The Chief Shepherd, Undershepherds, and the Flock

Rev. Brian Flamme, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Roswell, NM, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 5:1-5.

St. Peter earlier addressed the estates of government and family in his table of duties; now he addresses the estate of the church. As Jesus once charged Peter to feed His sheep, so the Apostle now charges his fellow pastors to shepherd the flock of God. Pastors shepherd God’s flock with the Word of God. The oversight pastors exercise is not tyranny, but as those who look out over those entrusted to them in order to protect and care for them. Pastors do not act under compulsion, but willingly following the command that God has given them. Pastors do not let money be their idol, but eagerly speak God’s Word to His people. Pastors are not domineering, but set examples for their congregations. In all this, pastors remain Christians who are waiting for their Chief Shepherd to return, for Jesus is the Savior for pastors as well. Christians are called to be subject to their pastors. Together pastors and people live humbly with each other.

“The Imperishable Inheritance” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the epistles of 1 and 2 Peter and Jude. The life of the Christian Church right now is life in exile. We endure attacks from various trials and from false teachers. Such suffering makes us long for the eternal home that will be ours at the resurrection of the dead. In Jesus, we have this promise of eternal life that can never be snatched away. These three epistles strengthen us to hold fast to Christ in the midst of suffering and to give witness to the hope that is ours in Him.