1 Peter 5:1-4 - Pastors for Perseverance

Introduction

Why is it so devastating to us when a pastor we’ve known is exposed in some sort of scandal?

Why does it hurt us so deeply when we discover that a pastor has stolen money from a church? Or that a pastor has lashed out in anger at an indefensible church member? Or that a pastor has been living a sort of double-life – one in public and another in private?

Why is it that a church can get along OK with a handful of immature or lazy or deceptive or selfish church members but not if one of their pastors is like that?

Or, on the positive side…

Why do faithful pastors among a local church breathe such encouragement and strength and even perseverance in the church members they serve and lead?

Why is it so stabilizing and fortifying for a local church to have a senior pastor (in particular) stay with them and stay faithful to Christ for 10 or 20 or 30 years?

I propose that God has designed local churches (and the relational structures of them) so that pastors play an outsized role in church health. Which means (if that’s true) pastors play an outsized role in the spiritual health of church members. And that implies that your spiritual health, your Christian faithfulness, your perseverance as a Christian is significantly affected by those men you call “pastor.”

This is a sobering thought – especially for those of us called “pastor.”

And when you think of it, it’s actually not surprising that pastors affect the Christians they lead so significantly. Pastors are noticeable figures in the church, and pastors do quite a lot – they warn of danger, they encourage toward safety, they teach what is biblically true, and they lead the church through times of trial and testing onward to the final destination of glory with Christ.

And friends, this is why it is so important that churches take great care in what kind of men they affirm as pastors… And this is why it is so important that Christians have the kind of pastors described in our passage this morning.

The Apostle Peter has been going on in this letter about what it means to live as faithful Christians in a world that is not normally hospitable to them. And Peter addressed various ways that Christian faithfulness can be tested and proven.

It is no coincidence that Peter turns now to address the leaders of churches in order to call them to a kind of leadership that will contribute to or foster or cultivate or assist in Christian faithfulness.

If Christians are going to persevere in this life (full of trials and tests), then they are going to need pastors… and not just any kind of pastors will do.

May God help us to understand His design for this relationship between pastors and church members today, and may He help us to benefit from these relationships in our own experiences together.

Scripture Reading

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. 

Main Idea:

If Christians are going to persevere, they need willing, dedicated, and exemplary pastors who shepherd them though suffering to glory.

Sermon

1. Christians Need Pastors/Elders (v1)

I said last Sunday that we were coming to the beginning of the end of Peter’s letter, and our passage this morning is right in the middle of it. From ch. 4, v12, to ch. 5, v11, Peter is giving his summary exhortations (or commands) which pull together all that he’s been instructing throughout this entire letter.

Remember that the main point Peter has been trying to communicate (through various teachings and instructions) is (A) that Christians live as foreigners or strangers or exiles in the world, (B) that this present life of hardship and even persecution for Christ’s sake is by God’s design for His people, and (C) that God has claimed a people for His own and God is building them up to perseverance so that they will enjoy the blessings of salvation… both now and in the end.

In other words, the Christian life isn’t easy, but for those who stick with it – for those who diligently trust and obey the Lord – they will miraculously grow in faithfulness, and (in just a little while) their faith will become sight… all wrongs will be made right, all expenses will be paid, all suffering will be forgotten, all that seemed so difficult to endure for Christ will pale in comparison to what is gained.

As we left off last week, Peter said (in ch. 4 v19), “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Pet. 4:19).

But this trust through the midst of suffering, this persistence in doing good, and this endurance to walk the path that God has laid out before us is not a private or individual mission.

First, and foremost, this pilgrim’s progress along the King’s highway – this Christian life along the path toward glory – it requires meaningful relationships with other pilgrims. In other words, Christians need other Christians.

Remember what Peter said about Christians who were once ignorant and driven by their sinful passions. They had become “children” of God (1 Pet. 1:14), they had been “ransomed” or purchased and adopted into God’s family (1 Pet. 1:18), and they had been made to be “brothers” who “love one another” as they “grow up into salvation” alongside one another (1 Pet. 1:22, 2:2).

Friends, whatever impulse you might have to think of your relationship with Christ and your Christian journey as private and individual, you must kill that with a vengeance. Almost nothing is so dangerous to our souls today than the lie that we can get along with Christ just fine without the local church, without real accountability, without communal encouragement, and without structured and substantial and inconvenient and restrictive relationships with other Christians.

If a “Christian” is not an active and participating and eager member of a local church, then I am not surprised to learn that such a one has stopped living how Christians live and/or stopped believing what Christians believe.

In other words, if a “Christian” is not meaningfully living among a family of Christians (as a member of a church) – this basic and vital activity of the Christian life – then they aren’t likely living meaningfully as a Christian in any other way… at least not for long.

Do not forget Jesus’s warning that there will be many on the last day who will be shocked to find out that they have no claim on salvation – that their end is hell and destruction – even though they just knew that they were counted among Christ’s people (Matt. 7:21-23).

The communal nature of our Christian life and experience is mostly assumed throughout the NT. There is no Bible verse that says, “Christian, you must be a member of a local church.” But all of Christ’s commands for His people assume this fundamental relationship. It is simply impossible to believe what Christ teaches and to obey what Christ commands apart from the sorts of relationships that can only be formed and experienced within the context of the local church.

And that assumption is on display in our passage this morning. Peter “exhorts” the “elders among you” (v1). And this begs at least two questions: (1) Who are “the elders”? And (2) who are the “you” those “elders” are “among”?

In just a moment, we will get into what “the elders” do, but it’s worth our time to define our terms. We use the term “elder” at FBC Diana, but many churches today do not, and there is a lot of confusion today about this term.

The NT uses three Greek nouns as titles or labels for the men among a local church who are responsible to lead. Interestingly, we can see all three of these words translated in our passage here (though two of them appear as verbs).

(1) “Elders” (πρεσβυτέρους) are those who (2) “pastor” or “shepherd” (ποιμαινω – the verb form of ποιμην or “pastor”) and who (3) “exercise oversight” (επισκοπουντες – the verb form of επισκοπος or “overseer” or “bishop”).

The consistent NT language teaches us that (1) elders, (2) pastors or shepherds, and (3) overseers or bishops are all referring to the same thing. To say it concisely, elders are pastors; pastors are shepherds; shepherds are overseers; and these are the men who lead the church.

So, who are the “elders”? Answer: they are the pastors or leaders of the local church. And if the “elders” are the pastors or overseers or shepherds or leaders of the church, then who are the “you” those “elders” are “among”?

The answer to this second question is Christians.

Peter wrote this letter to “elect exiles” (1 Pet. 1:1), to those are “born again to a living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3), to those who await “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefined, and unfading, [which is] kept in heaven” (1 Pet. 1:4), and to those Peter called “beloved” (1 Pet. 2:11, 4:12).

In short, the targeted reader or hearer of this letter is Christians, and Peter assumes that there are “elders” among them who are to carry out or obey the exhortation that Peter gives those guys in this passage.

Friends, Christians need pastors.

Christians may have helpful teachers, they may have compelling preachers, and they may have inspiring heroes of the faith, but Christians need pastors. They need elders. They need overseers.

Christians need godly, qualified men (A) to take responsibility for the care of their souls and (B) to lead them along the difficult pilgrim path toward the glorious destination to come.

Our passage this morning is aimed at elders/pastors, but so many “Christians” today seem to think that their Christianity has almost nothing to do with the local church or the pastors who lead churches. Therefore, I must emphasize what is implied here (for Christians) at the outset – Peter assumes that Christians are gathered as local churches, and he assumes those assemblies of Christians have elders/pastors.

It is only in the context of these assumptions that Peter’s exhortation is understandable… his exhortation about how elders are to play their part in helping those Christians under their care to persevere.

2. Elders are Christians (v1)

While there is an emphasis in our passage this morning on the distinction between Christians and “elders,” there is also an emphasis on the similarity of them. There is a hierarchy – not all Christians are elders – but there is not separation or stratification – all elders are Christians, and they experience the same “sufferings” or trials as every other Christian… and they also eagerly anticipate the same “glory to be revealed” when Christ returns for His people.

It is especially interesting that Peter himself says that he is a “a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed” (v1).

In contradiction to the Roman Catholic teaching that Peter was the first pope, Peter clearly places himself here (in some sense) on the same level with other elders/pastors – he is a “fellow elder.”

No doubt, Peter was also a capital “A” Apostle. He was specially commissioned by the risen Jesus Christ to speak and write with divine authority. And this was a commission Peter shared with the rest of the capital “A” Apostles – like John, James, and Paul. But here in our passage, Peter is acknowledging his shared pastoral role with other elders in various churches.

The Apostles had the unique role in redemptive history as being a sort of elder/pastor to all the churches, but in their capacity as elders/pastors, they collaborated with local elders/pastors. (Think of the Apostle Paul’s relationship with Timothy and Titus, for example… or the collaboration between James and the other Apostles as well as the other elders of the church in Jerusalem in Acts 15.)

At any rate, we want to notice here that Peter (in his capacity as a “fellow elder”) spoke of sharing as “a witness of the sufferings of Christ” and as “a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed” (v1).

We might be tempted to think that Peter was talking about his unique experience of seeing the sufferings of Christ and sharing in Christ’s glory. Peter did have a front row seat to witness Christ’s suffering, and Peter did uniquely witness Christ’s glory. But I don’t think that’s what Peter is referring to here.

In the context of this letter, Peter just taught his reader to think of himself or herself as “sharing Christ’s sufferings” and to anticipate rejoicing “when [Christ’s] glory is revealed” (1 Pet. 4:13). Therefore, it seems best to me to understand that Peter was not referring to his unique experience here, but rather his similar (or shared) experience with other Christians.

As a leader of churches (like elders are leaders in particular churches), Peter also bore witness to the “sufferings of Christ” (v1). In the sense that he (like other elders and other Christians) suffered “as a Christian” at the hands of persecutors (1 Pet. 4:16). So too, Peter (like other elders and other Christians) experienced the power of the Holy Spirit through the midst of suffering and anticipated the revelation of “the glory” of Christ – a glory which he and all Christians would share on the last day – as a reward for faithfulness or perseverance (1 Pet. 4:13).

Friends, elders/pastors do not stand above suffering for the name of Christ. Just like other Christians, elders are tempted to compromise, and their faithfulness is tested by various trials.

Some of the temptations are the same – elders have friends or family members who accuse them of bigotry or judgmentalism when they stand for truth, elders experience some of the same social and economic and political pressures to conform their beliefs and practices to the worldly expectations around them.

But some of the temptations are different – elders (especially those who’s paycheck depends on people liking and following them)… elders are tempted to soften the sharp edges of the gospel and to avoid the invasive commands of Christ. Elders can experience pressures from within the church and also from outside, and they can walk through a kind of testing that is quite different from those experienced by Christians who do not bear the weight of church leadership.

This is not to say that one role is harder than another – living as a faithful Christian or living as a faithful elder/pastor. But I’m simply noting here that we all – pastors and church members – face the trials of testing. And we all – pastors and church members – are called to the same perseverance.

So too, it is the same “glory” that sustains both elders and church members – the glory we experience now, being counted worthy to suffer for the “name” of Christ (1 Pet. 4:16), and the glory we will all experience in the end, the “glory that is going to be revealed” (v1).

The point I’m trying to emphasize here is that the exhortation or command that Peter lays upon the shoulders of elders/pastors in our passage this morning does not come to a higher class of Christian that avoids “trials” or that is sustained by some other “glory.”

Elders are Christians too, and they live in the same communities as their church members, they face some of the same pressures to compromise, and they are tested though some of the same “fiery trials” (1 Pet. 4:12).

So also, elders/pastors must persevere by trusting the same “faithful Creator” to carry them through and bring them all the way to glory in the end (1 Pet. 4:19)… even as they do the good work that God has called them to specially do among the local church… the work of shepherding and overseeing.

I guess what I’m saying here is that your elders need the same sort of encouragement and accountability that we all do. Your elders/pastors have willingly taken on the responsibility to care for your souls, but they have done this as fellow sufferers and fellow sheep who are awaiting the appearance of the “chief Shepherd” … who will reward them (and all of us) according to faithfulness (v4).

3. Elders Shepherd Christians (v2)

The main command of our passage appears in v2. Peter says, “I exhort the elders among you… shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (v1-2).

So much could be said about this command, and we will get further into the description Peter gives here of pastoral leadership in just a moment, but let’s stay on this short phrase for just a bit this morning.

As I’ve already said (a while ago), elders are pastors or shepherds. Or (using the language as it is in our passage), elders do the work of shepherding.

I want to ask and answer two questions here: (1) What does it mean to “shepherd the flock of God”? And (2) who are those counted as “among you”?

First, what does it mean to “shepherd the flock of God”?

The “flock of God” are those sheep or people for whom Christ has died.

The Apostle Paul commanded the elders in Ephesus to “care for” or “shepherd” (same word) the “church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I know my own and my own know me… I lay down my life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:11, 15).

The “flock of God” are those people for whom Christ has died.

The work of “shepherding” is tending or caring for or leading the sheep.

Jesus said to Peter, “tend” or “shepherd” “my sheep” (Jn. 21:16) by “feeding my lambs” or “feeding my sheep” (Jn. 21:15, 17).

The Apostle Paul exemplified the pastoral work when he said, “[Christ] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28).

And Paul spoke of the gifts Christ gave to His people in Eph. 4.

Among those gifts are “shepherd-teachers” who “equip the saints for the work of the ministry” and “build up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Eph. 4:11-13).

In short, then, “shepherding the flock of God” is the work of teaching and warning and leading the people for whom Christ has died in order to present them to Christ as “mature” and faithful on the last day.

Charles Spurgeon spoke of his own pastoral task like this:

“I am occupied in my small way, as Mr. Great-heart was employed in Bunyan’s day. I do not compare myself with that champion, but I am in the same line of business. I am engaged in personally-conducted [journeys] to Heaven; and I have with me, at the present time, dear Old Father Honest: I am glad he is still alive and active. And there is Christiana, and there are her children. It is my business, as best I can, to kill dragons, and cut off giants’ heads, and lead on the timid and trembling. I am often afraid of losing some of the weaklings. I have the heart-ache for them; but, by God’s grace, and your kind and generous help in looking after one another, I hope we shall all travel safely to the river’s edge. Oh, how many have I had to part with there! I have stood on the brink, and I have heard them singing in the midst of the stream, and I have almost seen the shining ones lead them up the hill, and through the gates, into the Celestial City.”

Elders do the work of shepherding…

Second, if that is the task of “shepherding,” then who are those counted as “among you”?

Here I can be very brief.

It is not the whole world that is the elders’ charge, and it is not even the whole of all the Christians in the world… but it is those Christians who are “among” the group who have given themselves to follow the elders.

Elders/pastors can scarcely be responsible for anyone who does not submit themselves to their leadership.

There is a mutuality in this relationship between pastors and church members, and this is why it requires something like the commitments we make as a church…

Elders/pastors commit to shepherd the souls of church members, and church members commit themselves to follow the leadership of the elders/pastors.

This is not a commitment without qualification…

Elders must meet the qualifications laid out in Scripture.

Elders must shepherd in the ways outlined in our passage here.

Elders must be careful not to bind the conscience of church members on anything that is not clearly commanded or prohibited by Scripture.

But this is a commitment with mutual responsibility…

Elders take responsibility for shepherding the sheep.

Church members take responsibility for submitting to and following the leadership of the elders/pastors.

And, if Christians are going to persevere, then they need good elders/pastors who shepherd them through the road of suffering onward to the journey’s end.

4. Elders Oversee Christians (v2-4)

Here we now come to the main meaty part of our passage – a clear description of the kind of leadership and shepherding care elders are to exercise among their churches. This is especially aimed at elders – those who are fulfilling this role now, and those who may aspire to the role in the future.

But this is also (in an indirect way) for church members. What kind of pastoral leadership should you want and expect from those men who lead you?

In v2-3, Peter describes the way in which “elders” are to “shepherd the flock of God that is among [them]” (v1-2). Let me point out four quick features of this exhortation to “elders.”

First, elders “exercise oversight” (v2).

This is a term of leadership and care and examination.

It is the responsibility of elders to lead those church members under their care – to lead them toward spiritual growth and Christian faithfulness.

It is the responsibility of elders to care for church members – to take a sort of fatherly posture over the care of their souls.

This includes the sort of things a dad might do for his children – teaching them what is right, urging them to avoid what is wrong, and confronting them and recovering them when they stray.

There is also a defensive or protective care here – watching out for potential dangers, taking note of wolves or pits or disease, and addressing such things with love for the sheep and violence toward the dangers.

It is also the responsibility of elders to examine their church members – to learn and assess how they’re doing, to have a basic awareness of what may hinder or help them in their growth, and to point and prod them toward the right path.

Friends, who is doing that for you? Who is taking that responsibility?

If you’re a member of FBC Diana, then Russell, Josh, Barry, and I have committed to taking on this responsibility.

We do this in a variety of ways – we lead by regularly preaching and teaching the Scriptures, by praying regularly for all of you, by checking in on you from time to time, and by personal conversations where we listen and learn… and speak words that we mean to be helpful to you.

In shepherding the flock of God, elders exercise oversight.

Second, elders oversee or lead willingly.

Peter says that elders should “exercise oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly” (v2).

That is, elders should take their responsibility because they want to do it, not because they are forced to do it.

This is “as God would have you” (v2).

It seems to me that this is rightfully included among the qualifications for elders/pastors – that they should “aspire” to the office of overseer or elder, not be compelled against their will (1 Tim. 3:1).

The responsibilities of pastoral leadership are heavy enough without having the added weight of reluctance or lacking desire.

Lots of men are theologically capable or administratively skilled or personally charismatic, but do not want to take on the responsibility of caring for souls.

Brothers and sisters, we ought not select elders only or even primarily by their skills; we ought to select them by their character and their willingness to take loving responsibility for fellow Christians.

In shepherding the flock of God, elders (1) exercise oversight, and (2) they do this willingly.

Third, elders oversee with eager dedication.

Next, Peter says elders should “exercise oversight… not for shameful gain, but eagerly” (v2).

This speaks to their motives – are they motivated by what they can get out of it, or by what they hope to accomplish in and through the lives of those under their care?

No doubt, many vocational pastors are underpaid. It seems silly to think that a man might want to go into pastoral ministry in order to get rich.

I’m thankful for the way FBC Diana values my vocational pastoral efforts, and I’m supported well for a church our size and situation.

The point Peter is making here is not to keep pastors poor or that pastors should think nothing of money – that would be irresponsible…

Rather, Peter’s point is that elders/pastors should take on their responsibilities with eager dedication – they are not thinking first about what is best for their paycheck, but about what is best for Christian growth and perseverance among their church… and they are giving themselves to that task with dedication.

In shepherding the flock of God, elders (1) exercise oversight… (2) willingly & (3) with eager dedication.

Fourth, elders oversee or lead by providing examples.

Finally, Peter says elders should “exercise oversight… not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” (v3).

All of these descriptors make shepherding or overseeing a care-full task – not a cold or reluctant or lazy or tyrannical one – but this descriptor here seems to jump off the page as a way of describing the kind of leadership that is most compelling and appealing.

Elders/pastors are not generals commanding an army or CEOs barking orders at employees, but elders are exemplary sheep who lead the flock by their own example.

Elders are sheep like all the rest, but they have also been given the privilege and the responsibility of carrying a shepherd’s staff…

In shepherding the flock of God, elders (1) exercise oversight… they do this (2) willingly and (3) with eager dedication… and by living their own lives as examples to be followed for the good of others in their care.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, elders are shepherds, but they are not the “chief Shepherd” (v4). Elders/pastors walk alongside the sheep, because they are sheep. They suffer as the sheep, because they are sheep. They hold onto hope like the rest of the sheep, because they are sheep.

But those who lead as elders (by God’s grace) call out to the rest of the sheep and say, “Follow me! I know the way! Don’t leave the path! Just do as I do, and we will make it to the end!”

Elders/pastors are not perfect, and they will sometimes make bad decisions, they will sometimes say wrong things, they will sometimes sin against those they have committed to love… but elders are shepherds who willingly dedicate themselves to live exemplary Christian lives… not only for their own good, but for the good of those Christ Himself has placed under their care.

And if Christians are going to persevere, they need willing, dedicated, and exemplary pastors who shepherd them though suffering to glory.

I thank God for the qualified men God has given us to lead as elders/pastors among this church. I pray that the Lord will continue to bless our efforts as pastors to lead and shepherd and exercise oversight well.

I thank God for the personal privilege I have to be publicly recognized as an elder or pastor of this church. What a joyful burden it is to care for your souls and to lead FBC Diana alongside Russell, Josh, and Barry.

May God give us the kind of elders we’ve been talking about today.

May God help us all to recognize our need for such elders/pastors.

And may God help us never to settle for anything less than biblically qualified, willing, dedicated, and exemplary elders.