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.—1 Peter 5:1–4

Introduction: The Context of Shepherding

The elders at Bethlehem have heard the Chief Shepherd—Jesus Christ—leading us into more intentional care for the flock entrusted to us over the past few years. There has been a renewed emphasis on membership so that we know who we are called to give an account for. So, I’d invite you to consider membership if this is your home. We have a plan for shepherding care at every campus. We’re trying to emulate the heart of our Chief Shepherd who knows us by name and is the overseer of our souls. 

We want to follow his in his footsteps in knowing you and loving you as we seek to lead you to him with his word. We want to shepherd you better in the strength of our Chief Shepherd. 

Main Point: The elders are meant to shepherd the blood-bought flock of God among them through the afflictions of this life as they march toward final glory together.

This passage gets to the center of the burden your elders feel to shepherd you better. We want to help you hope in Jesus and get to Jesus through all the ugliness of this life 

• In 1 Peter 1:3–9 we see that we have been born again to a living hope, with an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading waiting for us, and this hope of glory will be realized through various fiery trials.
  
  
• In 1 Peter 2:20­–21 we see that we will suffer for good and follow in the footsteps of Jesus who left us an example of this.
  
  
• 1 Peter 3:8–17 is all about the goodness of suffering for the glory of Christ.
  
  
• 1 Peter 4:1–5 talks about suffering in the flesh now so that we are ready for the Day of Judgment. 

• 1 Peter 4:12–14 tells us we should not be surprised at the fiery trials that come to test us, but we should rejoice as we share in Christ’s sufferings so that we will be ready when his glory is revealed. 

And finally, we see suffering leading to glory in 1 Peter 4:1 in the person of Christ:

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.

There it is: Elders are meant to shepherd the flock of God among them through afflictions of this life as they march toward final glory together. That’s the context we shepherd in. That’s the blazing, joyful, and hope-filled passion of the elders in this 20/20 Vision. So, with that context I want us to look at: 1) The Who of Shepherding, 2) The What of Shepherding, and 3) The How of Shepherding.

The ‘Who’ of Shepherding 

Bethlehem believes that elders and pastors and overseers are all one office in the Bible. All pastors are elders and all elders are overseers. 1 Peter 5:1–2 is one of the places we would go to show this reality. In verse 1, Peter says he is a fellow elder. In verse 2 he commands these elders to shepherd or pastor. And then in verse 2 he describes their task as oversight. So, these words describe different functions and facets of the same office. It’s not just the staff elders who are pastors here at Bethlehem.

This is important, and I bring it up because these changes aren’t merely to hear more from Jason, Steven, and me. It will give greater influence to the elders who will give account for your souls. You will hear from other elders more from the pulpit, but also Jason, Steven, and I will be seeking to represent the voices of the campus elders as the ones preaching most because we serve on elder teams. Our desire is for the campus elders to know and care for you. Then as we labor together at each campus, we hope our knowledge of the flock helps us see the dangers more clearly and lead you more wisely. The New Testament holds up a plurality of elders to lead a particular flock and we think this 20/20 Vision accomplishes that better.

So, what does Peter exhort all of us elders/pastors/overseers to do?

Shepherd the flock of God among you.

Remember back with me to Acts 20:29 from a few weeks ago and Paul’s charge:

Know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Which sheep do we shepherd? Those among us. Which sheep do we protect? Those among us. The words “among you” are there for a reason. The Bible shows shepherding with proximity and presence as absolutely necessary. A good shepherd can’t watch, protect, and speak to his sheep from some far-off field. I said at the beginning that we want to follow the lead of our Chief Shepherd, Jesus. Listen to how Jesus knows and speaks to his sheep in John 10:

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. (v. 14)

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. (vv. 3–4) 

Your elders want to know you better. That is why every campus has a plan of one kind or another to seek to know you and have you know us. We want to know your names and we want you to know our voice because we are among you.

I preached a sermon on suffering recently at the South Campus and the text came alive and my heart came alive as I sat with several suffering saints whom I knew by name the previous Thursday and Friday. Prayers for them and others among us filled my preparation and fueled my hope for what God might do to strengthen our faith. And on Sunday as I looked out at them and proclaimed the Chief Shepherd, there was a sweet knowing and being known that took place.

The elders feel a burden that the best way to shepherd and speak to our flock is do so with those “among us.” Those we live life with and minister to regularly at our three gathering places. We think this is a move into greater faithfulness of carrying out this vision of shepherding. How will we know the dangers or the lacks or the burdens you have in order to shepherd you if we aren’t among you?

So, the “who” of shepherding is the flock of God among us.

The ‘What’ of Shepherding

So, what is shepherding exactly? The second half of verse 2 puts it plainly: exercising oversight.

This is the 20/20 vision. The elders want to fight for sight of the flock of God among us. I was reflecting on Psalm 23 this week with all of these shepherding passages in my mind, and what struck me is the amazing reality of the never-ceasing presence of the Shepherd that leads to timely protection and provision. 

We see oversight so clearly in Psalm 23. He makes us lie down in green pastures. He leads us beside still waters. He restores our soul. He leads us in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. He’s with us in the valley of the shadow of death. He anoints our heads with oil. He pursues us with goodness and mercy.

Notice that all of these tasks require that the Shepherd is with them and very alert to their needs. We want to exercise this kind of careful, alert oversight.

And because the elders at your campuses are responsible for this oversight, we think it is appropriate that you hear regularly from one of those shepherds among you. I want to go back to a passage that Jason showed us last week and show you how speaking the word of God and being among you are meant to go together for leaders of the flock:

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.—Hebrews 13:7

These leaders, these elders of the flock of God are close enough to the flock that the flock can consider their way of life and imitate their faith. The elders know them and they know the elders. And as they get to know them, these leaders exercise oversight as they speak specific words of protection and provision to them from the word of God for their specific needs. 

A shepherd is meant to know his sheep and speak to them as he leads them where they need to go and protects them from dangers. Shepherds far away can’t speak to the sheep as effectively and will have a harder time exercising the kind of oversight this passage calls us to.

So, we want to shepherd the flock of God among us—those we regularly do life with—and we want to be those who exercise careful oversight with specific words of encouragement and exhortation from the Bible. The elders at Bethlehem have felt that as the Lord has led us toward more campus ministry and care that it is fitting for there to be elders that “labor in preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17) from that campus context.

Let me give an illustration. I am a dad and a husband. I try to work hard to know my wife. To know my kids. To know their hearts—their joys, fears, sorrows, and sins—and to seek to shepherd them. It’s fitting that I speak to them regularly from the Word based on that knowledge of them, right? So now imagine that every night as our family gets ready for family devotionals that I sit them down on, pull out my phone, and FaceTime Jason to do our family devotionals. Now, no one is arguing that Jason’s devotional wouldn’t be awesome. I’m sure it would be. But, there is a fittingness to me speaking to my family in that moment because they are the ones charged to my direct care. 

What I’m not saying is that the shepherds listen for the felt needs of the flock and adjust the gospel accordingly. I’m saying shepherds should be those who love the word of God and love the people of God. Shepherds should be those who exegete the Bible first and then exegete their people. Shepherds must hold high the word of truth because they cannot love their people if they don’t love them with the truth of the word of God. A shepherd holds up the Bible in full form—all its encouragements and exhortations, all of its comforts and conviction, and is not ashamed of the gospel—even when it is not popular.

What I am saying is that as a group of shepherds knows the flock, there will be different burdens and applications of the Word they use to exhort their people. Just as Paul wrote different letters into different contexts, and there are different letters to the seven churches in Revelation, so each context needs certain gospel antidotes for certain spiritual ailments. 

So, we shepherd those among us exercising oversight: Seeking to see and know the flock and speaking the word of God to protect and provide for the flock in their particular needs. 

The ‘How’ of Shepherding 

In verses 2–3 we see three contrasting statements about how the elders are called to exercise this oversight in their knowing, leading, and speaking. We need your prayers to do this well. We want to care for you as shepherds following in the footsteps of the Chief Shepherd and we know that sin, suffering, and Satan will seek to undo our faith and yours—and so we need your prayers. Let’s look at these contrasts together. 

1. Not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you. 

A shepherd does not serve as a way to please man. A shepherd doesn’t become a shepherd because he is pressured into it. And a shepherd doesn’t operate in his role by letting certain people pressure him into doing certain things. Instead, a shepherd becomes a shepherd by the call of God—appointed by the Holy Spirit. And a shepherd operates in his role by always asking the question, How can I please God and be faithful to my call?  

Paul models this kind of devotion to willingly follow God and not man even when its hard.

But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.—1 Thessalonians 2:3

So, elders must seek to be faithful to God, and this comes primarily from being men devoted to the Word and prayer. They must be men who are willing to seek the eternal good of the flock by calling them to follow Jesus in all things, not men seeking to please others.

2. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly 

Now, this often associated with money, and I think that’s one right way to think about this. Listen to these verses in John 10:

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.—John 10:12–13

A shepherd who is in it for his own personal gain will run at the first sign of trouble. A shepherd cannot be someone asking: “What can I get out of this ministry?” “How do I benefit from the status or prestige?” “How can I leverage this for more money or power?” Instead a real shepherd, called by God and seeking to do God’s will asks: “How can I lay down my life?” “How can I benefit others faith?” “How can I use my authority to serve others?”

A shepherd runs toward danger and loves the sheep at great cost to himself—following in the footsteps of Jesus, even when it is hard or unpopular. Someone in it for shameful gain will always have a hesitation, an insidious calculation to not do what is right and true in hard things, but instead to do what is politically savvy to maintain status, money, and influence. 

3. Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

We’ve seen too many examples of power-hungry shepherds in the news who want to build their own kingdoms, brands, and are willing to run others over to get there. We cannot be shepherds who act as if they are king instead of Jesus as king. We cannot be shepherds who demand that others bow to them. We can’t be shepherds who will get their way at any cost. 

Instead, we need to be shepherds that are examples of godliness and repentance. We need shepherds who model the mind of Christ and want to serve others not use others. We need shepherds who are lead-repenters when they sin against the flock. Shepherds who count others as more significant than themselves and follow Jesus on the path of the cross. God, help us. 

We are called to shepherd the flock of God among us, exercising oversight, and doing it in a way that points to the Chief Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep in all humility and holiness. We see the flock and the flock sees us imperfectly modeling the love of Christ.

The Consummation of Shepherding  

So, let me remind you of the main point of this passage from the beginning.

Elders are meant to shepherd the flock of God among them through afflictions of this life as they march toward final glory together.

So, in summary, the goal of all of this intentional, sacrificial, and joyful shepherding is that we make it to glory together. God means for his undershepherds to help his blood-bought family navigate this world of suffering, sin, and satanic schemes by pointing them to the finished work of Jesus and finding unshakable joy in him until he returns. And there is a great reward for shepherds and for the flock that God aims to motivate us:

And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.—1 Peter 5:4

The seriousness of the task and the greatness of the reward helps shepherds persevere. The text Jason preached last week—that we will give an account for souls—is the text that keeps me up at night in my shepherding. And this text is the one that gets me up in the morning with great hope to keep going.

When the Chief Shepherd returns, if we have sought to shepherd the flock among us, exercising oversight, in the way that points to the self-giving love of our Chief Shepherd, he will give us as unfading crown of glory. So, what is this crown?

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.—Philippians 4:1 

For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?—1 Thessalonians 2:19

Do you see it? You are the crown of the shepherds here! It’s the people. God sent his son—the Chief Shepherd of his blood-bought flock—to die for the sins of all who trust in him. Then he gave undershepherds to lay down their lives to help his blood-bought flock cling to Jesus as they navigate the sin, suffering, and schemes of Satan in this life.

And when he appears, our crown—our joy—will be as we look around and see that by God’s grace we all made it to glory together. It will be an unfading crown as we spend eternity together in the presence of the Chief Shepherd—the Lamb that was slain! We will look around with wonder at each other that the Lord kept us, and we are in his presence forever! We will say, “It was worth it. We’ve been waiting. It’s here! We made it! We’re with him!”

So, the role of shepherds in this life is to help you wait well for the appearing of Jesus. To help you keep your eyes above the seas and hope in him as the waves come. To help us be a blood-bought family ready to meet Jesus. Let me finish with 1 Peter 5:8–10 as we see the consummation of shepherding together being a church ready and eagerly awaiting our eternal glory with Jesus. 

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

Bethlehem, your shepherds love you. We are not perfect. But, we long to shepherd well because you are our crown and joy and we want to be a church ready for the appearing of our Savior as we wait for him.

Sermon Discussion Questions

Main Point: Elders are meant to shepherd the flock of God among them through the afflictions and trials of this life as they march toward final glory in the presence of Jesus together.

Discussion Questions

• In 1 Peter 5:1–4, what is the context of all of our shepherding?
• Who are the elders called to shepherd?
• What does it mean to “exercise oversight”?
• Why is it important that shepherds are able to speak specifically to the flock among them?
• Can you name some of the characteristics of faithful shepherds?
• When Jesus appears, what is the crown the shepherds will receive?