1st Peter #7: Church leaders are shepherds, not herders

1st Peter #7: Church leaders are shepherds, not herders

Intro picture

Difference between breeders and shepherds.
Once, while I was hiking in the Queyras, I was approached by a shepherd who was looking for his flock left alone. It is certain that despite such sustained attention, we can still fear the reintroduction of the wolf!
In the absence of real predators, those who used to be called shepherds have become more (industrial) breeders who leave their herds in free stalls.

Introduction

This personal experience is not for you to choose a destination for healing during the summer holidays, although the region is spectacular… but it is in relation to today’s text which gives recommendations to the elders of the church .

When the Bible – and more particularly the epistles – speaks of the elders, it means the local leaders of the people of God:

in the Old Testament we find them responsible for the cities of Israel and Judah;
in the church, they are responsible for the local church.
Elders = shepherds
Their service is often compared to the activity of shepherds leading a flock.

more breeders than shepherds

• Shepherds in the pastures, we don’t see too many of them anymore,
• it’s often breeders under pressure for yield!
  let’s be shepherds

Does today’s text encourage leaders to be shepherds and not herders? We are going to see him…

Elders: plural term
Elders? The term is plural,

it’s a team (at least 2 people),
it is therefore not the pastor who is solely responsible for the assembly, moreover the term pastor does not exist in the Bible as responsible for a local church: it is a gift that God gives to one or the other believer to deal on a personal level with his neighbour.
What we call a « pastor » is a person on the team of elders who is
frequently discharged from professional activities,
to be full time to meet the needs of the congregation.
Testimony / charge / teaching

Elders are not believers who have reached the highest rank or the highest office in the church. They are believers like the others:

whose private and public personal testimony tends to correspond to what the Bible presents;
who desire to render service by taking charge of the local church;
who are able to teach the congregation biblically.
The apostle Peter knows the subject well,

• rendering the same service for the church in Jerusalem
• and having had the privilege
• of being a disciple of Christ for 3 years
• and being one of the apostles of the beginning of the nascent church.

This is what he recalls in the first verse of 1 Peter 5. 1-6 that we are about to read. It is therefore not with superiority that he encourages but knowing the subject personally.

1 Peter 5. 1-6
These are my recommendations to those who are old among you,

I who am old like them “original term: co-old”
witness of the sufferings of Christ
and partaker of the glory to be revealed:
2 care for God’s flock in your care

• not under duress
• but willingly.
  Do it
• not for gain,
• but with dedication,

3 not by dominating over those entrusted to you,
but by being the models of the flock.

4 So when the sovereign shepherd appears,
you will receive the crown of glory that never loses its brilliance.

5 Likewise, you who are young, submit yourselves to the elders.

And subjecting yourselves to one another, put on humility, for God opposes the proud, but he is gracious to the humble.

Living Words 1 Peter 5. 1-6
“I would now like to address those who are responsible for the leadership of the Church among you.
I speak to them as

• responsible like them,
• witness to the sufferings of Christ and partakers of the glory which will soon be revealed.

2 Take care,
like shepherds, of the flock that God has entrusted to you:

• give it the right food.
• Watch over him,

not out of duty and reluctance,
but willingly and with the zeal that God desires.

Dedicate yourself to your ministry, not for material gain, but with love and selflessness. 3 Do not seek to dominate those entrusted to your care. Do not exercise authoritarian power. Strive to become models for your flock. 4 Then when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade.
5 As for you young people, submit yourselves to the leaders of the Church. And all of you, in your relations with one another, put on the apron of a slave, I mean humility: be ready to serve one another, for the scripture declares: God opposes the proud, but he grants his grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves[…]”

Excerpt from: “Living Word. » AppleBooks.

Recommendations

• Simple recommendations taken from the example of shepherds.

Take care of the herd

Pierre knows this recommendation well. The risen Jesus (whose testimony of his sufferings was visible) entrusted this task to Peter who was not too proud…
Jesus asks him about 3 times the same question, certainly echoing the 3 times when Peter denied Jesus.

Gospel of John 21

5 When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?”
He replied,
« Yes, Lord, you know that I have love for you. »
Jesus said to him,
« Feed my lambs. »
16 He said to him a second time,
« Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? »
Peter answered him,
« Yes, Lord, you know that I have love for you. »
Jesus said to him,
« Take care of my sheep. »
17 He said to him the third time,
« Simon son of Jonah, do you love me? »
Peter was saddened by what he had said to her, the third time:
« Do you have love for me? »
and he replied:
« Lord, you know everything, you know that I have love for you. »
Jesus said to him,
“Feed my sheep.
18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst put on thy own belt and go where thou wouldst; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and it is another who will fasten your belt and lead you where you do not want.
19 He says this to indicate by what death Peter would reveal the glory of God.
Then he said to him, « Follow me. »

Jesus’ advice:

• “Feed” comes up twice
• “Care”.

How to take care?
In today’s text, « Take care of the flock » could be explained as follows, if we look more closely at the original text:
Take care,
as shepherds, of the flock that God has entrusted to you:

• give give him suitable food.
• Watch over him,

Leading the Flock to the Right Places
The primary mission of the elders is

• to lead the flock (the church) into good pastures,
• in the right season,
• and with consideration for all.

Two aspects:

• through biblical teaching (an essential quality for elders);
• by example (see Jesus with the disciples).

The Shepherd of Sisteron
I had the opportunity to be with a professional and experienced shepherd near Sisteron, in France. He told me that once one of his colleagues took a nap too much and the sheep grazed on a kind of grass too much (I don’t remember which one), the bellies swelled and he lost several of them.

Likewise, congregation leaders try to lead the congregation into good pastures

• through a balanced menu of appropriate biblical teaching
• and see to it that there is nothing wrong taking place in the ‘assembly.

God / Adam
Cf. What God had asked of Adam:

• to cultivate;
• keep.

Practically
Give the food, practically.

Balanced
At the community level,

• “the whole council” of God, textual sermon (the texts one after the other so as not to eliminate anything): •
  If for 10 years, the sermons are only on the Apocalypse or on the Songs of Songs…
• alternation between AT and NT.

Balanced menu.
Menu adapted according to all.

Adapted
Teaching

• all together (during celebrations): little feedback;
• in home groups: more suitable, sharing, discussions, answers to questions, etc.

Keep

• It’s not fashions that make the buzz on Youtube, but what’s biblical…
• It’s not because such a group sings such and such a hymn that the latter is true, but what is biblical…
• This n t is not because I found a site on the internet that it is right, but what is biblical…
• It is not because it apparently feels good that it is biblical…
• It is not because there are people that it’s biblical…
  So sometimes you have to know how to say “no” to such and such:
• hymn,
• Christian bookstore,
• site,
• publication,

.