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Day 3 –
Ministering in Service
INTERDEPENDENT AS A FLOCK (1
Peter 5:1-5)
1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your
fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of
the glory that is to be revealed, 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; 3 nor
yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be
examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you
will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 You younger men,
likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with
humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace
to the humble.”
The Church Flock
The local church is referred to as a flock in that we are to
be under the care of a group and of a pastor or shepherd. One sheep by itself
is not a flock. It is only a sheep. A Christian without a church may still be a
Christian, but not in the fullest sense.
To be
a Christian without being a part of a flock is like a football player who wants
to be part of the NFL, but not on any particular team. Or a soldier who wants
to fight but not in any particular army.
Jesus’s favorite designation for His followers was sheep.
Jesus’s final charge in the final gospel is for Peter to “Feed His sheep”
(John 21:17). The flock belongs to Christ as the Chief Shepherd. And since the
church is a flock, it is to be led by shepherds who would willingly feed,
protect, and lead by example.
There is an interdependent relationship between the pastor,
which of course literally means “shepherd”, and the church, or the flock of
God. In 1 Peter 5:1-5, we see that interdependency explained using the
different terms to signify the duties of pastors.
So how does this relate to today’s topic of
“ministering in service”? The role of pastors, as leaders of the church, is to
equip members of the church for ministry.
“Elder”
refers to the spiritually feeding, leading, and praying responsibility of the
pastor, and as a result the pastor should be spiritually mature, equipping the
church members biblically and spiritually.
“Pastor” refers to the protecting, caring,
and ministering responsibilities of the minister. This also includes equipping
members to assist in the caring and ministering roles. In an unofficial sense,
the LifeGroup teachers and Care Group leaders need to feel empowered to assist
in the pastoring role for their classes.
“Overseer,” sometimes translated as “bishop”,
refers to the management and administrative responsibilities of the pastor,
especially as the senior pastor oversees the ministerial staff and the overall
ministries of the church.
These
three descriptions of the same ministry are seen in Acts 20:17 when Paul called
for the elders of the church and said, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all
the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd
the church of God which He purchased with His own blood,” (Acts 20:28).
In 1 Peter 5:1-5, our passage for today, elders are
charged to shepherd and oversee the flock under the direction of
the Chief Shepherd. Peter received specific instructions on feeding and
shepherding the flock of God from Jesus Christ, found in a post-resurrection
appearance on the shores of Lake Galilee. Read John 21:15-19 and then reflect
on the following pages of a chart and job descriptions of the various roles of pastors,
elders, and overseers.
Click here for Day 4 Individual in Giftedness
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