfill.

So, elders are called to minister to the Christians under their care in all of these ways. In a word, they’re called to be shepherds. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, another term that the New Testament uses to identify elders is term “pastor”—and the word “pastor” literally means “shepherd.” Shepherding isn’t just one analogy among many for pastoral ministry but is rather the very essence of pastoral ministry. It’s also certainly the analogy that dominates our main passage here in 1 Peter.

And as we think about the prominence of this particular analogy in the passage, I’d like to say something about another analogy that’s sometimes used in contemporary discussions of church leadership—and that is the analogy of a business executive. Church leaders are sometimes compared with business executives, with the Senior Pastor as CEO and the other church leaders as the board of directors, if you will. And I recognize that there are some similarities between church leaders and business leaders, such as making sure that finances and general operations are handled in a responsible manner.

However, there are a number of reasons why I believe comparing church leaders and business executives can be problematic. First of all, there’s the issue of the qualifications that are most emphasized. Whereas business leaders are typically chosen for their professional talents and abilities, the qualifications listed in the Bible for church elders emphasize character. Of course, there are two capabilities that are listed—namely, being able to teach and the ability to manage one’s own family well—but pretty much all of the other qualifications revolve around the man’s character. So, when we look for men who will make good elders, we’re not just looking for successful businessmen in the church who have proven themselves to be financially savvy and proficient at managing things. Instead, we’re looking for spiritually-minded men who have godly character and hearts that are aligned with God’s heart. As 1 Samuel 16:7 states, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

This leads us into the next reason why the common comparison between church leaders and business executives is problematic, and that is the focus that’s expected. Business leaders are expected to focus on one thing above all—and that’s to make sure that the business is “successful” in terms of making money. And even though Christians don’t usually think of the responsibilities of church leaders in such crass terms of financial profit, they do often seem to view the job of church leaders mainly in terms of making the church “successful” from a worldly point of view—such as the number of people who attend, the size of the annual budget, the number of baptisms, and various other metrics that are often used to measure organizational success. To distill it down to a single phrase, it’s all about “growing the church”—in the sense of numerical growth. That’s what even many Christians seem to believe is the primary job of church leaders. Yet, let me just ask you something: how well does that fit with the analogy of shepherding that’s so central in the Bible? I’m not sure it fits all that well.

Now, it’s true that a byproduct of faithful shepherding will often be numerical increase. If church elders are faithfully shepherding their flock in terms of making disciples and creating an overall culture in the church that’s conducive to Christians growing spiritually and becoming more faithful to the Great Commission, that will often eventually result in numerical increase. But numerical increase shouldn’t itself be the focus of church leaders. Instead, their focus should be on faithful shepherding ministry while leaving the results of that to God. As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6, we plant and we water, but it’s God who brings the growth. God’s the one who ultimately decides how big a church will be and what kind of numerical increase a church will enjoy. So, maybe we need to re-examine the assumptions that many Christians seem to make about what the focus of their leaders should be.

And finally, a third reason why the common comparison between church leaders and business executives is problematic is because of the role that’s envisioned. In a large company, the leaders of the business typically spend the vast majority of their time in luxurious offices and boardrooms and conference rooms, where they make decisions about the direction of the business from afar. Their attention is focused on a variety of high-level decisions such as what strategies the business will employ, how the resources of the business will be allocated, and what policies the business should adopt.

And it’s true that church elders are responsible for these things. The Bible does describe them as “overseers” who are tasked with overseeing the general operations of the church. However, the analogy of shepherding makes it quite clear that the role of church leaders extends far beyond their function as a decision-making board. A fundamental part of their role is the direct ministry they provide to individual members of the church. And I’ll just say that it’s not uncommon for those individuals to be in some very messy situations from time to time—meaning that shepherding is often very messy work—just like the work of regular shepherds. But that’s the kind of role that Gods’ given to church leaders.

Now, a brief caveat here: church leaders are absolutely not called to do all of the ministry in the church. First of all, we couldn’t even if we wanted to. There’s just no way five elders can minister to all of the spiritual needs of this congregation. And also, we actually don’t want to do that anyway—because that would mean we’d be robbing everyone else in the church of the ministry opportunities that rightfully belong to them. Ephesians 4:12 says that the role of church leaders is primarily to equip the individual members of the church for ministry to one another. The Bible also describes the ways in which all Christians have at least one spiritual gift that’s given to them so that they can minister to others in the church.

So, if you need to be ministered to—which all of us do in various ways—the primary place you should look for that is from other church members—and, I would add, in the context of Community Groups. Those groups are the primary ministry mechanism at our church. And we’ve deliberately designed it that way in an effort to conform to the biblical pattern of Christians ministering to one another. However, whenever situations arise that require, we might say, a more specialized form of ministry—and that specialized ministry is truly needed—church elders have the responsibility of being available for that. That availability is a core component of what shepherding ministry involves. So, hopefully, all of that helps us better understand the nature of shepherding ministry and how it’s quite distinct from what’s often expected of the leaders of a business.

And looking at our main passage in 1 Peter 5, I know we’ve spent way too long already on the first part of verse 2. But there’s one more thing I’d like to briefly point out about Peter’s exhortation to “shepherd the flock of God”—and that is the words “of God.” The flock doesn’t belong to the elders; it belongs to God. It’s God’s flock.

You know, when something belongs to you, you usually take pretty good care of it. But when you’re handling something that belongs to someone else, you take really good care of it. Imagine, for example, that your boss drives a Lamborghini, and, for whatever reason, a circumstance arises where he asks you to do him a favor and drive his Lamborghini from Point A to Point B. I’m guessing you’d probably drive very carefully. Or, to give a more commonplace example, Becky and I instruct our kids to take good care of the books in our house. If they’re reading a book we’ve bought for them, we don’t want them ripping the pages or coloring on the cover. We want them to take care of our books. But when we get books from the library, it’s even more important that they take good care of them, right? Because those books don’t belong to us.

Likewise, the church doesn’t belong to its leaders. It belongs to God. And as elders, we dare not forget that in all of the ministry we do and all of the decisions we make. We need to care for the flock and love the flock the way God cares for them and loves them. We may fall short in many different ways, but may we never fall short in our love for the people of God—who are also referred to in the Bible as the bride of Christ and who have been purchased with the blood of Christ and are therefore infinitely precious.

So, Peter says to the elders in verse 2 to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight”—and then gives three guidelines for how they should engage in this shepherding ministry. He first tells them to do so “not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you.” Elders shouldn’t serve merely out of a sense of duty or obligation but rather because they genuinely want to. They should be so grateful for all that God’s done for them in saving them from their sins that they count it a joy to serve the Lord in this way. 

Peter then states that elders should engage in their ministry “not for shameful gain, but eagerly.” There are numerous passages in the New Testament that identify greed as one of the key telltale signs that someone’s a false teacher. False teachers are characterized by greed. Yet, in striking contrast to that, Paul states in 1 Timonthy 3 that one of the qualifications for an elder is that he not be a “lover of money.” And as we can see, Peter says the same thing.

Then, thirdly, moving forward to verse 3, Peter states that elders should engage in ministry “not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” Elders should lead primarily through influence and personal example rather than by demanding obedience. They should be able to say with Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Although elders do have legitimate, God-given authority in the church, the manner in which they lead shouldn’t be through frequent or heavy-handed appeals to that authority but rather through the power of personal example.

We then arrive at verse 4, which is undoubtedly the most encouraging verse of the passage. Peter reminds these elders, “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” What an encouraging reminder for elders, especially considering the difficulties and labor often involved in shepherding ministry. Jesus, the “chief Shepherd,” will one day give to elders “the unfading crown of glory.” So, Joe and Shane, be encouraged! Even though there’s unfortunately no signing bonus that we’re able to offer you for becoming elders, nor do elders usually receive significant rewards in this life for the sacrifices they make in serving and shepherding God’s flock, they will receive a wonderful reward in heaven. And that reward, by the way, is available not just to elders but to all Christians who are faithful in the ministry to which God’s called them.

In addition—speaking again primarily to Joe and Shane—if all of the things we’ve discussed this morning concerning elder ministry make you feel inadequate, first of all, join the club. And also remember that that’s actually a good thing—because, in and of ourselves, we are inadequate. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:16, “Who is sufficient for these things?” The answer, of course, is no one.

Yet, it’s good for us to be aware of our inadequacy because that awareness drives us to rely on God for his grace and his empowerment as we engage in this ministry he’s given us. Because, again, the reality is that it’s not just us working but rather the Holy Spirit working through us in all that we do. I’m reminded of that exchange between the famed pastor Charles Spurgeon and the famed missionary David Livingstone. Livingstone once asked Spurgeon, “How can you accomplish so much in one day?” To which Spurgeon replied, “You forget, Mr. Livingstone, there are two of us working.” That’s the confidence we have in our ministry as well.