Follow Your Leaders

Hebrews 13:17-19

I wonder what you think when you hear words like authority and submission. It is sort of a strange thing to talk about in our culture as we don’t all enjoy the thought of adults having to live in obedience under other adults.

Our nation was founded through rebellion. I won’t looks for a show of hands, but I would guess that there are at least a few Gadsden Flags out there and possibly some Don’t Tread On Me shirts or car window stickers.

We have all at some level bought into the postmodern idea that we are our own authority, and if we don’t like something we simply don’t have to listen to it. There’s an old Baptist joke about a Baptist who was stranded on a desert island. When rescuers finally found him, they saw three buildings on the island. They asked, “What’s that building?” “That’s my house,” the Baptist answered. “Well, what’s that second building?” “That’s my church,” he said. “But, then what’s that third building?” “Oh, that’s where I used to go to church.” If Baptists don’t like a church, they wouldn’t think of submitting.

But the reality is that scripture is filled with models and commands about authority and submission. Children to parents, wives to husbands, congregations to leaders, citizens to governments, Christians to one another, even Jesus to the Father in his earthly life.

So authority and submission are not bad, we’ve just seen it abused many times. Abandoning God’s model for life is never the answer however.

Well what are we talking about today. We are talking about responsibility of the local church to obey their leaders, and to pray for them. I don’t know where you stand on something like this today, but I want to convince you from scripture this morning that this is for your good and ultimately for God’s glory.

1.

Now if this was taken completely out of its context this could be a domineering passage. I’m sure there have been many times throughout history where someone has quoted a passage like this to shut down a conversation and simply try to have someone submit to them. But this passage really has nothing to do with submitting to the authority of a person, but to an office.

Paul tells Timothy what this office is about. He says in 2 Timothy 4:1–2 “1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” He says in 1 Timothy 4:11–12 “11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

This office is not about what a man in the office thinks, or his opinion of the world, it is about preaching Christ and shepherding Christ’s people. It is about Christ’s word. 1 Peter 5:1–4 “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.”

See if I walked up to you this afternoon and sand to you “I command you as an elder of this church to bake me a cake!” you have no God given reason to obey me.

This is the same exhortation he gave us earlier in verse 7. Imitate the faith of your former leaders. Follow your pastors as they follow Christ. Obey their words when those words come from Christ’s word.

Now notice this too, leaders is plural. He is writing to a singular church talking about obeying and submitting to their leaders. It should be the case here that before one of your elders is able to go rogue and start abusing his authority, that the other elders are already correcting him in the Lord. The leadership of the local church vested in one man is a recipe for disaster. This is why we have a plurality of elders, because this is how Christ has designed his local church.

And the congregation is to submit to them. Now this word submit is connected to the role of the shepherds. He says “for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.”

This means that elders who have lorded their authority over you unjustly and outside of Christ’s command will stand before him someday and answer for their abuse of the sheep. We are Christ’s sheep first and foremost, he is their Chief Shepherd, and he cares deeply about every one of his blood bought children.

But second what it means is that a pastor has the Christ-like responsibility of watching over you. That doesn’t mean that when you get out of your car at the grocery store you should expect to see one of us with binoculars at the other side of the parking lot. He’s speaking of the way a shepherd cares for his sheep. He looks out for them.

Parents when you are in a large crowd with your kids, aren’t your senses heightened to your surroundings. Who is here? Where are my kids? Who is paying attention to where they are going? I can’t tell you the number of times that I have saved my kids from walking into a pole because they aren’t looking where they are going.

This is what it means. Sometimes you are getting ready to walk into a spiritual pole because you’re too busy licking your ice cream and looking at the clouds. It’s the job of your elders to say, “hey pay attention to where you’re going.” It’s your job to listen and look straight ahead again.

We have to give an account for every person in this room who calls this place home. And he says here, let your pastors do this—that is give this report—with joy and not with groaning for that would be of no advantage to you.

I was just talking this week about how if the church could pay me with the feeling I get when I find someone is growing in the Lord, repenting of sin, fixing their marriages. I’ll take half my pay in joy if you can give it to me. That’s better than anything out there.

I look forward to standing before Christ and reporting about many of you and the joy I received in getting to shepherd you.

But pastoring is both joy and sorrow. I am simultaneously, at any given moment overcome with joy at the work that the Lord is doing in someone’s life while also broken hearted about another. This word groan, its a deep sigh of exasperation.

Hear this, it is of no advantage to you, to close your ears to the truth of the gospel. See the picture of Christ here as he faced calvary’s cross. It was for the joy that was set before him that he endured the cross. Don’t make decisions based on the feelings that you have right now, and the temporary situations of right now. Think of eternity.

There is more joy in heaven when one sinner repents…

2.

And so he asks, and your pastors ask, that you would pray for us. He says he needs prayer for a clear conscience, he wants to act honorably in all things. He says again, do this earnestly. He cannot accomplish his ministry without the prayers of the saints.

As we minister to you, earnestly pray for us. Pray that we would make good decisions. That our consciences would be clear before Christ as we speak, and pray, and act.

The reality of ministry is that God has chosen to place normal men in the office of elder. There is nothing special about us. You know that. You know that well. We are often not thinking straight. We are often not being about the things we should be. We are having to watch out for each other in the same way that we watch out for the rest of the flock.

And there are difficult decisions to make, difficult conversations to have. The fear of man creeps in and we sometimes back down from saying what we should. Pray for us. Time is short.

Now see that this is what Christ has done. He calls us before the throne, and we can enter into his presence because we have been cleansed. He says “come, sit at my feet, bring your cares and concerns to me, I hear them and I answer them.”

Isn’t that something to think about? God, creator of heaven and earth hears you when you pray, believer. And Christ love his church, so pray for her, pray for her leaders, pray for her congregation, pray that Christ would show himself among us as the great shepherd of the sheep that he is.