Who is the “Church Boss”?
I Peter 5:1-5
Have you seen the new TV show called Undercover boss? It’s about good bosses. The contrast to that is the Annual "Worst boss" contest. One of the best-selling business books in 1996 was called "Best Boss, Worst Boss" by management techniques expert Jim Miller. The book grew out of a contest he began in 1992 to find the worst boss in America. The 1996 winner is from the East coast.
He is an office manager who schedules fake business trips so he can spend time with another woman.
He forcibly kisses secretaries on the lips.
He wears the same clothes all week, coughs in employees' faces, and acts as though this is normal.
AND, he rigs company raffles and keeps the merchandise for himself.
To determine which sandwich is his in the fast food order, he takes a bite out of each one.
Having a rotten boss did pay off for the anonymous employee who submitted his name for the contest.
He won a one-week trip for two to Hawaii.
What does it take to be a boss?
Adolf Hitler in the fall of 1942 was on a train going to his new headquarters. His army was in trouble at Stalingrad—the Russian Front. On Nov. 7, 1942, as he was sitting down to supper in the rosewood paneled diner of his special train, a freight car happened to stop on an adjacent track. The car contained a company of starving and wounded soldiers returning from the eastern front, who naturally stared in
astonishment at the Fuhrer in his diner just a few yards away. Without as much as a gesture of greeting in their direction, Hitler "ordered the servant to close the shades."
God's view of leadership is different. Peter is going to describe for us the people who we hopefully have leading our church.
First of all…notice the THEREFORE in vs. 1. What does this issue of elders in the church have to do with the troubles and tribulations that Peter writes about in the previous verses? Well, realizing the trouble that life brings, you need a strong church that is looking out for your spiritual and emotional health. You need church leaders who care about you. Just like in our country, we find out who the real leaders are in times of war…you will find out the true spiritual leaders of the church in times of trouble.
I like to think of what Churchill said when he crossed the Atlantic after Pearl Harbor and gave a magnificent speech. He said we haven’t journeyed this far because we’re made of sugar candy.
It’s as true today as it ever was. We haven’t journeyed this far because we’re made of sugar candy. Hard times demand strong leaders who will rise to the challenge. That was true in the first century and it is still true today. This is where our text comes into sharp focus because it deals with leaders who respond with cool, calm, confident courage when the going gets tough. This is a word from the Lord we all need to hear.
I have discovered that there is a whole lot of confusion when it comes to the names that are used for leadership in the local church. There are bishops and elders, deacons, presbyters, session members, trustees, sextons, priests, pastors, and the list goes on. Part of the confusion lies in the way a church is organized and what boards they have. Part of it comes from the fact that states require someone to be called a trustee in order for that church to incorporate as a non-profit. Sometimes a church wants to use only Bible names and transliterate presbyter or deacon.
Here in I Peter 5:1-5, there are three words used:
PRESBUTEROS = Elder (plural in vs. 1 & 5) = refers to maturity, spiritual and physical.
(Actually, the word “PRIEST” is a shortened version of this word Presbyter!)
EPISKOPOS = the verb in vs. 2 for oversight = overseer
POIMENOS = shepherd. It is translated in Ephesians 4:11 as pastor—possibly the only place in
the New Testament where it refers to an office, not a function. By the turn of the first century, church writings frequently refer to the office of pastor in local churches.
We don’t know much about shepherding in our present day culture. Back when Peter wrote, everybody knew what shepherding involved. The patriarchs were primarily shepherds. Until Christ called himself the Good Shepherd, the job was one of the lowest socially. But the New testament is filled with the idea of shepherding the church == feeding, caring, watching, guiding…
These three words appear to be interchangeable in the New Testament. For example…in I Peter 5:2, the elders are told to oversee and pastor the flock.
There is no definite article before the word ELDERS in vs. 1, so this passage cannot be restricted to just a pastor. Vs. 5 seems to imply that the passage refers to anyone who is older and leads people. So the passage is practical to more than just your senior pastor. Since we have elders leading our church, let’s see what these verses tell us about elders.
I. The QUALIFICATIONS of the Elders vs. 1
A. Note: they are called “ELDERS” Elder focuses on the character qualities of the man, that he is a mature man of God. As 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 make clear, the main qualification for elders is not that they have impressive spiritual gifts. Rather, it is that they be godly men.
B. Witness to the sufferings
The word witness does not just refer to someone who saw Christ suffer. It means you talk about it. You are willing to testify about the death of Christ!
C. Partaker of the glory that is to be revealed – this refers to the looking forward to heaven. An elder must be someone who is convinced that Christ is coming again; that Christ will be victorious; that Christ will be crowned with glory; that we are on the winning side. THE ELDER MUST BE A MAN OF HOPE.
I don’t care if the elders are concerned about the bad economy as long as they are filled with hope.
I don’t care if the elders are concerned about the breakdown of the family as long as they are filled with
confidence in the power of God.
I don’t care if the elders are concerned about he Middle East as long as they have their doctrine of the
end times straight so they know that Jesus is coming again.
II. The TASK of the Elders is to shepherd (feed, guide and care for) and to watch over (“exercise oversight”). Vs. 2
Cf. Hebrews 13:17
The shepherd knew his sheep. Jesus, in talking of Himself as the Good Shepherd, said that He called His own sheep by name and they followed Him because they knew His voice (John 10:3-4,14). At the very least, the task of shepherding involves getting to know people by name, and letting them get to know you. The larger a church, the less likely one pastor can know everyone. That’s why there should always be a plurality of elders per church. Between them, the elders should then know every person.
III. The SPIRIT of the Elders vs. 2
A. Not under compulsion but voluntarily – this is the danger of having a provision in our constitution that REQUIRES us to have seven elders. We don’t want to get into the position of saying, “WE HAVE TO FILL THE POSITION to be constitutionally correct.” That’s compulsion.
I read one commentary that said, Most of the time, the task of the elders is more often the grind of cleaning out the stalls rather than the glory of recognition. So an overseer must serve gladly because God has called him to the task, not grudgingly because he was forced into it.
We don’t want to have people serving because their friends put them up to it.
We don’t want to have people serving because they have been here since the church began or because their family is important or because they own the building or because they are a really popular person. We want them to serve because they are listening to God and want to serve Him.
That leads us to:
B. Convinced that it is God’s Will -- cf. Hebrews 13:17 says he will give an account for the work he has done as an elder. He needs to be convinced that he is serving in that position as part of God’s plan to care for the church.
B. Not because it pays well --
Peter raises the issue of money for two reasons. First, the elders normally oversee the financial affairs of the church. That’s true at HCC. Even though we have a Finance and Administration Committee who oversees financial matters, the elders are ultimately responsible for maintaining the financial integrity of the church. Second, in the early church many of the elders (and I would include pastors in this category) received compensation for their labors. Spiritual leaders faced a continuing temptation to view their work primarily as a way to make money. The New Testament talks about people who PEDDLED the gospel.
Acts 20:33-35 Paul said, “When I served among you, I coveted no man’s silver or gold or clothes.”
Some serve eagerly for the wrong reasons, either financial gain (here) or power (next phrase). Paul taught that it is proper for some elders to be supported financially for their work, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching, which takes a lot of time (I Corinthians 9 & 1 Tim. 5:17-18). But a man’s motive must not be to make money through the ministry, but rather to serve God with eagerness.
C. With eagerness – motivated and “aspiring” (I Timothy 3:1) This relates back to Hebrews 13:17 where it tells the church to help the elders serve “with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable to you.” Too many times, church leaders feel like they are serving with a target painted on their backs!
IV. The STYLE of the Elders
A. Not Lording = not dominating, not demanding but humility (cf. vs. 5)
The 1995 worst boss winner was from the Midwest. He allegedly ordered employees to get back to work when they tried to help a co-worker who had suffered a heart attack. A different time, fearing a drop in productivity, he waited until the end of a workday to announce that a missing employee had been found dead.
That’s domineering leadership!
Peter models what he is teaching: He does not lord it over these men, although as an apostle, he could have asserted his authority. “Apostle” referred to men entrusted with authority from Christ to establish churches. As an apostle (1:1), Peter had authority over these churches. But he uses the word ELDER. “Elder” relates to a local church. Here he doesn’t flex his apostolic muscle, but writes to them humbly as a fellow elder and fellow worker.
Vs. 3 says, “Lead by example.” In 323 BC Alexander the Great led his Macedonian Army into battle against the fortified city of Multan. At the head of his troops, he climbed to top of wall. The assault ladder broke, so he jumped into the battle and slaughtered the enemy, even with an arrow in his lung. He stayed in the battle until his own troops dragged him away.
Peter says that the shepherds are supposed to be examples to the flock. In I Corinthians 11:1, Paul says, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” Of course, we want the pastors and elders of the church to be perfect and righteous 100% of the time... But an example to the flock means something that they can imitate. So that means when we fall short, we need to be examples in that, too. Meaning, when I mess up, that I set the example of being quick to repent. Meaning, that when I fall short of the righteous standard, that I am honest enough to admit it.
Lead by example means they are THEMSELVES growing and serving; they are reading through the Bible and memorizing the verses; they show up for the things they tell you to show up for.
--it is important to know that your elders are growing spiritually and that you can look to them for an example of how to put this stuff into practice.
V. The Reward of the Elders vs. 4
A crown of glory. You don’t serve for the crown. But there is one waiting for those who lead the church.
VI. The Following of the Elders vs. 5
There is some debate over why Peter singles out “young men.” My understanding is that he assumed that the women would be in submission to the elders; but young men are more prone to resent their authority. Younger men are often more impatient and idealistic than the more mature men in leadership. They may not understand why the elders don’t move more quickly. So he singles them out as representing all in the church who are not elders and tells them to submit.
“Be clothed with humility” recalls Jesus taking a towel and girding Himself as He washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17). We’ll deal with humility a bit more next week.
In 1976, Finland’s Lasse Viren made Olympic history when he became the first man to win both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races in successive Olympiads. After his victory, his coach decided to take on the record of the legendary Emil Zatopek. Earlier in the century at the Helsinki games, Zatopek had won the 5,000 the 10,000 and the marathon. There was only one problem. Viren had never run a marathon before. The Olympics are not exactly the place to take on a new event. But on the last day of the Montreal Olympics, Viren lined up to run the 26 mile race—and stood directly behind Frank Shorter, the American who had won the marathon gold medal four years earlier in Munich. As they took off, Shorter found out that he had a shadow. Lasse Viren’s coach’s strategy was to stay with Shorter through the whole race. Viren tried, but couldn’t maintain the pace and finished fifth in his first marathon. But the lesson was simple – do whatever the champion had done, fast slow, hills, curves…whatever he say Frank Shorter do, Lasse Viren imitated him. That’s leading by example.
Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, “Don’t follow me, I’m lost, too”? I hope that is not the case with your elders. They want to lead you spiritually. Follow them.
