Shepherds and their Sheep - 1 Peter 5:1-5

Suffering doesn’t pause the life of a church; it reveals it. Pastor Spencer opens up 1 Peter 5:1–5 to follow Peter’s surprising shift from trials to church leadership, showing how hardship demands elders who shepherd as stewards and members who follow with humble strength. Instead of chasing platform or programs, we talk about presence: guarding, feeding, guiding, and protecting the people God purchased with the blood of Christ. That turns pastoring from ownership into stewardship and sets a new scorecard for success—faithfulness to Scripture, holiness in life, and patient care for souls.

We break down Peter’s three contrasts for leaders: serve willingly rather than under compulsion, pursue the flock’s good rather than shameful gain, and lead by example rather than domineering control. Real authority in the church is cruciform; it looks like Jesus washing feet, not grabbing power. We also hold out the hope that sustains pastors when applause is scarce—the unfading crown of glory from the chief Shepherd. That promise frees leaders from the treadmill of metrics and invites a long, quiet faithfulness that outlasts trends.

Members have a vital calling too. We explore what healthy submission looks like, why making leadership a joy builds a flourishing church, and how to support elders through prayer, encouragement, service, forgiveness, and unity. Humility ties it all together. When leaders model it and people wear it daily, a church becomes both a shelter for the suffering and a compelling witness to a divided world.

Transcript

Why This Matters To The Whole Church

Peter’s Charge To Elders

Shepherding As Stewardship Not Ownership

Lead Willingly Not Under Compulsion

Not For Gain But For The Flock’s Good

Lead By Example Not Domineering

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Well, this morning we are going to be looking at 1 Peter 5, those five verses 1 through 5. So if you would turn in your word or on your phone or wherever you want to look at scripture with me, I encourage you to follow along in those five verses. Last week we spent time looking at Peter's call for suffering as he took a chapter and a half to talk about suffering and how us as believers are to suffer, and how we should expect as believers to go through suffering. We saw how suffering can actually be good for us, how God uses us to draw it closer to himself, how he pulls us kind of out of a spiritual stagnation with it, and how he actually uses to purge sin from our lives. We talked about how suffering can give us, can help us to demonstrate our faith to a watching world, how our rejection of sin and worldly comfort shows others that our joy is rooted in something far deeper in the unchanging word of God rather than some ever-shifting circumstances around us. We also saw how suffering can be a refining process for us as believers. If you look at the first chapter of 1 Peter, he kind of compares it as the same way as James does to a furnace, kind of a refining fire that separates those who truly belong to Christ from those who do not. In other words, suffering does good for the believer. It is good for us to suffer. Peter spent a chapter and a half talking about how you, as a believer, should expect to suffer. And in your suffering, it is actually good for you. Now, many of us do not long for suffering in our life. Many of us do not seek suffering. But as a believer who suffers, Peter is saying it is not pointless, it is not meaningless on your life. It's not wasted. And so whether you are walking through hardship now or you will in the future, suffering is part of God's plan to shape you for his glory. So now all of that, Peter says, all that, and then he quickly transfers to uh the shepherd or the elder or the pastor and the flock. And so it's a weird transition that kind of Peter's gonna go through here. Right? He spent a chapter and a half teaching about suffering, and then all of a sudden he's just gonna transition to the elders. But he calls them in the midst of suffering to remain steadfast and to lead faithfully in that midst of suffering because the flock will be looking to him, because people will be looking to them amongst everyone else. And so this morning I want to take us and have us spend a little bit of time looking at two different things in here. You see, here Peter is gonna spend four verses speaking directly to the shepherds, directly to the elders, or as we call them pastors today, those three words being used interchangeably. He's gonna spend four verses directly talking to them and not only encouraging them, but telling them how they are to live and how they are to lead as pastors. And then he's gonna take the last final verse in this in verse five and talk to the congregation or those who uh are under the shepherds or pastors and how they are to act. So let's first look at the first thing. The first four verses, the shepherd's calling. In these verses, Peter says, So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow 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. Now, for you sitting in the congregation at the moment, you might be wondering, well, how is this relevant to me? If Peter is talking to elders, shepherds, and pastors, and I am either not that, and I know never longed to be that, how is this relevant to me this morning? Well, as you continue on throughout life, you may not always be a part of Redeemer City Church, though we truly hope you are. As you continue on throughout life, there will be moments where you have to find a church and find another place to call home as a believer. And so it is important for you to be able to look at the qualities of those elders, to look at the qualities walking into the church of how does this man lead his congregation? Not just how great does he preach from a platform, not just how nice is he to me, not just how many names can he remember on a Sunday morning, but how does he lead his congregation? How does he care for his flock? And so you can take what Peter has said here and kind of use it much with other scriptures as a rubric to put beside the man that would call himself the shepherd of that flock and to say, do I want to sit under this shepherd? What are these qualifying things that make me feel like this would be a good person to sit under? And then in the same breath, to hold your elders within the church that you now belong to to these standards. That if you see, hey, are they acting in the same way? Are they living the way that Peter is called? And so I encourage you, as we kind of go through these, not check out because you're like, well, I'm not an elder, I never desire to be an elder, I don't care, like to check this out and to understand not only maybe how elders should look and perform, but also maybe some of the weight that they are feeling because of the things that they are called to. So let's look at this. A shepherd's calling. I want to look at just the distinctions between what Peter has here for how they live. Well, Peter first is going to begin uh knowing that he kind of using this word, not commanding them, but saying, hey, as a fellow elder, Peter himself was called to be a cornerstone or helped out to launch the cornerstone of the church. He was, as Paul, was a great example of helping to start many a churches. And so in the same breath, he knows what these men are going through. And so he's not speaking from a commanding role, but saying, Hey, beside you, I know the things that we are supposed to strive for. He knows what it means to lead under pressure. He knows the cost of ministry, he knows the weight of failure. But he also knows he once denied Jesus three times. And so he knows the grace of restoration. In John 21, when Jesus is sitting on the beach and he looked at Peter and he said, Feed my sheep. That moment shaped Peter's whole life and ministry. So now, as persecution is growing, Peter is looking to the shepherds of the church and saying, Listen, above all else, you need to be the one that your congregation looks to. In the midst of persecution and suffering, you have to be this role model that your church can look to and trust. In chapter 4, he's already said, judgment begins at the household of God. So he's saying, So hey, this suffering that's going to be happening, this persecution, this judgment, it's going to be happening first with the household, the church, the body. The fiery trials that were coming for the church first. And so Peter warns the elders here when those trials hit, your flock will look to you. Their faith will be tested, and you shepherds will have to give an account for how you prepared them. So he wants to begin this with knowing that for any of those who strive to become elders, or any of those who are acting as elders, that when suffering happens, when fiery trials come, how the believers, how the congregation acts, will be on the shoulders of the elder. So, in the same breath, if if trials were to come upon us as a church, how you guys acted as members of Redeemer City Church would be upon the shoulders of Trent and I, you've probably heard us a lot from whether in the QA or even on a Sunday mornings, talking about the seriousness of how we are to lead our flock, how we are to shepherd you guys. And so, in the same breath, Peter wants them to know listen, it is a serious ordeal to be an elder right now. He wants to encourage them, but in the same way, challenge them. But he says, Listen, brothers, in the same way I know being a fellow elder. And so James 3:1 kind of echoes the same thought here. When James says, Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. The calling to shepherd God's people is not a casual calling. It's not a fate-hearted or a self-interest calling. It's a sacred trust for which Christ Himself will hold elders and pastors and shepherds accountable. So Peter's first command is simple and direct. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you. Notice the phrasing, the flock is God's. It's not the elders, it's not their ministry, it's not their brand or their following. The people belong to the Lord who purchased them with his blood. You are merely a steward or an under-shepherd. You see, scripture also refers to somebody else, something else is this. Think about as parents. If you have children in here in the same breath, scripture kind of says that same kind of analogy. As parents, your children are not yours, but they are God's. And our job is to steward them towards Christ. You will be accountable for how you steward your children towards Christ. That will be on your shoulders. And in the same way, pastors and elders and shepherds are in the same breath accountable for how they steward you towards Christ. So the truth humbles every pastor. It reminds us that ministry is not ownership, it's stewardship. The flock doesn't exist to build pastors' platform, pastors exist to build their faith. In the Acts 20, 28 through 29, Paul says the same thing. He says, Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he ordained with his own blood. Shepherding means guarding, feeding, guiding, and protecting. A shepherd is close to his sheep. He walks with them through danger and through hardship. You can't shepherd from a distance, but you have to be present, near enough to smell like the sheep is kind of. I don't know if you any of you have ever grown up on a farm at all, right? Anybody in here grown up on a farm? Okay, nobody in here. Right? Have you ever been on a farm? Anyone in here? Have you ever been on a farm? Okay. Aren't they just great smelling places? Like you ever been in a cow pasture? Like it's just a lovely smelling place. It's not, right? It smells like manure. It smells like whatever's going on around those cows, the same thing. My sister has a, I call it a micro farm because it's a few goats and some chickens. But even walking out there, right? It smells. She's like, hey, you want to come out of here? I'm like, no, not really. I don't want to smell like goat and sheep for the rest of the day. I don't want to be stuck in mud, mud, muck all over my shoes because I walked out of here. That's the analogy she's trying to get that they're trying to give here. To be a pastor means you are around the people who you shepherd. And so you smell and you know like those people. Now that analogy is not saying that you guys smell bad, so please do not take it that way. Right? But it just means you know the people that you are around, the people that you shepherd. You're not some high guy standing on a platform away from them, domineering over them, but you are with them and amongst them and doing whatever you can to save them. And so a man should never step into ministry simply because someone in here he hopes to gain recognition in some kind of way. And so then Peter's gonna give us three things that we can take away from the shepherds, right? Or from those who are leading the flock. The three things, right? Three ways that they are to lead. The first one is lead willingly, not under compulsion. Right? Peter goes on to describe how to lead. He says, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you. A man should never step into ministry simply because someone pressured him into it, or because it seems like the right next step, or to gain attention. Compulsion produces cold ministry. The shepherd who serves because he has to would quickly resent the sheep he's called to love. Instead, the call of ministry must come from God, a willingly surrender to his will. True shepherds will serve joyfully, not on, not out of duty, but out of devotion to the sheep. And Peter adds, as God would have you. That's the key. See, shepherd not as the world would have you, shepherd not as the congregation demands of you, but shepherd of God commands in his word. When you go to a church, your elders should not lead in a way because maybe the people who make the most money in the church said, Hey, we need you to lead this way. The shepherd should not lead in a way that brings in that, hey, every other church that has a large congregation is doing it this way. So I'm gonna lead that way so that I have more attendees coming in. A shepherd should not lead in a way that says, Well, if I want to gain status or recognition, this is the way I should lead. A shepherd should not lead because maybe he has a select few in his congregation that grumble and and argue over everything, and so he's gonna try to meet their needs in a way. A shepherd should not lead to try to not create division in the church or not hurt anybody's feelings or anything like that. No, a shepherd should lead as God's will calls him to. And so sometimes that can be hard conversations within the church. Sometimes that means maybe those who financially give the most in the church aren't gonna be happy. Maybe that means that you sitting in your chairs now are not gonna be happy. Because as pastors, we're not gonna shepherd under the way that you think that we should shepherd, but we're gonna shepherd under the way that God has commanded us to shepherd. Too many churches measure success by attendance, by likes and shares, by how flashy programs are, but God measures by faithfulness. How is truth proclaimed? How is holiness pursued, and how our souls care for? As a shepherd and elder, that is how they are called to care. That is how they are called to lead, willingly, not under compulsion. The second thing that we see is that shepherds are to lead for the flock's good, not for their gain. Peter says, not for shameful gain, but eagerly. See, even in the first century, some elders saw ministry as an opportunity for profit. They saw, hey, I have these people who follow me. Guess what? I can kind of get them to help me make a profit for myself, to help me make a name for myself. I can use them as a means for me to grow more successful in some kind of way. And while scripture does affirm that pastors should be supportive financially, Luke 10, 7 says the laborer deserves his wages. And 1 Corinthians 9 14 says, and those proclaim who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel, right? It is biblical evidence that pastors should be paid for what they do. In the same breath that whatever you're doing in your life, you should be paid for. But in that same breath, Peter warns against the greed of a pastor. You see, a pastor's motive should never be money. A man who loves money more than the souls will twist ministry into something that becomes a self-serving thing for himself. Paul in 1 Timothy warned the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Faithful churches should pay their pastors well enough to free them from ministry, but not keep them poor out of misplaced piety. And I know this is awkward to say from a pulpit right now where I get paid to do ministry. But the truth is, is that faithful churches, I'm gonna say it again, faithful churches should pay their pastors well enough to free them to do ministry, not keep them poor out of misplaced piety. Often I get asked the question, how much should a pastor get paid? Listen, I don't really know how much there's a wisdom in that question, how much a pastor should get paid. But as John Piper said, who John Piper's a pretty smart man, he said, don't call a man who's trying to get rich, and don't be a church that tries to keep him poor. If you're looking for how much to pay your pastor and looking for a pastor, well, don't call a man who's trying to get rich. But also don't be a church that tries to keep him poor. How much did you pay your pastor? I don't know exactly. I have a lot of wisdom and thoughts, and through that, that you know, it it's in the look at the community that they live in. Can they live in the community that they're ministering to? That's a good question. Can they faithfully serve in their community without being abundant in all kinds of ways? There's wisdom in that. But in here for the shepherd, Peter calls them in this to lead the flock for the flock's good, not for the gain, not for your gain. You see, the heart of a shepherd should mirror the heart of Christ, eager to give, not eager to gain. And that should be the heart for all believers, that we should be eager to give, not eager to gain. A shepherd, his joy is not in his paycheck, but in seeing people flourish spiritually. So we see first, right? How should a shepherd, the shepherd, how should the shepherd f shepherd the flock of God? By leading willingly, not under compulsion, by leading for the flock's good, not for their personal gain. And lastly, here by leading by example, not by domineering. Peter says, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. Authority in the church is not a license for control, it is a call to servanthood. Jesus himself said in Matthew 20, the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, but it shall not be so among you. Pastors who lead through fear or manipulation betray the gospel they preach. Christ-like leadership is marked by humility, by patience, and by gentleness. It's not about demanding respect, but earning it through faithful character. You don't know that the number one example for this is that elders should live a life that's worth imitating. If you could look at your elder and said, Man, if I lived more like him, I'd be more like Christ. That's the way an elder should live. An elder should not live in a way that's like, man, if I actually do the things he does, I'm less like Christ. Elders should live lives worth imitating. The congregation should be able to look at their pastor's life, their marriage, their integrity, and say, that's what look that's what looking like Jesus or following Jesus looks like. When elders model Christ, the flock also learns how to follow Christ. The pastor's tone often will set the atone for the entire church. If he's proud, the church is going to be proud. If he's humble, the church will be humble. If he's seeking self-gain, the church will be seeking self-gain. If he's not willing to serve in many ways, the church will not be willing to serve in many ways. The pastor's tone will often set the tone for the entire church. So we see these three ways in which a pastor is called to live. And three ways in which you are called to keep your pastor accountable to. Peter closes this section with a promise. He says, When the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the uncreating, unfading crown of glory. The chief shepherd, of course, being Jesus Christ, the one who laid down his life for his sheep. When he returns, his reward, he will reward his unshepherds who were faithful. The world may never never applaud a pastor's labor, his late-night hospital visits, his weeping prayers over wandering sheep, the faithful preaching week after week, but Christ sees it. And he will reward with something far greater than human praise. The unfading crown of glory. But Peter says this one will not fade. This is the reward of hearing our Savior say, Well done, good and faithful servant. So for your elders or anyone who esteems to be an elder, stay the course, lead faithfully, even when the work is hard, when the sheep wanders, and when the fruit seems slow, remember who called us and who rewards us. But in the same breath, as congregants, hold your pastors accountable to these. Look to them, whether in this church or another church, and see are they leading in the way that Christ has called us to lead. So Peter gives all this exhortation to the elders of the church to be prepared for the suffering. And now in the last verse, he's going to move to the flock. The flock's calling. Verse 5 says this 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. Peter is addressing the shepherds here to a call to submission. The phrase, you who are younger, does not refer to an age, but likely in this time frame, most of the elders would have been of an elder age, an older age in the standings. And so, yes, typically those in the flock were younger people, just because of how the elders work. Typically, there were older gentlemen who were wise under their age. And so in this, Peter's kind of referring to those who are younger. But in this, it's kind of those who are under the leadership of the elders. And his call is pretty clear be subject to the elders. Now, submission is not a popular word in our culture. It's probably not hard for you to go on social media and look up the word submission and see how most of our culture enjoys the word submission. It's not something that people eagerly search for. It's not something that people on the street are going to be excited to be about. But it is a word that scripture uses quite often. You see, our culture prizes independence, autonomy, and a personal freedom. But God's design for his church includes structure and authority. That structure is actually good for us. Not to control, but to protect and nourish. And the same way in a household, right? As God calls the woman to submit to the man and is not one because he is trying to demean women, but because there is structure. And in this structure, your marriage will actually flourish in a greater way. Who would have thought, like, if the marriage got along so great, like people would, your marriage is actually going to flourish. In the same breath, Peter is saying, in the church, if you follow along with structure, you will actually flourish within the church. And your church will flourish. His church includes structure and authority again, not to control, but to protect, protect, and nourish. Hebrews 13, 17 kind of expands on this. It says, Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. That verse should both humble us as pastors and you as members. The pastor must give an account for how he cared for your souls. And the members must give an account for how they responded to his leadership. I'm going to give you a little bit of picture here. I grew up with five siblings. I was the middle of five, and typically my mom and dad were working weird shifts in their job place. And so they would not be home for whether we went to school or got home from school. And so we would go to school and we'd come home, and my older sister was watching us, right? Uh some of you have had the privilege to meet my older sister, and she's super loving and nice because she has now been redeemed by her savior. But as a younger kid, she was not as super nice, right? And so she saw authority as a way to belittle us. And so we'd come home from every day and she'd say, Hey, mom, mom said that we need to do all this, but she said I didn't have to do anything. And so she said, Hey, I gotta make sure you guys have to clean this up and you guys have to do all this, or you're gonna be in trouble.

unknown 24:42

Right?

The Unfading Crown Of Glory

The Flock’s Call To Humble Submission

Make Leadership A Joy Not A Groan

Practical Ways To Support Your Elders

SPEAKER_00 24:42

And then she would say she would take advantage of us. And I don't know if you've ever had older siblings in here. Has your older siblings ever taken advantage of you of you in any way? For sure, not, right? Like she would always like think, like make trades with us that seemed like the best deal. Like, hey, I'll trade you this if you give me like all$10. And I'm like, oh, that seems like a sweet deal. And then you find out growing up, you're like, wow, she really took advantage of me. But I say all this to say because my mom would get home and she would ask, Hey, how did your sister take care of you today? And as the the godly figure in our house, that was our mom. And so you went through her for all things. And so we would give an account for how she took care of us. And my sister would get in trouble based upon how we were taken care of that day. And so one day it was she locked my brother outside of the house and he busted a window open to try to get back in the house. And she had to give an account for why she locked our brother in the house. You see, she took advantage of her authority within the house. In the same breath, in a very more serious note, us as pastors will have to give an account for how we shepherded you. Your faith is not just only, our faith is not only on our hands, but also your faith is on our hands. How you are growing, how you are striving in faith is on us as elders. And so not only in Hebrews does the writer say that, but also here in Peter says that. That is a big deal for us to have to oversight you. And I don't say that to kind of elevate myself in any kind of way, but I say that to understand the calling not only on myself, but on you as well. As Hebrews 13, 17 says, Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are watching over your souls, as those will have to give an account. That we will have to give an account for how we cared for you. And submitting to godly elders doesn't mean a blind obedience, right? It doesn't mean you just do whatever we say. But it means trusting that us as leaders desire your good even when we have to challenge it and you correct you. There are moments of pastoral ministry that are just not fun. That they are not enjoyable, but we know as leaders and shepherds, we are called to do this for the sake of your soul. I do not enjoy having to call people out for maybe things that they are doing within their life. I don't do not enjoy having to say, hey, you cannot live this lifestyle and be a member of Redeemer City. I do not enjoy telling people, hey, this is not what's going to grow you closer to Christ. Like, I don't know how many of you enjoy having fun conversations in your workplace if you have authority over anybody, but they're not enjoyable. But ultimately, I know for the sake of your soul, this is what I have to call you to do, and because of the sake of, I know the authority that I am going to give an account for. So trust your leadership that we desire your good even when we have to challenge you, correct you. And then this is what the writer of Hebrews continues to say. He says, Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that will be of no advantage to you. What is a calling on your life? Not only to humbly submit, but also make it a joy to lead you. A joyful pastor leads a joyful church. When members pray for their pastors, support them, and receive the word with humility, the entire body flourishes. The more you are going to groan, the more the church in general will groan. The more it will not be an inviting place and a fun place. You ever been a fan around a family that just seems to groan and whine all the time and complain? Anyone know anybody like that? Don't throw out any names. But you ever met somebody who just whines and complains and groans all the time? How joyous are you to go visit that person? Like, are you so excited to be like, man, I can't wait to go visit them and hang out with people who just complain all the time? In the same breath, our church is the same way, right? If you are a part of a church that just seems to groan all the time, complain all the time, the church in general is going to be a church that groans and complains. If you have a pastor or an elder or shepherd that you're always groaning about, how do you think the pastor is going to feel? They're going to groan and probably complain all the time. But man, if you are joyful to be a part of the church, if you are joyful to be under the shepherd and guidance of the shepherd, if you are joyful in being a flock of a church, how much more do you think the pastor will be joyful in that? That's what the writing of Hebrews is saying. He's saying, be joyful, not groaning, because if you're joyful, it will make it so much easier for the pastor to shepherd you. When members constantly complain, resist correction, and stir division, the ministry becomes a burden and no one benefits. Make it easy for your pastors to lead you. I don't just say that for myself, but just in general, any church you belong to, make it easy for them to lead you. Encourage them, pray for them. Follow their example as they follow Christ. When they confront sin, receive it as love, not attack. Our aim is not to shame you, but to shepherd you towards holiness. So make it joyful to lead you. But also remember, your shepherds are human. Peter's cut command doesn't mean that your leaders are infallible. We are still sinners saved by grace. We're gonna make mistakes and sometimes we're gonna disappoint you in the decisions we make. But as long as we or any other shepherds remain faithful to Scripture and that our lives are above reproach, God calls you to support them, not tear them down. I am not Jesus, and I can never be Jesus for you. I am going to make mistakes. I'm gonna make decisions that you'll probably, at some point in time, you are not gonna agree with. I'm gonna say something, maybe in a way that you don't agree with sometimes. But just as much as you're in need of a savior, I also need a savior. And I'm also being sanctified and being made holy. Christ alone is the perfect shepherd. Every earthly pastor is merely a reflection of his care. When your elders fall in small ways, forgive them. When they succeed, thank God for his grace in them. Here's how to follow well. I want to give you a couple practical points on how the flock can follow their shepherds faithfully. First is pray for us regularly. Ministry is spiritual warfare. And almost the number one thing that kind of encourages me and I think other pastors more than anything else is when we know that we have people praying for us regularly. When I get a call that somebody's like, hey man, I just want to pray for you today. Is there anything specifically I can pray? Like that's a that's more of an encouragement than almost anything else. So just pray for us regularly. Encourage them often. Words of gratitude can lift heavy hearts. I'm gonna tell you just from experience, a lot of times what we're gonna be thinking about is the negatives probably more than the positives. Like the positives are good, but those won't stick with us probably as much as the negatives. And I don't say that we need to be built up in some kind of lifting way, but man, I'm gonna be thinking about like, man, I kind of let them down in this way. Man, I did this, I did this, and this. And so words of gratitude a lot of times can lift heavy hearts. The third point is serve alongside them. Don't leave work of the ministry only to pastors, but join in it and be joyful in it. Join in serving alongside of them. Fourth, forgive their shortcomings. Now there is scriptural reproof for pastors that they no longer can be a pastor. Like we can see that as qualifications of a pastor. Like if somebody fails in those shortcomings, yes, they should be removed from being a shepherd of a flock. But in that, there's gonna be moments where where I'm gonna, out of anger or frustration or something, maybe say something I shouldn't have said. There's gonna be moments where maybe I fall in some kind of way. Forgive us for our shortcomings. And fifth is pursue pursue unity. Pursue unity. I think this is the number one church killer is a divisive church. That means refuse gossip, assume the best out of most people, and protect the peace of the church. The number one church killer, if you've been a part of a division of a church or anything like that, is unity. When the church is no longer unified, that destroys the church. And I've seen churches split over some ridiculous things, like so small, trivial things, but they allow that to become divisive things within their church. Man, pursue your unity above all else. A humble, unified church is a powerful witness in a proud, divided world. When we can come together and joyfully serve together, even when we disagree with some things, it shows the world that there is something bigger happening here. And the last point that Peter ends here with is clothe yourself with humility. Peter widens the command. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another. This image is vivid to clothe yourself. It means to put on like a garment every day. What that means is it is not easy for us to be humble people. It is not easy for most people to be humble, which means you literally have to put on something that's going to help you to be humble. Peter says, Clothe yourself every day with humility towards one another. Let humility be what people see when they look at you. Whether elder or member, leader or learner, wear humility daily. Pride is one of the greatest enemies of the church. Pride says, I know better. It refuses correction, it divides, but humility kind of unifies us. And so Peter here is going to end with a warning and a promise. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Think about that. God himself opposes the proud. To be proud is to place yourself in direct opposition to God. But the humble, those who bow before him, who receive correction, who serve one another, they get to experience his grace. If we want God's blessing on our church, it won't come through programs or polish. It will come through humility. Leaders who serve and people who submit. All under the lordship of Christ. So as we close today, Peter wrote these three words, knowing that suffering would soon intensify. He would one day be martyred for his faith, crucified upside down according to tradition, but he endured because his eyes were fixed on the chief shepherd. You see, Peter is writing to fellow elders who are going through suffering. One day him himself will be martyred for that suffering. The elders' call here is weighty. They must shepherd the flock with love, not for gain, lead willingly, not under compulsion, model humility, not dominance, because the chief shepherd is coming and their reward is true. But for you, church members, your calling is vital. Follow your leaders with humility, make it a joy for them to shepherd you, support them, pray for them, forgive them, and walk beside them in grace. And together, shepherds and sheep, keep our eyes on Christ. He is both the shepherd who leaves and the lamb who was slain. He bore our sin, endured our suffering, and rose to bring us safely home. And when he appears, all suffering will cease, all trials will be over, and all who have been faithful, those who led humbly and those who follow gladly, will receive the unfading crown of glory. So until that day, let us live as those who belong to him, the shepherd and the o seer of our souls. Let us pray. Father, we are just so thankful. God, I am thankful for the church that I get to be a part of. I'm thankful for members who have reached out to me, members who I've become great friends with, and members who have supported us in this endeavor as Redeemer City. God, I pray that we are a church that gladly directs people's vision to your glory. I pray that we are a church that walks with humility, never for our own gain. I pray that we are a church that even in the midst of maybe difficult conversations, want to glorify you above all else. God, help me to be an elder who leads under these ways, not under compulsion, not for selfish gain, but God, merely for your name to be glorified. Help us have a congregation that submits joyfully. For they want to be eager to be made more like you in every avenue of life. That through all this, God, the world can see us and want to be a part of knowing who Jesus is because of the way that we live out our lives. We thank you for your salvation that we are so undeserving of. It's in your name we pray. Amen.