Shepherds For God
July 23, 2008 – 3:29 am
There are few texts that show more clearly the importance of leadership in the early church. It’s to the elders Peter specifically writes, and he, who was the chief apostle, doesn’t hesitate to call himself a fellow-elder. He could have worn the title apostle, or friend of Jesus, but he calls himself “elder.” Elderships have a Jewish beginning. There came the time when Moses felt the burdens of leadership too heavy for him to bear by himself. Seventy elders were set apart and granted a share in the Spirit of God (Nu 11:16-30). Father-in-law Jethro gave good advice for Moses to get others to help him lead. From that moment on elders became a permanent feature of Jewish life.
We find elders as the friends of the prophets (2 Kgs 6:32; as the advisers of kings (1 Kgs 20:8; 21:11); as the colleagues of the princes in the administration of the affairs of the nation (Ezra 10:8). Every village and city had its elders. They met at the gate of the city and dispensed justice to the people (Deut 25:7). Elders formed a large segment of the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the Jews, and are regularly mentioned along with the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees. In the vision of John’s revelation in the heavenly places there are 24 elders around the throne of God. Elders are woven into the very tapestry of Judaism, both in her civil and religious affairs.
The Christian Eldership! “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder…” (1). An elder filled the basic office or servant position of the NT church. Paul’s custom was to ordain elders in every city and in every church established. During his first missionary journey, elders were ordained in every church (Acts 14:23). Titus is even left in Crete to ordain elders in every city (Titus 1:5). The elders seem to have had charge of the financial administration of the church, for it is to them that Paul and Barnabas delivered the funds sent to relieve the poor of Jerusalem (11:30). We find elders taking a leading part in the decisions of the Council of Jerusalem at which it was decided to fling open the doors of the kingdom of God to Gentiles. So much was this the case that at the Council the elders and the apostles are spoken of together as the chief authorities of the church (15:2). When Paul came on his last visit to Jerusalem, it was to the elders he reported, and it was the elders who suggested the course of actions to be followed (21:18ff).
One of the most moving passages in the NT is Paul’s goodbye address to the elders of Ephesus. We find there that the elders were the oversees of the flock and defenders of the faith (20:28,29). We learn from James that the elders had a healing ministry in the church through prayers and the anointing of oil (5:14). From the pastoral letters we learn that elders were rulers and teachers and by that time were also paid officials of the church (1 Tim 5:17). When a brother in Christ enters the eldership, no small honor is conferred upon him, for he is entering into the oldest religious position in the world, a functionary office whose history can be traced through Christianity and Judaism for four thousand years. And when a man enters the eldership, he takes on a grave responsibility, for he has been ordained as a shepherd of the flock of God and a defender of the faith. God bless our elders.
Perils & Privileges! “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (2,3). With great privilege comes enormous responsibility. The elder is to accept the service extended to him willingly, not because he has been forced into it by coercion. This doesn’t mean someone runs for the office. There is a sense in which it is by compulsion that a man accepts office and enters upon his Christian service or ministry as a shepherd of God’s household. “Necessity,” said Paul, “is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel of God” (1 Cor 9:16). Paul felt the tug and pressure of responsibility. He also said, “The love of God constrains me” (2 Cor 5:14). This can be said of elders today. They serve out of love that constrains them.
Money & Power! “Not greedy for money…not lording it over…” (2,3). It might be easy to see this position as one to gain somehow financially or to have some power over others. There are always those who will accuse others of their intent. Paul clearly declared that he coveted no man’s goods; that he worked with his hands to meet his own needs so he wouldn’t be a burden (Acts 20:33; 1 Thess 2:9; 1 Cor 9:12; 2 Cor 12:14). Paul mentions this so often as if it counter the charges that were made of others and might unfairly be made of him as an apostle. No brother should ever dare to accept an office of elder for what he can get out of it. Elders aren’t petty lord’s, but examples to follow. Milton’s Satan thought it “better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.” Shakespeare spoke of men, “proud men, dressed in little brief authority, playing such fantastic tricks before high heaven as would make the angels weep.”
Any man who enters this office with the desire for pre-eminence over others, with the notion of exercising authority, with the idea of becoming sort of a little pope, has got his whole point of view upside down. Jesus spoke to this: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mk 10:42-44).
An Elder to Fellow Elders! “A witness of Christ’s sufferings…” (1). Peter has the heart of an elder. He doesn’t speak down to them, but alongside them. He writes as one who has a personal memory of the sufferings of Christ. His poignant awareness came from personal experience with the Master. One of the most tragic sentences in the NT is: “And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter…and Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Lk 22:61,62). Perhaps some of us need to go out and weep bitterly over our own tragic decisions. In that look Peter saw the suffering of the heart of a leader whose followers had failed him in the hour of his greatest and bitterest need. Surely Peter knew of the Lord’s suffering that comes to Christ when men deny him; and that is precisely why he was so eager that his people be strong and loyal and faithful in service. Peter even describes himself as a sharer in the glory and he surely could speak from firsthand experience since he was at the transfiguration, and as Luke puts it, “When they awoke they behold his glory” (Lk 9:32). Jesus had promised his disciples a share in the splendor when the Son of Man should “come to sit on the throne of his glory” (Mt 19:28). Peter understood well the call of the Chief Shepherd for it was Peter who was asked by the Lord three times, “Do you love me” (Jn 21:15-17). The reward of love was the appointment as a shepherd. We have no apostles today. But we have shepherds who smell like sheep because they love and tend the flock.
Peter denied Jesus on three occasion. What a man of emotional contradictions—ready to die for his Lord one moment and swearing no association with him the next. Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Three times he asks this of Peter. Was it a reminder of the cock crowing after the apostle’s thrice denials? Perhaps. And as each time Peter answered in the affirmative, Jesus simply said, “Feed my sheep.” Three times Jesus said, “Feed my sheep?” Why? Because that is what shepherds do. That is what elders do.
Used with permission from Steven Clark Goad, Blythe Church of Christ
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