Abundant Joy

1 Peter 5:1-4 (Part 2)

“I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed: Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly;not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

Let’s move on to the next part of Peter’s message. We covered what the characteristics of pastor/elder/ overseer should be, now we will see how they are to do their job.

Peter writes, “Shepherd God’s flock among you…” Before we cover the three things I mentioned in my last blog post, I want to stop first on this. In using the phrase “Shepherd God’s flock…” Peter is surely remembering the conversation he had with Jesus after Jesus’s resurrection. “When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’  ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said to him, ‘you know that I love you.’  ‘Feed my lambs,’ he told him. A second time he asked him, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said to him, ‘you know that I love you.’ ‘Shepherd my sheep,’ he told him.He asked him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ ‘Feed my sheep,’ Jesus said’” (John 21:15-17). Edmund Clowney writes, “Jesus charged Peter to feed his sheep and to tend them, the two major tasks of the shepherd. In that charge, Jesus was calling Peter to have a part in his own care for his disciples. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep.” That is why Peter says at the beginning of this passage that he is a fellow elder. He was charged to shepherd the sheep, and now he is exhorting his fellow elders to shepherd God’s flock.

The first thing he tells them is not to do it out of compulsion, but willingly. There are several verses that talk about the attitude servants are to have about their work and I think they are fitting. Ephesians 6:7 says, “Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people…” And in Colossians we read, “Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ” (3:23-24). Peter knows that they will feel burned out at times. He is reminding them that this is a job that is to be done willingly and for the Lord.

The second thing he lists is “not out of greed for money but eagerly.” Is Peter saying that pastors shouldn’t get paid? I don’t think so. Let’s look at some verses about this. 1 Timothy 5:17-18 says, “The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, ‘The worker is worthy of his wages.’” And we read in Galatians 6:6, “Let the one who is taught the word share all his good things with the teacher.” It is appropriate to pay pastors a living wage. But notice Peter’s warning here. An elder/pastor/overseer should not do this job out of a greed for money. I am sure that there are many pastors who have started in the ministry humbly, and as their churches grow, and their ministries also grow, have lost sight of their humble beginnings. Paul warns in 1 Timothy 6: 9-10, “But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” We have far too many pastors, especially those in the Word of Faith movement, who preach a prosperity gospel. One of the terrible things to come from this is called “seed faith offerings.” These prosperity preachers, often on television (who I believe prey on gullible people) preach that when you send money in faith, that God will multiply it and return it to the giver. They misuse Scriptures to encourage their viewers or congregation to send them money, telling them that God will multiply their offering. This is a horrible misuse of power by greedy men and women. These people are very wealthy-one example is Kenneth Copeland who has a net worth of $750 million. He is making money off his followers. Jesus warned, “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21). He also said this. “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (v 24).

Paul also warns of this in the book of Acts. He is getting ready to leave Ephesus, and he is charging the overseers of the church as he departs. He knows he will never see them again. You can read the whole account in Acts 20, from verse 17 to the end of the chapter. I want to focus on verses 33 and 34. Paul tells them, “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.” Paul had written in other letters that it was appropriate for a pastor to get paid, but he also held himself above reproach here. He was an itinerant teacher who was a tent maker by trade. So he worked to support himself as he moved from place to place. He wanted them to understand that money was not his motivation for preaching the Gospel.

It is a fine line that the overseer walks. How much money is too much and how much is enough? As we saw in 1 Timothy and Galatians, it is appropriate to pay the pastor a living wage. It makes sense that the wage should be commensurate with the community he lives in. Because he is to shepherd his flock, he and his family need to live among them, with a salary that provides enough for him to do that. But it should not be so much that he has a lifestyle that is far above that of his congregation.

Moving on to the third thing. Peter writes, “…not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” This is a big one. The root of all sin is pride. Unfortunately, because we have the business model church in America, we tend to look for pastors the way we look for business leaders. We want someone who is confident, popular, charismatic, dynamic- someone who will draw people in on Sunday mornings. An article on crosswalk.com puts it this way. “Churchgoers would claim to want a humble pastor; yet in reality, churches and Christian ministries have positioned themselves to attract and create arrogant leaders because ministry is largely results-driven, just like secular society.” (10 Signs of Arrogance in a Spiritual Leader)

So it is a cycle of abuse. The church looks for the wrong kind of leader, and the pastor does the wrong kind of leading. What is it supposed to look like? They are to be examples to the flock. Peter tells them at the beginning, “Shepherd God’s flock.” He also refers to the chief Shepherd, who is Christ. So what examples did Jesus give? Let’s look at John 13:12-15. “When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.’” Jesus is the chief Shepherd. Yet he washed his disciples feet. Edmund Clowney writes this. “The elder has authority; he is called to exercise a shepherd’s oversight. Christ the chief Shepherd (5:4) has called him to exercise a shepherd’s care. But the undershepherd is not a stand-in for the Lord. He presents the Word of the Lord, not his own decree; he enforces the revealed word of the Lord, not his own wishes. For that reason, any undermining of the authority of scripture turns church government into spiritual tyranny.” We must guard against that.

For those pastors/elders/overseers that follow these three commands, Peter says this. “And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” He is telling them that their reward is not here on earth-it is it is not money, it is not fame-it is a reward waiting for them in heaven. He has already written about this for all believers earlier in the letter, our inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading that is being kept in heaven (1:4). There are other verses in the New Testament that refer to believers receiving crowns. We read in 2 Timothy 4:8, “There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.^” And in James 1:12, “Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” The Greek word for crown here is the one that was awarded at the Olympic Games. It would have been made with olive or laurel leaves and would have soon faded. But Peter is saying that they have run their race and are crowned with an unfading crown of glory.

This is not an easy job, and one that comes with great responsibility. If you don’t already, remember to keep your pastors and elders (and their wives and families) in your prayers.

Grace be with you!