Question: Please explain I Peter 5:1-3; especially verse 3 which says, “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.” How could a pastor or minister be a lord over God’s heritage?
Answer: I Peter 5:1-3 reads: “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”
The reference here to “elders” refers to the office in the church (pastor, bishop, presbyter, overseer). The first thing I wish to notice is how different this actually is from the claim of the Catholic church that Peter was the first bishop or pope (official head of the church). He presents himself here as just an elder among other elders, and makes no ambiguous claim to any special position among them at all. His only claim of distinction is that he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. This was the requirement for apostleship (Acts 1:21-22), and Peter was one of the twelve apostles. Perhaps the other elders he addressed here were not, which gave him a degree of distinction among them. But it still remains that he presented himself as an elder among elders and made no reference to his being an apostle. There was an humble quality among those first ministers of the Christian church. Jesus taught His disciples this. In Matthew 20:25-27 we read: “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” Then in verse 28 He presents Himself as the pattern, example, or model and said, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” The idea of promoting one minister above others and attaching clerical and ecclesiastical titles to his name was reserved for the apostate church in a later time as it slipped into apostasy on its way into the dark ages and the establishment of the “man of sin” (II Thessalonians 2:3-4) as the universal head of the church. Exalting of ministers above other ministers was the path that led to this. Paul referred to it as “the mystery of iniquity” in II Thessalonians 2:7. John referred to one, Diotrephes, who loved to have preeminence in the church (III John 9), and denounced him for this.
In I Peter 5:2, Peter gives this charge to these elders: “Feed the flock of God which is among you,…” It is the duty of all pastors to feed the souls of his congregation on the pure, unadulterated Word of God. In John 21:15-17, Jesus charged Peter three times to feed His sheep and His lambs. In Acts 20:28, Paul charged the elders of Ephesus, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Therefore, it is clearly the pastor’s duty and responsibility to feed the souls of his congregation.
Continuing on in verse 2, Peter states that the pastor or elder is to accept his office and responsibility of the congregation not by constraint (coercion or pressure), but willingly (God loves willing service). They are not to have money as a prime objective but are to serve with a ready mind. Paul also gives this as a required qualification for a bishop (I Timothy 3:3) or elder (Titus 1:7). (“Bishop” and “elder” are interchangeable and the same scripturally). In these two texts Paul says they are not to be given to or greedy of filthy lucre (money).
Then verse 3 says, “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage [the margin here says “overruling”], but being ensamples to the flock.” The pastor is not to be a tyrant, despot or overlord, but is to be a shepherd, feeder, and helper of his flock. Paul says in II Corinthians 1:24, “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.” We see that we are not to domineer over them or dominate their lives and faith but are to faithfully teach them the standards of God’s Word. We are to help them by every means available to us to grow and mature in their faith and experience; but in the meantime, while they are coming to the full standard, not be chastising them all the time for not being up to it.
The true pastor will teach his congregation the principles of truth in the New Testament. Then he will say to them, “This now is the instruction and this is how you do it. Just watch me now and see how it works.” He is to be the example for them. Paul said in Philippians 3:17, “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.” Again in Galatians 1:15-16, Paul said, “But when it pleased God, who…called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen;…” What a great truth is expressed here! Paul realized that he was not qualified to preach Christ until he could reveal Christ. Neither is anyone else. Again in Philippians 4:9, Paul says, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” Note: They had seen in him what they had heard from him. If a minister preaches a standard that he cannot produce a good example of but, at the same time, chastises his congregation if they are short of it, is an example of one of the ways in which he overrules or exercises lordship over them.
Read Ezekiel 34:1-10, and get a good, clear, concise picture of an unfaithful minister (pastor) who is a lord over God’s heritage. Verse 3 says the shepherds eat the fat and clothe themselves with wool but feed not the flock. Verse 8 says they feed themselves but feed not the flock. Verse 4 says they have not strengthened the diseased, healed the sick, bound up the broken, brought back those who were driven away, sought the lost; but they have ruled with force and cruelty. What a sad state for a congregation who has a pastor who does not take care of their needs and is always demanding more of them but actually doing less for them.
How different this is from the true, humble pastors whom the Holy Ghost appoints as overseers of congregations. They rule over them by guiding them (Hebrews 13:17) and showing them how the gospel works out in their own lives.
