Focal Passage: I Peter 5:1-11
A CEO is much different than a shepherd. In the final decades of the twentieth century, an excessive emphasis on numerical growth began to “flip the Script[ure]” and many churches put the shepherd model out to pasture. He was replaced by a man with surplus self-confidence, a type A personality, and maybe even an advanced degree in business, who knew he could turn the ship around. And turn he did! While not all aspects of the church growth movement were bad, several priorities became distorted, especially the need for pastors with shepherding hearts.
Peter made it clear that elders must shepherd the flock. What does that mean?
Peter described the work of the spiritual shepherd by contrasting it with what it is not. It is not doing the work because you have to, but willingly; not greedy for money, but serving eagerly; not lording over the sheep, but being an example to them (I Peter 5:2).
The preacher must not only preach humility, but he must also embody it. Peter exhorted believers to “be subject to the elders” (I Peter 5:5a). He further called for all the saints to be dressed in humility. As in biblical marriage, one party is not more important than the other; they simply have different roles.
A few in the church are called to lead, but most are called to follow the leaders. If the pastor thinks too highly of himself, as though he were a celebrity coach, he could end up on the sideline talking to himself. If laypeople think too highly of themselves, they won’t be able to keep a pastor because they refuse to be led.
Church dysfunction spreads like cancer. Instead of each member humbly embracing and using his or her spiritual gifts for the strengthening of the body, decisions become power plays.
Every significant choice made by the church divides the congregation into winners and losers. As the church declines, members usually look for practical and cultural reasons for their predicament. But Peter reminds us that a spiritual battle is on: “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (I Peter 5:5b).
While undiscerning believers assume Satan is the cause of their struggles, their ultimate undoing comes from divine opposition! As David Miller used to say, we love to read “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31b), but if God is against you, it doesn’t matter who is for you!
Peter wrote as one living between the sufferings of Christ and the glory to come (I Peter 5:1). He had walked with Jesus, the Good Shepherd who cared for the sheep and died for the sheep (John 10:11-18).
Jesus demonstrated that a shepherd leads the sheep, he does not drive them. A tourist in Israel noticed someone driving sheep down the street with a long stick. He told the tour guide that he was not aware shepherds drove sheep. The tour guide replied, “That’s not the shepherd, that’s the butcher!”
Any man who drives the sheep instead of leading them may bring them to an unexpected end. Remember, CEOs may impress you with their magnetism, but shepherds wash feet. B&R — Rust is associational mission strategist for Holston Baptist Association.