1 Peter 5:1-7 (You Are Called to Lead)

¹ To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ² 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; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.  ⁵ Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
   “God opposes the proud
   but gives grace to the humble.”
 ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 

I love the Biblical models of mentorship.  Moses reaches out for help to his father-in-law, Jethro; then Moses himself helping and encouraging Joshua and Caleb;  and Joshua and Caleb who will go on to lead others behind them.  Or Elisha who tries to learn from the older Elijah.  Mentoring is God's design -- He knows we are better off when we learn from each other.  That's what I like about this passage.  It is addressed "to the elders among you" because they were the people who lead.  However, because in this passage you are either an elder or a young man, we can deduce that all of us would fit in here because all of us are older than some people in our circle of influence and younger than others.  He begins with addressing the elders, the leaders.  Think about a place where you are on the "older" side -- perhaps, it's at church or work?  Let's see what God has to say about this.

"To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ² Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care."  The key word here is that we are to be shepherds of the people that are younger than us and/or under our care for whatever reason.  It is quite possible that you may teach a class or lead a Bible study with people who are physically older than you, yet you might be their spiritual shepherd for a season.  So what does a shepherd do?  I think it is incredible that God established the model of shepherds for us to understand this concept.  Shepherds protect, care for, guard, and fight on behalf of the "weaker" ones.  Not physically weaker, but maybe spiritually weaker.  I do not have a hard time saying that I am greatly spiritually weaker than many of the incredible women of God I know.  This is a good thing because it gives me Christ-like examples to look to for guidance in my own life.  Being weaker isn't bad!  So for the weaker ones in your life, we are to help guide and protect them in their decision making, pray for their protection from the evil one, and care for them in our love and time.  What an honor!  Truly, with the women I have had the chance to mentor, it has been and continues to be one of the highlights of my life!

"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..."  First of all, we are overseers, like managers, you could say.  We don't step in and do everything for them.  How can they learn?  But we guide and watch over what is happening.  And He wants us to do it willingly...this makes me think of Sunday School classes at our church right now.  They had to cancel the 3rd grade class because they could not find teachers!  We did not have enough people willing to serve.  I have heard a statistic a lot lately that in churches 10 percent of the congregation does 90 percent of the work.  That is astounding to me, but it also explains why God wants us to serve willingly, and with a heart that is "eager to serve."  He knows there will be high demand for help but low numbers of those willing to go.  Remember the verse, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few?" (Matt. 9:37).  God knows that much will be demanded of us, but He does not want a worker who go grudgingly.  You must be eager to serve!  Ask the Lord to give you a heart that is eager to serve, and allow Him to guide you to which area would be best for you.

"not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock"  Oh, He knows us doesn't He?  Just give me a little power, and I will get all puffed up!   But that's just it.  HE is the one who has entrusted these positions of leadership to you.  It really is not yours.  There's no reason to lord something over someone when it really isn't yours.  He can take it away just as quickly as He gave it to you.  But rather, be an example of a servant.  Just as Jesus was.  Put others before yourself, let them receive glory before you do, spend yourself and your time on them rather than yourself, and tenderly show them the way to live.  I can promise you from experience your cup will not be empty if you do -- this will give you greater fulfillment than the riches and money verse 3 talked about!  And, not only that, but "when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away." 

The best part about this passage to me is that he gives one line of direction to the younger people who are being mentored and lead by someone else: "Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older."  That's it!?  That's all you've got for me?  I laughed when I read this because I immediately thought of myself as a high school student who didn't want to have to submit to ANYONE!  I think, for a lot of young people, that one command is hard enough!  God knows we can't handle any more than that for starters.  And once we can learn that we don't know everything and can submit (which requires humility) to others, we will be better for it.  Even today.  Humbly submit yourself to others so that they can become greater and you can become less.  Teach me how to do this better, Lord.

But then this,
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,    “God opposes the proud
   but gives grace to the humble.”
 ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."  It's not just for the teenagers!  All of us, including the leaders, are to humble themselves toward others -- even to the teenagers.  Remember that you used to be there, too, a few years ago.  Don't be proud toward one another, because God cannot give you grace when you are being proud.  Humble yourselves so then God can lift you up in His timing.  Would life not be incredible if everyone humbly submitted to everyone else for their betterment?  That's a place called Heaven my friends.  When we get there, we will say, "oh yeah, this is what it was supposed to be like.  This feels exactly right!"

In the meantime, we wrap up with verse 7, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."  It's a command.  How can you effectively lead if you are full of anxiety?  While you are leading, let Him, our Ultimate Shepherd, care for you personally.


If you don't already, I highly recommend finding someone to care for and mentor as well as find someone who will walk beside you and mentor you.  This is God's design for us!  And, wow, is it rewarding!