1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. ~ 1 Peter 5:1-4
Today, we transition into 1 Peter 5 where the Apostle Peter turns his attention to those recognized as leaders among the flock. Leaders lead and are therefore recognized as such. We live in a day when leadership among God's people has been either professionalized or it is a popularity contest. Biblically speaking, those who have been gifted as leaders will lead because they are gifted by God to do such. If they do not lead, then they are not leaders no matter how many times they are voted into a position to lead. In today's passage are identified five temptations that could derail effective leadership.
In v.1 of today's passage we read, "To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed."
The first two temptations in this verse that can derail real leadership are: losing sight of Christ's sufferings and losing sight of the coming glory of God. The key to being a follower of the God of the Bible is to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. If we do not follow Him consistently, we will not be motivated aright. We are commanded over and over in the Scriptures to keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus, in particular, we are told to focus on His death for us. God does this because there is no greater motivation for the human heart than to be reminded of His undying love for us. In addition, what His undying love has given us that we will share in His future glory.
When we lose sight of the greatest display of love ever displayed before us and what that has and will produce in our existence, we go the way of the self. It is the self that is our greatest enemy, not Satan, not the world, not unbelievers. To borrow a line from the song writer Charlie Peacock, "The disease of self that runs through our blood is a cancer that is fatal to our soul."
The people to whom Peter addressed these words were quite discouraged due to the sufferings that had come their way. They needed to be reminded that their faith was born and strengthened through suffering and adversity. It is God's way to use our suffering to give us eyes that see Him and a heart that pursues Him, resulting in a love for others. The Apostle Peter was the ideal disciple to be used of the Lord to pen these words. He was the only disciple who walked on water. He saw the glory of the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, only to discover his worst nightmare of denying the Lord three times the night He was betrayed. In fact, when he denied knowing the Lord a third time, he cursed so badly the word he used could not be recorded in the Scriptures.
I have learned if we bear suffering the world’s way, it produces death, the death of bitterness and resentment toward God and others. I have met people through the years who are outstanding illustrations of this truth. People who received a wound, a hurt, trouble who were as a result resentful and bitter. And, as a result, it has produced death in their life, death to their spirit, death to their joy. When God allows suffering in our lives, it is that we might experience, among many other things, Him and His comfort.
In v.2 of today's passage we read, "Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve."
Peter exhorts those who do the work of leadership to "shepherd" those "under their care." The Lord is often seen as a shepherd in the Bible. In Psalm 23 we read, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." In Psalm 100 we read, "We are the sheep of his pasture, we are the people of his hand." Shepherds in the Scriptures are seen in a good light because of the care they provide the sheep. Sheep, on the other hand, in the Bible are not always put in the greatest of light. In Isaiah 53 we read, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we've all gone our own way." In fact, the only time sheep are placed in favorable light is when they're placed under the supervision of a good shepherd. Since sheep get lost easily, they do not navigate well, they do not find their way on their own. Sheep require constant oversight, constant leading, constant rescue, constant cleaning, or they will die.
As indicated in this second verse, the second temptation that could derail authentic leadership is "dishonest gain." This is the motive of false teachers whom Jude describes as "those who care only for themselves." Instead, leaders should serve "eagerly," as if the work of shepherding the sheep itself is reward enough. In order to serve willingly and eagerly as a shepherd, one has to love the Lord before he attempts to love the sheep. Some sheep are really hard to love and if we do not have the heart of THE shepherd, we will not love like we ought. And, our love for the least reveals the most about the authenticity of our love for the sheep.
In v.3 of today's passage we read, "not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock."
The next temptation that derails effective leadership is when leaders yield to the temptation of "lording (their leadership) over those entrusted to them." True leaders are those who know the way, who go the way, and then who show the way. As a result, true leaders will not serve in a "domineering" way, bossing, nagging, and threatening. They will not live to manipulate the sheep, and if they did, they would not have a flock of healthy sheep. The remedy for this is when leaders are "examples to the flock" of what it looks like to know and follow the Lord Jesus for themselves. If the leaders do not have the heart of the Shepherd themselves, they will not have a heart for His sheep.
In v.4 of today's passage we read, "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away."
The final temptation that derails effective leadership is when the leaders lose sight of "the crown of glory that will never fade away." When Peter penned these words, he had in mind the Olympic games in Athens. Those who finish first, second, or third in the games received wreaths of leaves that were placed on theirs heads. Those wreaths did not last long. In fact, they died within a week.
We can all labor for God for different kinds of crowns, but there is only one "crown that will never fade away." Sadly, some labor motivated by the crowns of fame and popularity, others for the crown of riches. But the best way to labor is out of the approval we have before God through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The best posture from which to serve God and others is the salvation that the Lord Jesus earned for us. In this case self is never in the equation. From this posture, we choose to lay down our lives for the One who laid down His life for us.
