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Apr 28, 2013

God's Recipe for a Vibrant Church (Part 22)

Passage: 1 Peter 5:1-5

Preacher: Tim Badal

Series:Strangers in a Strange Land

Detail:

We’re in the last chapter of the Book of 1 Peter in a series entitled “Strangers in a Strange Land.”  As we come to this last chapter, we see that it speaks to the issue of leadership within the church.  We’ve been learning for some time now that God has called His people:

  • to be strangers in a strange land (2:11)
  • to live differently from the world around us (3:15-16)
  • to suffer well for the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ (2:19-21, 4:12-19)
  • not to retaliate when people do wrong against us (3:9)
  • to live differently from anyone else in this world

God has given us some abilities to do these things.  We’ve been born into a living hope (1:3-9).  He’s given us the Holy Spirit (1:12).  He’s given us the local church.  Peter has told us that we are spiritual stones being built into a spiritual house (2:4-5).  Now he tells us that God has given us leaders who have the calling from God Himself to serve well in shepherding the flock so that we may live out what it means to be strangers in a strange land.  These men of our flock are called to serve God by shepherding the flock and being biblical examples of what it means to live out the principles and truths of 1 Peter—all the truths throughout this letter Peter has written to us.

I want to look at 1 Peter 5:1-5.  We’re going to be looking at these verses today under the heading “God’s Recipe for a Vibrant Church.”  First Peter 5:1-5 says:

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.  5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.  Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Father God, we come before You with Your Word open.  We are blessed to have it in our hands.  We are blessed to be able to read Your words to us.  Let us not take it for granted.  Let us do what Your Word says.  Let us not simply listen to the words being spoken to us.  Let us be the doers that James reminds us to be (James 1:22).  We have sung about Your amazing nature—the attributes which make You the One Who is crowned with many crowns.  As we see You enthroned in Your glory and splendor, we recognize that we are sinners in need of Your grace.

Lord, we confess our sins to You today of turning our own way to follow our own desires and appetites.  We are thankful for Your church—a place where we can gather as Christians under the oversight of the elders who serve as examples for us.  We pray for our elders that they would continue to serve in that way so the people of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17).  I pray that we would humbly receive Your Word now so that we would live differently because of what we have been taught.  In Christ’s name we pray.  Amen.

Many of you know that I serve as a caterer as well as a preacher and elder here at the church.  One of the things which is vitally important to us as a catering company is that we get our recipes right.  When you deal with food, recipes are what make a meal taste good or terrible.  Even just a little change of some simple ingredients can take a recipe that tastes so good one day and make it taste very different the next day.

Some years ago in the catering business, I had set out some recipes for my employees to follow.  Midway through the catering season, a couple of my newer employees decided they didn’t quite like the recipes I had established.  They had personal tastes.  They liked things a little sweeter or a little saltier.  As a result, I started hearing from customers that the food didn’t taste like it usually did.  They said, “It tasted a little different.  Have you changed your recipe?”  I answered, “No, the recipe is the same.”  But I had forgotten that it’s not just the recipe that is important.  The person who is preparing the meal must also follow the recipe.  Now these employees told me, “Tim, we’re using the same ingredients.”  I asked, “But how much of each ingredient are you using?”  They said, “Well, we don’t like it that way.  We want to do it our way.”  I said, “I don’t like having to write checks to you, either.  But I do that and I always get it right, don’t I?”  They answered, “Of course you do.”  So I told them they had to stick to the recipe not only in theory, but also in practice.

Today we’re going to talk about elders.  This term may be newer to some of you.  We’re going to explain what this word means and why elders are so important to the church.  Elders are the men in the church who have been given the responsibility to make sure the recipe for a vibrant and healthy church is lived out.  All of us would like church to be our own way.  Some of us are already saying today, “We sing too much.  The music is too loud,” while the person next to us is saying, “We don’t sing enough.  The music is too quiet.”  Some of you say, “Tim preaches too long,” and others say, “Tim doesn’t preach long enough.”  Some of you say, “We need to have cup holders in our pews so we can have drinks,” while others despise the very thought of having cups or drinks in the sanctuary.  We all have preferences.  We all want to do church our own way.  The Lord knows that and He calls the people of God a flock of sheep.

Before you start thinking that is a warm, fuzzy and good phrase, let me clarify.  God is saying we’re stupid, lost without shepherds and little do we know the trouble we get ourselves into when we’re not led well.  In God’s recipe, there is a group of men who serve Him as His under-shepherds in every local church.  Their job is to lead the flock of God so there may be unity, vibrancy and health in the community of God’s people.  In our passage, Peter has something to tell this group of men.

These elders are only one part of the recipe though.  We will spend a lot of time in this message on elders.  But right when you begin to think this sermon is just from one elder to other elders, you’ll see that Peter switches things and speaks to the congregation.  Then he comes back at the end of verse five with a message for all of us.

So let’s get into the passage and see what the imperative ingredients are in God’s recipe for a vibrant church.  We want that for Village Bible Church, don’t we?  We want to be vibrant and healthy, so we need to follow God’s recipe through His Word.  Let’s look at what He says.  Peter gives three ingredients for a vibrant church:

  1. Elders who biblically shepherd the church
  2. A church that willingly submits to its elders
  3. People who humbly serve one another

Elders Who Biblically Shepherd the Church

The first ingredient we need is elders who biblically shepherd the flock.  First, he announces to all of these little churches who are meeting all throughout Asia Minor—modern-day Turkey—that, “I exhort the elders among you” (1 Peter 5:1).  If you underline or take notes in your Bible, make reference here that Peter speaks of eldering in the plural not the singular.  Peter is not talking about one man who leads in each of these different churches.  Also, this is not the idea of the Catholic Church where there is one man—the pope—who oversees the entire church.  No, the biblical model we see in the New Testament is an idea of shared leadership.  It is an idea of team leadership known as a team of elders.

For many of you who are newer to this church, you should know this was something with which our church wrestled.  In our culture, people typically ask, “Who is your senior pastor?”  Here at Village Bible Church, we don’t have a senior pastor.  If you want to know who’s in charge, it’s Jesus!  I have the role of preaching and teaching the Word for the majority of our Sundays, but I serve as an elder who is part of an elder team.  At this campus, we have nine men who serve as elders of this church.  Across all three campuses of Village Bible Church, we have 17 men who serve as elders.

Some of you might ask, “What in the world is an elder?  I know what a pastor is but I don’t know what an elder is.”  Let’s take a moment to understand.  This idea of eldership is grounded in an Old Testament pattern.  The idea of team leadership and shepherding did not start in the Book of Acts or the pastoral letters written by Peter and Paul.  It is found in the Old Testament.  Turn in your Bible for a moment to the Book of Exodus, but keep your spot in 1 Peter.  We’re going to go back to the beginning of the Bible to look at Exodus 18.

At this point in the Book of Exodus, Moses has just led the people of Israel out of slavery and bondage in Egypt.  After the ten plagues afflicted the people of Egypt, Pharaoh let God’s people go.  Now Moses has led the people out into the wilderness and they are about to embark upon Mount Sinai where they will receive the commandments of God—made up largely of the Ten Commandments.

Here in Exodus 18, Moses has a visitor—his father-in-law.  Now, some of you are scared by the very thought of your father-in-law coming to your place.  I wonder—what was Moses thinking?  “Here comes Jethro.”  That’s right—Jethro.  Don’t confuse this Jethro with the one from the Beverly Hillbillies.  Look at Exodus 18:1:  Jethro shows up and has already heard about his son-in-law and the amazing things God has been doing through Moses.  It says, “Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.”  That is great.  Anytime my father-in-law can come and say, “Hey Tim, I’m hearing good things about you,” that is a good day for me.  Moses must have been happy.  He must have thought, “Woohoo!  Things are good.  My father-in-law thinks I’m doing a good job.”

As the text goes on in verse seven, it says, “Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him.  And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent.”  If you are having trouble with your father-in-law, try bowing down and kissing him.  See what that will do.  The phrase “they asked each other of their welfare” means they talked with each other.  They said, “How are things going?  How’s your wife doing?  She’s doing well; that’s good.  How are you doing?  How is work?”  Then they went into the tent.  Verse eight says, “Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.”

So Moses said, “Jethro, let me tell you all the great things God has done.  You’ve heard the stories, but let me give you a bird’s eye perspective.”  So Jethro hangs with his son-in-law Moses for a while.  Notice later in verses 10-11, Jethro is excited and blessing the Lord.  He says, “Your God is a great God.  Our God that you have made known to us is a powerful and almighty God.”

Now look at what verses 13-16 say:

The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.  When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people?  Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?”

[Here’s the bummer.  Moses is thinking, “Man, my father-in-law thought I was doing a great job and now he’s questioning me.”  That’s what fathers-in-law do; they question their sons-in-law.]

And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”

 

Moses is saying to his father-in-law, “You don’t understand.  I’m the leader.  Because I’m the leader, they expect leadership from me.  As a result of that, I’m working myself ragged.”  Look at what Jethro’s response in verses 17- 22:

Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.  You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you.  You are not able to do it alone.  Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you!  You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.  Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.  And let them judge the people at all times.  Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves.  So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.”

The Old Testament shows us that team leadership is better than singular leadership.  This pattern is around in other parts of the Old Testament.  The Book of Ezekiel speaks about shepherds overseeing their flocks—not physically but spiritually (Ezekiel 34).  They were spiritual leaders who were tending to the flock of God and the people of God in Israel.

This grounded Old Testament pattern of shared leadership also becomes established very quickly as a New Testament practice.  In the early part of the Book of Acts—the history of the church—we very clearly see the work of the apostles.  The apostles were the 12 men who had walked with Jesus—minus Judas plus Matthias who was added at the beginning of the book.  Early in Acts, these men were out preaching and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.  In Acts 2:41, we see that the Lord added to their number about 3,000 people after one service.  The Lord continued to multiply this group.  So early in the Book of Acts, we see the apostles active in the leadership of the church.

Then in Acts 6:1, it seems as if the apostles are struggling to balance being focused on the Word and prayer with taking care of the needs of some widows.  So in Acts 6:2-7, we have the first delegation of non-apostles to serve in a specific role and task to serve the people of God well.  If you turn in your Bibles to Acts 15, you will see the Council of Jerusalem.  Four times in that chapter we don’t just see the word “apostles,” but the words “apostles and elders.”

We begin to see a transition from the apostles leading the church to the elders leading the church.  The 12 apostles are now working in concert with the elders of local assemblies within the first-century church who are taking on a level of leadership.  By the time we get to Acts 20, Paul is leaving churches completely in the elders’ hands.  He speaks to the elders (plural) of the church of Ephesus about how their job is to feed the sheep, tend the sheep and guard against false teachers who will come in and try to destroy the flock of God through false teaching (Acts 20:28-31).

 So we see this team model of leadership throughout the Old Testament now brought into the New Testament.  Elders don’t become apostles—the role of apostle is no longer here in our day and age.  It was for a singular time and purpose for a singular group of men: the 12.  Now the church is to be led by elders.  They are all to be equal in their role.  That means that the 17 men who serve as the elders of this church and its three campuses serve together as one team, following the ways of God to make sure the people of God are well taught and well served. 

Peter writes to the elders and says that he is writing to elders as an elder himself.  Why in the world didn’t Peter just say, “I’m an apostle”?  I think there are two things we need to understand: 

First, he’s being humble.  He wants to talk to the elders as one of them because identifying himself as one of them will help them listen.  But I also think he’s recognizing that the role of elders will become the normative, prescribed plan God will have for the church and he’s establishing that right here.  Just so no one would be confused, Peter said, “I’m an elder and I’m speaking to you—a group of elders in each of the churches where you’re serving.  There are some things I want you to know.”  Peter outlines three elements for what this biblical shepherding looks like:

There are requirements for those who serve.  What are these elders supposed to do?  The ones who are to serve as elders can learn something just from the title of elder.  What does this word mean?  It is the Greek word presbyteros.  This is where we get the word Presbyterian.  When you drive by a Presbyterian church, you are seeing a church that has assembled itself under the leadership of presbyteros.  It is an elder-run church.  The word presbyteros literally means elder which could mean a man who is advanced in years but mostly it is used to speak of a man who is spiritually mature.

At the ripe old age of 37, I am not an elderly man but hopefully you will see me as a spiritually mature man.  I have been serving as an elder here for 12 years.  At the age of 25, I was far from being an elderly man but the church believed that I was a spiritually mature man.  So we are dealing with mature, prudent individuals who know the Word of God.  They know how to teach and proclaim the Word of God.  They know how to refute false teaching and how to shepherd well.

What are the requirements needed of an elder as a person?  Here in 1 Peter 5, Peter doesn’t list qualifications, but Paul does.  If you want to know the qualifications of an elder, read Paul’s writings in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.  He gives lists of qualifications in both of those passages.

Peter doesn’t give a list of qualifications but he does give us requirements.  He says in verse one, “I…a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.”  You might say, “What in the world are you talking about, Peter?”  He is saying, “Let me just remind you, listeners—I walked with and spent time with Jesus.  In my days of spending time with Him, I saw two things that are bookends of my time with Him.  First, I saw Him suffer.”  Remember that Peter, James and John were asked to go farther into the Garden of Gethsemane on the night Jesus was arrested (Matthew 26:37-39).  They saw Jesus’ anguish firsthand as Jesus asked for the cup the Father had given Him to pass by Him.  They saw Jesus say, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matthew 26:42).  He endured the cross with joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).  Peter is saying here in verse one that he remembers that.  He’s saying, “I remember the anguish of my Savior.  I remember Him sweating drops of blood in His anguish before the cross.”  He says, “I was there.  I saw Him suffer.”

Secondly, Peter says, “I have partaken in His glory.”  We know that again Peter, James and John were the three who were asked to go to a high place where Jesus stood before them as simply another man.  Then in a moment’s notice, everything changed!  Jesus rose up and His glory was seen for the first time in a way that was unveiled from His humanity.  Peter, James and John looked up and saw Jesus with Elijah and Moses.  Peter said, “This is great!  Let’s see more of this Jesus.  Let’s set up some tents and we can worship You.  Let’s just hang out here for a while” (Matthew 17:1-4). 

Peter is reminding His readers, “I have seen both elements of Jesus that are so critical to His humanity and deity.  I’ve seen Him suffer and be glorified.”

What in the world does this have to do with eldering?  Why would Peter say this?  I believe Peter is articulating that a man who serves as an elder must be a man who has not only seen the suffering of Christ—not just through the Word but also through his life—but has also partaken in a glimpse of God’s glory that is going to be revealed.  Peter has now spent four chapters talking about how we as Christians need to suffer well.  As Christians, we are going to live as strangers in a strange land.  The job for us as Christians is to do these things all while giving glory and honor to God by serving the world around us with holiness and love.

How are we to do these things?  Our elders are to lead us in this way, so elders need to know how to suffer well for Christ.  They have to have endured some suffering at some point.  They know what it’s like to be the unpopular one.  They know what it’s like to be held to a different standard in a world that says you can do whatever you want.  The elders need to be aware of what it means to be a martyr for Christ.  The word witness in verse one is martys—to be a martyr.  They are to be a part of the sufferings of Christ.  Elders need to be aware of that.

Elders also need to be aware of what it means to partake in the glory of Christ.  How can an elder have hope unless he has seen God work in mighty ways in his life?  An elder needs to see that prayer does much in the life of a man who is faithful.  An elder needs to be one who has seen God show up in the impossible—when it seems there is no way, God makes a way.  Why is all of this important?  Peter is able to model what it means to be a stranger in a strange land because he knew what it was to suffer for Christ and he knew that what Christ had declared and demonstrated to him was glorious.

Elders need to know how to suffer well so they can lead by example in that suffering.  They also need to remind the people of God that we serve a God Who is able to do the impossible.  We serve a God Who will work all things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  We serve a God Who has made us more than conquerors in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37).  The elder’s job in your times of suffering is to remind you of the greatness of God, the glories of God and what God is going to do when His glory is revealed.  Peter says that is the requirement for an elder.

Elders are entrusted with a responsibility.  This requirement comes with a responsibility.  Peter says in verse two that the elders are to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you.”  Notice the phrase “shepherd the flock.”  That word shepherd is the Greek word poimainō which literally means to “pastor.”  Culturally, we’ve messed things up because we use the word “pastor” and think it means people who are paid to do ministry.  We’ve forgotten the true meaning. 

Here at Village Bible Church, we hold to a New Testament model of leadership that our elders are the ones who “pastor.”  Of the nine men who serve as elders here, some do so as the vocation and some as their bi-vocation as lay leaders.   All of these men serve as elders who “pastor”—or shepherd—the flock.

If someone says, “Hey, how many pastors do you have at Village Bible Church?” the answer isn’t, “Tim, Mario, Keith and Scott.”  We actually have nine pastors who shepherd this particular flock at the Sugar Grove campus.  There is no distinction between lay elders who are not paid and elders who are paid, who receive a double honor.  That was a hard truth for this church to understand ten or eleven years ago.  We said, “We’re not going to look for a senior pastor.  We’re going to look for a pastor who has the job of teaching as one of the elders.”  This church is led by a team of men who serve and their job is to pastor—or shepherd—the flock.

Notice something else about this shepherding.  It has to happen in close proximity with the sheep.  Notice verse two says to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you.”  The idea here is that we cannot be a board of directors who sits in some ivory tower making decisions and decrees that our subjects—whom we have no interaction with—have to follow.  The role of shepherding is that you have to be in close proximity with the sheep you are leading.  They have to be with you.  The shepherds must be among the people.

Howard Hendricks of Dallas Seminary who just passed away recently said, “Elders, if you don’t like the smell of sheep dung, don’t be a shepherd.”  Elders need to understand they’re going to be among the sheep, so they’re going to smell like sheep.  One of the key requirements and responsibilities for an elder is that we smell like you do.  When you’re stinky, we’re stinky.  When you find yourself all muddied up in a mess, we’re down there with you and muddied up, too.  It is our job to go, bring you back and help you recover in your time of difficulty.

We don’t sit there on the phone and say, “I’m sure sorry to hear what’s going on.  I wish I could do something.”  No, we’re there with you in the valley of the shadow of death.  We’re there to serve.  That’s what elders are to do.  As we look at our Chief Shepherd, the Bible makes it clear that undershepherds are to lay down their lives for the sheep.  Elders need to be men who are willing to give up their free time.  I’ll tell you that this happens more often than not.  There have been times—and I know other elders have run into this—when we won’t say, “Boy, it is great to have a night off,” or “Man, I’ve been looking forward to sitting down and watching a ball game,” because when you say those things, it’s almost uncanny how many times the phone rings and there’s an issue within the church.

Elders need to be ready at all times.  It is a 24/7 calling.  They are entrusted with the flock and have the job of giving oversight.  Notice verse two says they are to be “exercising oversight.”  What does that mean?  Here at Village Bible Church, it means the elders have three very specific roles.  When we talk about shepherding and exercising oversight, we break it down into three things:

Your elders should be teaching you doctrine.  When I say doctrine, I mean the Word of God.  An elder should always have the Word of God around.  This is his staff.  This is what he uses.  This is his job description.  This is what teaches us how the people of God are to be shepherded.  The men who serve as elders must be men who are apt to teach as Scripture says (1 Timothy 3:2).  They must be able to refute bad doctrine (Titus 1:9).  They must be able to encourage and direct the affairs of the church by using His Word.  Elders are to teach doctrine.

Your elders should give direction.  They are to give direction to the church as a whole through the vision, mission and ministry of the church.  They are to give you an understanding of what the core values of a good, healthy local church should look like—what the church should be focusing on.  This should be part of the directing of an elder.  Our directing isn’t just public; it’s also private.  Many of you have come to different elders and said things like, “Can I talk with you?  I have a question.  Hey, my spouse and I are struggling.  We need some counseling.  Can you sit with us and spend some time with us?  Can you pray with me?  I have a medical issue.  Can you help me?  I have a wayward child I need to love in spite of all his or her failures.  I need counseling on a variety of things.”  An elder is supposed to give counsel not only to the whole, but also to the one sheep who is asking for it.

Your elders should lead in disciplining those who wander away.  That’s a difficult role.  As elders, we get a bad name for that.  We are given charge to lead in the disciplinary process when one of us wanders from the truth.

Now that is—in a nutshell—what elders do.  In this message, we’re pulling back the curtain a little bit.  You can see from afar what elders do, but we want you to understand the totality of what we’re doing here at Village Bible Church and why we’re doing it.  We have an elder covenant that spells out what we believe it means to shepherd the flock of God.  Each of the elders signs this covenant on a yearly basis, agreeing to serve in a way that honors God.  It says in part,

  • “Believing that God has called us to be overseers of His church which He purchased with His own blood, we make this covenant together.”  The elders have covenanted together. 
  • “I will remember the way in which God gently, graciously and patiently shepherds me as I live out my calling as an undershepherd of God’s people seeking to gently, graciously and patiently shepherd them.”

Very specifically, shepherding the flock means different things for those who are simply attendees of this church and those who have made a commitment to be members of this church.  As attendees, you’ve committed to us in some ways but not in all ways, whereas members have committed to a greater involvement of their elders in this local church. 

Now notice amidst these requirements and responsibilities, Peter gives some further instruction.  He says in verse two, “Elders, you can’t do this under compulsion.”  When we need an elder, we don’t go and say, “Alright, who can we drag into the elder position?”  We don’t drag elders in kicking and screaming.  It begins with a calling.  Look at 1 Timothy 3:1, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.”  It starts with a desire and a sense of calling from God.

Let me tell you something.  If I wasn’t called to this role, you’d better believe I wouldn’t be doing it.  It is of no value humanly speaking: you have to take on other people’s issues, you have to be one of the first people at church and one of the last to leave.   Because of counseling, you know a lot more of people’s business than you normally would know.  It’s not a fun job.  It has been said, “It is the worst job that you could come to love.”  That’s eldering.

I want you to know that in this church, the elders aren’t a board of directors.  We don’t sit around at business meetings and just talk about the business of the church.  We shepherd the flock.  We have two meetings a month as an elder team.  It may scare some of you to know this—but it’s good to be scared every once in a while.  One of these monthly meetings is totally dedicated to you.  We spend three to four hours on a Monday night reviewing each one of you.   “How are you doing?  What is God doing in your life?  Are there areas of concern?  Have you shared some concerns with us that we need to be praying about?  Are there ways we can be helping you?”

Elders spend time going through the whole docket of everyone’s names.  .  They say, “So and so in my flock could use prayer; he might lose his job.”  Or “There’s some marital strife here.  We won’t go into the details, but we need to be praying for them.”  Or “They have a child who’s walked away from the Lord.  We need to be praying for them.”  We talk about these things so that we—as a group of men—can counsel and lead well.  We do this so that we can shepherd the flock of God in a way that honors Him.  It’s not just about making executive decisions.  It’s about shepherding the flock.

So it’s not to be done under compulsion but done in a willing way.  Verse two also says it is not to be done “for shameful gain.”  You better not be doing it for the money; there’s not much money to be had there anyway.  It shouldn’t be done so your nametag reads “Elder Tim” and everybody says, “Oh, there’s Elder Tim, Mr. Bigshot.  He’s an important guy in our church.”  No, we serve you as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ—the flock of God.  We serve you as believers who have been saved by the same grace that saved you.  God has called us to a role and responsibility to serve Him well.

Notice Peter also says it is not so you can be the one in charge.  It is not “my way or the highway.”  Verse three says, “not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”  Here’s the great thing about our team model of leadership: the elders make decisions together.  As a group, we gather together to make decisions—old and young, from all walks of life—to see what is best for the church.  Your church is not led by one man who can make decisions about anything or everything.  The decisions are made by a group of men who have been affirmed by this congregation to lead this flock well.

Some of you might say, “Well, why is that so important?”  It is easy for one person to make a decision that would hurt the church.  If I hadn’t had the elders around me as I preached and taught this congregation when I was 25 years old, I don’t know where this church would be.  As I think back over some of the things I thought then about how a church should be run, I’m so glad for the older and wiser men who said, “Hey Tim, let’s slow things down.  Let’s pray a little more.”  Men who are completely different and have been gifted in different ways are able to lead well as a group.

They will receive a reward or risk that comes with leading.  There is a reward for leading well but there is also a risk for not leading well.  Notice what Peter tells the elders in verse four, “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”  When do you get that?  You get that in glory—in Heaven.  How do you get it?  You get the crown by leading well.

Picture this with me here for a moment.  When we get to Heaven, we’re going to be so excited to usher in the glorious Kingdom of God.  Then we’ll hear the announcement, “All elders, please report to Line 45.  All elders, it is time for your examination.”  You are all saying, “Woohoo!  We’re going to Heaven!  We’re all here; we’re excited!” but you’ll see a group of elders saying, “Oh boy, it’s evaluation time.”  We’ll stand before the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, Who is going to ask, “Hey brother, I gave you charge over My people.  How well did you lead?  Tim, was it about money?  Tim, was it about you getting your way?  Tim, was it about people seeing you as being important?  Because if it was, you blew it.” 

Those who serve well will get the crown of glory.  The idea here (stephanos) is of the victor’s crown.  .  It was some sort of crown of greenery that would go on the head of the winners in the Greek Olympics.   We don’t know what this crown looks like for us, but we do know that when we as elders serve well, we will spend all eternity with this crown.  People will say, “Hey, there’s one of the elders.  That man served God well as a shepherd or overseer of the souls of people.  He was an example to the people of God.”  That is a great responsibility.  With great responsibility comes great risk and great reward.

So let me make this abundantly clear—we take the idea of eldering seriously because God does.  Our eternity is going to be impacted as elders.  We know we are under a more severe judgment because of what we do.  So that concludes ingredient number one.

 A Church that Willingly Submits to Its Elders

If you think you can get away scot-free as the church, think again!  If a church wants to be vibrant, it must willingly submit to its elders.  Peter has let the elders have it; they know their role.  They know at the end of the day that we will stand before Christ.

Now what about the church’s role?  Peter says in verse five, “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.”  Why does he separate the people and say only to the younger ones, “likewise…be subject”?  The young men were the culprits of insubordination.  Peter addresses the group who would struggle with submission the most while endorsing that your job as a church is to submit willingly to your elders.  You need to submit.

Peter has talked about submission repeatedly.  Employees be subject to your employers (2:18), wives submit to your husbands (3:1) and citizens be subject to your governing authorities (2:13-14).  Now within the church, he says, “Church. submit to those who are in authority over you.”  How do you do this?  The church must do these three things:

Know the balance between two extremes.  On one side, the church needs to recognize that eldering is not a dictatorship.  An elder is not a dictator.  When you see cult groups who are doing whatever their leader tells them to do, know that is not biblical eldering or shepherding.  Biblical elders are to be examples to the flock and recipients of God’s grace, serving just as Jesus served us.  As Jesus is the Good Shepherd, so we are called to be good shepherds.  If you want to see an example where God calls out shepherds in this way, look at Ezekiel 34:1-10.  He calls out the spiritual shepherds for feasting on and fleecing the sheep under their care.  God says, “I will not have that.”  Elders, we need to remember this is not a dictatorship.  We serve as fellow elders under our Shepherd Jesus Christ.

Notice that just as damaging as elders being dictators—and this is going to catch some of you off guard—is the idea that the church is a democracy.  You see, we’ve mingled the idea of democracy with the church.  As American, we think that because democracy works as the government of our country, then our church should be run the same way.  I want you to understand something.  The church is  a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”  The church is run by Jesus Christ for Jesus Christ and to His glory and honor forever.  Christ has said, “My church is going to be led by a group of men who will have the opportunity to exercise oversight.”

I know some of you have come from churches where this is the case.  But at the very base of a true democracy, there is anarchy.  Everybody gets to do what they want to do.  When you have something you want, what is your job in a democracy?  It is to get other people to support your idea.  Think of the disastrous results that come when I don’t like something that is going on as an individual.  If I want to see it change, all I have to do is get a group of people to agree with me. 

There are churches that are taken hostage by elders who are dictators or by groups of people within the church who think it’s their right and responsibility to lead the church—it’s not.  As plain as day, I want you to understand—as lovingly and carefully as I can say it—you as church members don’t run the church.  The elders do.  They do so fully recognizing that God is keeping an account.  So you have a responsibility to submit willingly.  

Some of you find yourselves disagreeing with the elders over something—not because it’s unbiblical but because you don’t like it.  Maybe it’s a personal preference.  Maybe you think, “I don’t feel like it; I don’t think I have to listen to them.”  The Bible makes it clear that you’re not submitting.  Can I tell you something?  You’re not going to like all the decisions the elders make because they’re hard decisions.  They’re decisions that affect some in a good way and others in a different way.  We have to serve the whole body of Christ, not the individual.   But if your elders tell you to do something that’s against God’s Word, don’t do it. 

If you don’t understand that, just try to lead a family.  When I make a decision for my family, I affect four other people.  When the elders of our church make a decision, it involves 1,000 people.  Do you think we’re ever going to agree on the color of a wall or the carpet?  No way.  The elders have to consider prayerfully how to make decisions.  Be careful elders that you don’t dictate, but also remember, congregation, that this is not a democracy.  God is the One in charge.  His way is the only way and the elders will be held accountable in eternity for how they led.  They need to do it well and we’ve set checks and balances to help with that.

You might ask, “Tim, what about the passages of Scripture where the people of God spoke into things?”  Yes they did, but under the oversight of the elders.  Acts 6:1-7 is a great example where the elders and the apostles gave oversight and said, “Choose among you seven men.  We’ll give you that responsibility.  You can do that.”  The responsibility that is given to the congregation in the New Testament is given repeatedly by the elders who are caring for and overseeing the church.  Let’s make sure we keep those in balance.

Obey your elders without grumbling.  Turn to Hebrews 13.  The writer of Hebrews gives some words to you—the congregation—about us as your leaders.  Here is what he says in Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your leaders and submit to them [why?], for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.  Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”  The church is to obey without groaning.  If the elders say something you don’t like, don’t respond with, “Oh man, what is their problem?”  This means, “Don’t be a Monday morning quarterback.”

It does you no good to walk out of this place saying, “Man, Badal preached a lame-o message today.  What’s his problem?”  I’m sure I preach a lot of lame-o messages.  Do you know what your job is?  Pray for me.  Pray, “God, give him some better insight.  He’s missing it.”  When the elders make a decision, don’t sit there in your coffee groups and say, “What are those elders doing?  What’s their problem?  I don’t understand what’s going on.  Why are they doing this stuff?  Man, if we were elders…”  Do you want to be an elder?  You’re going to lose your Monday nights, Tuesday nights, Wednesday nights, Thursday nights and Friday nights and then do ministry all day Sunday.  Do you want that?  You’d better be called because it’s not fun a lot of the time.

The men who serve this flock love you all to death.  They make hard decisions all the time.  There was a decision made this last week that prompted tears around the table of elders.  “It’s a hard one, guys.  We have to make a hard decision.  We may not be very popular after this decision.  This decision impacts a lot of people.”  With tears and a lot of prayer around the table, we made a decision.  We believe it’s God’s decision, but it’s still not easy.  Understand that your job isn’t to grumble.  That’s human nature.  Stop doing it.  Why?  Hebrews 13:17 says, “So that it will be a joy with the elders.”

Create an atmosphere of joy and blessing for your elders.   I’ve been an elder for 12 years now and I came into a pretty difficult situation.  The church wasn’t very unified.  But I will tell you that the last 12 years have been an absolute joy to serve you.  With that word of encouragement I also have a word of warning—don’t stop now!  Help us serve you well by submitting to us.  That doesn’t mean you can’t ask questions or give ideas—just don’t do it in a grumbling or non-submissive way.  Do it in a way that honors God.

People Who Humbly Serve One Another

How do we get there?  Let me close with this.  The final ingredient of a vibrant church is a people who humbly serve one another.  First there was a message for elders.  Then there was a message for the congregation.  Now Peter says in verse five, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

This involves an action.  It says to clothe yourself.  What does humility mean?  It means to put on an apron to serve others.  What is Peter talking about?  He goes back to when all the disciples were saying, “Hey, when we get into the Kingdom, I’ll sit at Jesus’ right hand.  I’m most important.”  Then one said, “No, I’m the important one.”  Then the others said, “No, I’m the one Jesus loves the most” (Luke 22:24-30).  Jesus stopped, got up, walked over and grabbed a towel and a basin.  He “put on an apron” and started washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:3-5).

This involves an attitude.  Do you want to be a healthy and vibrant church?  It has to start with elders who put on aprons.  The elders shouldn’t sit back and say, “Hey, look at us.  We’re the important men.”  We should be amongst the people and serving them.  You should see the elders getting their hands dirty occasionally.  They shouldn’t have to do that all the time.  The Bible makes that clear.  Our job is to be involved in the Word and prayer.  But we should also be serving you.  You should see us putting on an apron with humility and loving you.

This was seen two weeks ago with all the flooding.  I was so blessed to hear of a couple people who left water in their basement so they could go to the aid of other people in the church who had water in their basement.  That’s service; that’s servant hearts.  “I’ve got water, but you know what?  My issue isn’t as important as the issue over here.  So I’m going to go take care of this issue because people are more important than my issues or struggles are.”  This is what the church should look like.

This involves an acknowledgment.  Finally, we see in verse five that “God opposes the proud.”  The idea here is that God stands opposed against us.  Do you want God against you?  Next week, we’re going to hear that the devil is roaming around seeking whom he may devour (5:8).  We already have to resist him.  While we’re fighting the devil, do we want God to be resisting us?  Absolutely not!  So Village Bible Church, we need to be a people who are humble because God opposes pride in us.  God opposes a church that is proud of their accomplishments and positions.  The elders must lead to this end.  You must see your elders as examples—and I pray that you do—so that God may give us more grace. 

As you see elders who are humbly serving, the Lord knows our hearts and He gives us more and more grace.  Your elders need grace.  You as a congregation need grace.  We as a church need God’s grace, not His opposition.  So put on the apron for whatever role you play and serve one another.  Peter tells elders to biblically shepherd, tells the church to willingly submit and he tells us all to humbly serve one another.  Let’s do these things so that God’s grace may abound in our season of need.

Let’s pray.

Father God, we come before You and thank You for Your Word.  I pray specifically now for the elders of this church: Al Gonnerman, Tim Badal, Mario Arindaeng, Scott Capp, Keith Duff, Darin Malone, Kevin O’Brien, Jon Pilkington and John Redman.  I pray for the elders at the other campuses of our church.  I pray they would walk closely with You and be men of example, steadfastness and humility.  I pray they would be men who would never seek to fleece this flock but rather serve it—lay down their lives for it—so that one day You will say to them, “Well done, good and faithful servants” (Matthew 25:23).

Lord, I pray that You would continue to give this church a heart to willingly submit to their leaders.  It won’t always be easy; I know that.  It won’t always be the way that they want to see it go.  But remind the church that elders serve You and do so knowing they have to give an account.  I pray that the people of this church will make the job of eldering a joy and not a burden so that the elders may serve them well.  I pray that as elders, we will do all we can to protect this church from dictatorship  while the church pushes back the cultural norm of democracy in the church.

Lord, we pray that You would help us do these things by clothing us with Your humility.  We don’t want to be proud, but it is so easy to be that way.  So we pray that we would make the conscious effort and decision to put on humility instead of pride and to promote others instead of ourselves.  I pray that as we do these things—as these ingredients are mixed together under the oversight of elders—that this church will continue to be a healthy and vibrant church.  I pray that this church would continue to see an ever-growing group of people come in, hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be changed by it.  Now we go out into this world where we are strangers in a strange land.  Empower us to be the church You’ve called us to be so that You will receive the glory, honor and praise.  In Christ’s name we pray.  Amen.