The Eager Shepherds and Humble Flock
“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: 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; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 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.”
1 Peter 5:1-5
Everyone wants the fruit of healthy churches and uncompromising church leaders, but few are aware of what needs to be done to get it. Peter tells us that there is a certain disposition in shepherds and the flock that is crucial. In order to fully see the connection between that disposition and the design of the church being fulfilled, we need to at least notice the wider context. This passage really goes with the next two verses (6-7), so that the overriding theme is that Christ’s way of glory through humility is the pattern Jesus has set for the rule of His church—which is this week—and also, more generally, the pattern that Jesus has set for all Christians in the whole of life. What is true of the chief Shepherd must be true of what we will call Christ’s undershepherds. It can be boiled down to a simple principle.
Doctrine. The chief Shepherd has ordered rule in His church for seeking glory through humility.
(i.) The identity and rule of Christ’s undershepherds
(ii.) The eagerness and end of Christ’s undershepherds
(iii.) The submission and humility of Christ’s flock.
The Identity and Rule of Christ’s Undershepherds
Here is one of the classic supporting texts for the Presbyterian form of church government. The first and most important detail to draw your attention to is that Peter uses all three words that describe this one church office in all of the relevant New Testament passages: elder, overseer, and shepherd (or pastor). Why use different words? It is simply to draw out different dimensions of the task, all of which are necessary in this church leader in one way or another.
The first word, elder (πρεσβύτερος), he uses even of himself: ‘So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder ’ (v. 1a).1 The word is fundamentally an adjective meaning “older.” Here the emphasis is on life experience and acquired wisdom, or simply having been tested. That last dimension is why there is no exact minimum age given anywhere in the Bible. It is relative to the goal of acquiring that wisdom and proving out that character.
The second word, shepherd —or its Latin counterpart, pastor (ποιμήν)—is first uses as a verb here ποιμάνατε,2 so the command is to ‘shepherd the flock of God that is among you’ (v. 2a). This has to do with the care of souls. As a literal shepherd leads his sheep into green pasture to eat and protects them from predators, so, Paul tells Titus, that this officer must “be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9). But it all starts with feeding them the word, as Peter himself was commissioned with the threefold,
“Feed my lambs … Tend my sheep … Feed my sheep” (Jn. 21:15, 16, 17).
The third word might seem more concealed because it is only used as a verb here: overseer (ἐπίσκοπος). How is this used as a verb? Peter makes it a clause of the action of shepherding: ‘exercising oversight’ (v. 2b).3 To oversee is not only administrative tasks, which are also necessary, but, as I always say: Think of overseeing as “seeing over,” that is, having field vision for the flock. In concrete terms, that means knowing where the church is at in its schedule and stage of development, in its weaknesses and dangers, in its place in the denomination and in the community.
The Eagerness and End of Christ’s Undershepherds
There are two basic characteristics that Peter wants to draw out of the actual elder in motion here, both really having to do with the psychological state of the man who is an elder. You could say that they answer the questions: What are you doing? and Why are you doing this? Of course God is the ultimate answer to both, as the First and Final cause of the shepherds coming down to gather the flock, but how so? There is a trio of contrasts that show us. These assume the problems of unwilling church leaders, opportunistic church leaders, and domineering church leaders. Any of those three will stop a potentially growing church in its tracks.
The first contrast reproves us from dragging men into the position: ‘not under compulsion, but willingly’ (v. 2c). Now that might seem strange! But it may be that we have taken a real virtue out of context. Let us call it “the George Washington syndrome.” A person of character evident to all sees himself as unworthy. For this reason, he fails to answer that call. We know the story in Washington’s case. A greater sense of duty triumphed.
But many people have a superstitious and mystifying view of what it means to put oneself forward. Paul helps us by saying, “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task” (1 Tim. 3:1). Observe those words carefully—Aspire. Desire. These do not just describe the man stepping forward at the beginning of a process, but they describe the the man moving forward. One of the biggest killers of a church is a shepherd that projects negativity, or in every place where God says Go, Go, Go, a group of elders is always saying No, No, No.
The second contrast is a little bit more difficult. We understand what shameful gain is and eagerness is, but why place them in contrast? He says ‘not for shameful gain, but eagerly’ (v. 2d). One commentator the this shameful gain “seems to imply that such ministers received renumeration—which is not here forbidden—and that such ministry was engaged in by some simply as a means of obtaining material advantage.”4 This has always been a problem. The seventeenth century English Puritan, Richard Baxter, wrote that,
[O]thers make the ministry but a trade to live by. They choose it rather than another calling, because their parents did destine them to it, or because it afforded them a competent maintenance; because it is a life wherein they have more opportunity to furnish their intellects with all kinds of science; or because it is not so toilsome to the body, to those who have a mind to favour their flesh; because it is accompanied with some reverence and respect from men, and because they think it a fine thing to be leaders and teachers, and have others ‘receive the law at their mouth.’ For such ends as these are they ministers, and for these do they preach; and, were it not for these, or similar objects, they would soon give over.5
Now what is opposed to these pathetic rewards, but a truly spiritual eagerness. What is this thing? About eagerness we sometimes say that someone is “chomping at the bits” …. It is like a burden, not so much weighing us down, but waiting to get out! It is a pure and righteous ambition, bursting at the seams: something that must be done, something that can’t wait! So when,
[Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Mat. 9:36-38).
So, the Apostle Paul said, “I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation” (Rom. 15:20).
This is someone who sees the local church as the great work that it is. It is a holy ambition that is contagious, so that it has the tendency to draw not only more sheep but also more shepherds.
The third contrast ‘not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock’ (v. 3). Whether we are talking about the cultic personality or the managerial personality, the church leader with a heavy hand will answer to God’s far heavier hand of judgment. A domineering shepherd is no shepherd at all, but a wolf, as the LORD calls them out: “with force and harshness you have ruled them” (Ezk. 34:4). The cultic personality oppresses the imperfect and the injured by legalism; the managerial personality tone polices every last hint of masculinity out of the church. So neither can be an example to the flock, as there is not much of a flock left once he scatters them.
The motive is for glory. Here also, Peter’s self-identity is an example for all elders: ‘as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed’ (v. 1c). Peter was not merely talking about his eyewitness to the glory of Christ, such as burst forth in a few cases during the earthly ministry, especially on the Mount of Transfiguration and the resurrection. It is a longing for future reward, and specifically that reward of the divine accolade: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Mat. 25:21).
Then he makes it abundantly clear for the elder in the form of a promise: ‘And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory’ (v. 4). That which would strike fear into a false shepherd is meant to be ultimate encouragement to any true undershepherd of Christ. Calvin comments,
Except pastors retain this end in view, it can by no means be that they will in good earnest proceed in the course of their calling, but will, on the contrary, become often faint; for there are innumerable hindrances which are sufficient to discourage the most prudent.6
The Submission and Humility of Christ’s Flock
‘Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders’ (v. 5a). We have seen the word “subject” before (2:13, 18; 3:1). Now in the church. This especially is a difficult sell in our day. We are a transient people. We are also burned out on the moral failure of church leaders. Many have actually experienced spiritual abuse, if not also other forms of abuse, in the church. Now we must add to that the sense in which young men have been disaffected from the local church by its leftward drift and its condescending exile to the masculine urge to defend our people and our land. All that they believe that the church leadership is saying to them is, “Stay under our authority and die with us as guilty Westerners, or else be cast off as young pagan fascists!” Whether the older generation understands it or not, this is what millions of young men sense. How, they ask, can we be subject to that? One answer is that “be subject” means to find faithful shepherds that one can be subject to. That may mean moving one’s young family, or moving before one has started a family. But the young man cannot complain indefinitely if there are faithful pastors out there who understand this, and yet no efforts are made to support such ministries and their multiplication.
Notice that this humble deference is not just about tolerating the imperfections of one’s elders or even the imperfections that are in any local church. Peter expands this circle of lowliness: ‘Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another’ (v. 5b). So he expands it in two ways: (i.) not just younger people but ALL OF YOU; and (ii.) not just toward the elders of the church, but TOWARD ONE ANOTHER. This echoes Paul’s, “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21). There is a submission to church authority, but there is also a mutual subordination. It is an overall attitude. It is a love for the church that outweighs all of the differences and disappointments. If these were so unique to our day and if Peter’s words are so inapplicable, well, then, why did he address it in the first century? The temptation was always to be in a constant state of licking our wounds and taking our ball and going home. This is not new to the human condition.
Finally, Peter doesn’t ask anyone in his audience to stoop lower than he himself has stooped. In fact, they cannot. Nor can they stoop lower than Christ has. It is part of Peter’s identity. There is more to his identity here than fellow elder and apostle. Going back to that opening verse, he is also ‘a witness of the sufferings of Christ’ (v. 1b). The Greek word for witness (μάρτυς), from which we derive the English word martyr, suggests that this is a witness of more than words. Peter is not only saying, “I was there,” but that I am walking that same walk. When He says to them before Pentecost, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8), it is the same word. The Christian must be His flaming witness. Paul says, “for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17); and the payoff, as we will see in the next passage, rises up. It is not a suffering to no end: “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies” (2 Cor. 4:10).
Practical Use of the Doctrine
Use 1. Exhortation. There can be no doubt about the first application because Peter’s first words in the passage are these: ‘So I exhort the elders among you’ (v. 1a). So this passage is a command to all elders throughout the whole church age. Some commentators point to the contrast between the two audiences, as in “You who are older” (in verse 1) and “you who are younger” (in verse 5) to say that at least part of Peter’s summons at the beginning is to have all who are older embrace an eagerness to shepherd those who are younger.7 I think that is one proper application, but I would be careful to saying that this is “the point,” since he is specific about the other names for the office. Nevertheless, those commentators bring up a good point. It is a point the author of Hebrews made in a different way:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food (Heb. 5:12).
The uncomfortable truth is that the very generation that has cast off young men as if everything were about their immaturity, is a generation that has retired from history itself. Men who have been Christian for over ten years, and especially twenty years, assuming that they are of a sound mind and have raised a family and so forth—such men should be elders. Full stop. If they are not, then they are not bearing their weight in the church. They are depriving the young church members of wisdom and probably other resources that are going instead to earthly treasures. If they lack doctrinal maturity, then the church has been derelict in deep enough teaching. A church that is unable to train in this way needs to get themselves another pastor.
Use 2. Instruction. Peter is showing us a pattern in this text and then next week’s. It is God’s design for greatness through lowliness. Again, Peter echos what Jesus already taught:
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk. 10:43-45).
Staying in the flock, serving the flock, as a fellow member, growing in the means of grace, is God’s design for leading in the local flock and beyond. Peter’s difficult task here is not new. It is not brought about because of something unique in young men in our generation. In every generation, Christian leaders must echo Peter’s word, which were echoing Jesus’s words—that God has designed this world of moral action so that the “lowly life” of the flock is a crucible. Are you outraged at the church for not mobilizing men? Do not forget that same church is where all the women and children and other genuinely weak and suffering reside, and the whole reason—so you say—that you first thought to fight was to defend them against such an imposing evil. At the very least, the riders of Rohan must keep circling back to see if Wormtongue has been cast out and the beacons have been lit. Young men will do no good as a permanent band of rogues.
Two final applications come from the final words of the text, which are a reference to several Old Testament passages.
Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor” (Proverbs 3:34);
With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down (Psalm 18:25-27).
Use 3. Admonition. The first part of the punchline is that ‘God opposes the proud’ (v. 5c). Do you want to be opposed by God? Whether as the older or the younger in the church, our pride can contend with God for His glory. Most of what passes as successful or engaging today is nothing but pride. It is the exaltation of one’s own resources, not only in the manner of our salvation for eternity, but even in the means of maintaining a platform for a moment in time. “Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas. 4:4). To make oneself a “friend of the world” in this sense is to mirror back to it its principles of pride, to flatter the crowd, to give them only ever what they want. This is not to serve anything but their appetites and one’s own bottom line. But the bottom line for Peter is that God is watching you and, if you choose the worldly way of success over His way of glory through humility, then God takes His omnipotent stance against you.
Use 4. Consolation. The second part of the punchline is that God ‘gives grace to the humble’ (v. 5d). This is not the place to over-analyze the causal role that humility plays in obtaining the grace of salvation. Peter’s subject here is not the ordo salutis. His subject is what is fitting, as the tax collector who was “standing far off,” who “beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13)—this was most fitting. Fitting for what? Fitting for one who knows himself to have been a traitor to King Jesus; fitting for someone who longs to be loved by God but who knows he has no claim on anything but divine displeasure; but, as Peter would have us ground our hope in here, most fitting for one who is learning to expect the glory of Christ in walking the same path He walked.
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1. Calvin’s point about the primacy of Peter is excellent here, though it might be beyond our attention span here: “Since Peter calls himself in like manner a presbyter, it appears that it was a common name, which is still more evident from many other passages. Moreover, by this title he secured for himself more authority, as though he had said that he had a right to admonish pastors, because he was one of themselves, for there ought to be mutual liberty between colleagues. But if he had the right of primacy he would have claimed it; and this would have been most suitable on the present occasion” (Commentary, XXII.2.143-44).
2. ποιμάνατε is in the aorist active imperative.
3. ἐπισκοποῦντες is in the present active participle, masculine nominative plural.
4. Stibbs and Walls, 1 Peter, 167.
5. Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2001), 80.
6. Calvin, Commentary, XXII.2.146.
7. cf. Stibbs and Walls, 1 Peter, 169.
