1 Peter 5:2

1 Peter 5:2 ‘shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;'

‘shepherd' -‘rule, govern' (Thayer p. 527). Poimaino-‘to act as. shepherd' (Vine p. 87). ‘fig., of activity that protects, rules, governs, fosters, in the sense lead, guide, rule' (Arndt p. 683) ‘the verb denotes all that is included in the office of. shepherd, guiding, guarding, folding, no less than feeding.' (Vincent p. 665). 1. The noun form of the word “shepherd” is translated “pastors” in Ephesians 4:11... The ‘pastors' of the flock are the elders (Acts 20:17; Acts 20:28). 3. The ‘pastor system' in various denominational churches (one man over. congregation) is unknown in the Bible.

Points to Note:

There are many parallels between the work of shepherds who took care of literal sheep and the work of elders: 1. Both are to protect the flock under their care. The shepherd of old carried. staff or rod, and sometimes. sling (Psalms 23:4; Titus 1:9; Acts 20:29). 2. To feed the flock and see that they receive nourishing food. 3. To watch over the flock and go after the sheep that is straying (Hebrews 13:17).

‘the flock of God'. 1. Which is. clear reminder to the elders that they are taking care of something that belongs to God and not themselves (Jeremiah 2:1). 2. It is very tempting to start viewing the church as something that belongs to us. 3. People caught up in denominational thinking will often speak of the church as something that belongs to the preacher. ‘So, you have your own church'. 3. The tremendous value of the flock is seen from the fact that these are people redeemed with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28).

‘among you' -This is. direct command. God is specific about which flock elders are to oversee. ‘he orders them to feed the flock of God, not generally, not ecumenically, but locally.' (Alford p. 1665). 1. Each local congregation had its own elders (Acts 14:23; Acts 20:17). 2. Elders are never told to oversee. flock in which they are not members or among. This automatically limits the oversight of elders/bishops/pastors. The concept of bishops overseeing more than one congregation is foreign to the Scriptures. The only organizational structure beyond the local congregation is Jesus as head over all things to the church and ruling in heaven (Ephesians 1:22). Any organizational structure beyond the eldership in each local congregation is adding to the Word of God (Revelation 22:18). 3. This Scripture completely contradicts the idea of religious conventions, state, regional and national governing boards or headquarters.

‘exercising oversight' -‘look upon, inspect, oversee, look after' (Thayer p. 242). The statement is in the present tense. The word translated ‘exercising oversight' is related to the word translated ‘bishop/overseer'. The statements in 1 Peter 5:2 show, ‘that when this epistle was written the words “elder” and “bishop” and “pastor” were synonymous.' (P.P. Comm. p. 206) Which demands the question, ‘What right do men in have in changing the meanings of these words and applying them to offices that are foreign to the Word of God?'

Points To Note:

‘Elders are to observe and look into what the flock is doing and encountering and then to do what is essential to their spiritual welfare…(Hamilton) 2. At times people are very quick to say, ‘This isn't any of the elder's business.' God can commanded them to ‘oversee'. And if something is adversely affecting your relationship with God, the spiritual welfare of other members, or the reputation of the congregation, then they must get involved (Hebrews 13:17).

‘not under compulsion' -‘by force, unwillingly' (Vine p. 232). ‘not of constraint' (ASV); ‘not as though it were forced upon you' (Gspd).

‘but voluntarily' -‘without compulsion, deliberately, intentionally.' (Arndt p. 243).

Points to Note:

‘means not doing the job simply out of obligation or because “someone has to do it”, but because the elder has freely and willingly chosen to carry out this valuable work.' (Grudem p. 188) 2. ‘It is true that elders did not volunteer or select themselves but were selected by others (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5), yet they were not to think of their work as something forced upon them.' (Davids p. 178). 3. ‘This does not mean that he is gaily to enter upon office without. self-examining thought…But there is. way of accepting office and of rendering service as if it was. grim and unpleasant duty, as if it was. weariness, as if it was. burden to be resented.' (Barclay p. 314) 4. ‘Voluntarily' doesn't mean that. man seeking the office has no qualms or second-thoughts. It is. awesome task and should be taken very seriously. Neither does it mean that such. man should feel. complete lack of compulsion.. man should feel the sort of compulsion that comes from. serious reading of the Word of God (1 Corinthians 9:16; 2 Corinthians 5:14). 5. Aspiring to the office of an elder, should be done intelligently, deliberately, intently, and purposefully (1 Timothy 3:1). 6. God wants the motivation to serve to come from within the man who will serve.

‘according to the will of God' -1. Serving because of pure inward motivation is the type of men that God wants in the eldership. ‘Literally, “according to God”, i.e. God would have it this way-“voluntarily.” Service to Him should always be thus rendered.' (Oberst p. 229) 2. In addition, the will of God governs every aspect of how. elder is to rule. He isn't given authority in addition to the will of God. And neither is the will of God ever to be altered by human religious authorities. So much for the idea that ‘church tradition' is equal to Scripture or can override it.

‘and not for sordid gain' -‘Sordid'-‘in fondness of dishonest gain' ‘The reference, then, is not simply to one who is greedy of money, but to. man who so loves money that he will, without hesitation, stoop to low practices to make “a quick buck”.' (Oberst p. 230). 1. One of the qualifications for elders is that they must be free from the love of money (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7). 2. It appears that there was enough money in local congregations to draw dishonest men to the office. 3. There have always been people who have seen Christianity as simply. stepping stone to wealth or power. 4. God's shepherds in the O.T. often fell into the trap of turning their position into. lucrative business, i.e. serving from the motive of personal profit (Isaiah 2:11; Jeremiah 2:13; Jeremiah 2:10; Jeremiah 2:31). 5. There is nothing wrong in paying elders (1 Timothy 5:17). We see two contrasts in the above verse. On the one hand one who labors for personal profit. Selfish ambition for wealth, position and power. On the other hand, one who is zealously working for the glory of God. 6. From other passages we know that the oversight of elders includes overseeing the finances of the local congregation (Acts 11:29).

‘but with eagerness' -‘willingly, eagerly, freely' (Arndt p. 706). Work that is done eagerly, promptly, heartily and cheerfully. ‘Broken down, this work is from ‘pro', which means literally ‘forward, i.e. with' and ‘thumos', spirit, heart…it implies zeal and enthusiasm…denoting not mere willingness, but zeal!' (Oberst p. 230) Again, we are dealing with motive. Personal gain and ambition are not the motives. Rather,. zeal for the will of God,. love for His people, an ardor to see the cause of Christ move forward. In contrast, there are always people in religion who are into it for the money (Judges 1:12; 2 Peter 2:3).