The Shepherd Calling Part II 1 Peter 5:1-5

And we were in 1 Peter, was December 17th, two Sundays ago on Christmas Eve. We had a Christmas sermon, and then last week you heard from Pastor Doug as he preached from Jeremiah 6. And what we saw is that to this point in the letter of 1 Peter, the apostle Peter has been addressing all the churches in Asia Minor.

Elders as Shepherds of the Church

But once chapter 5 begins, a particular group is addressed, and that is the elders of the church. What we learned three weeks ago is that these titles that are similar to elder are interchangeable, such as elder, pastor, bishop, overseer, and shepherd.

Elders are church leaders. They have the responsibility of looking after the people that the Lord has brought to their respective churches. What we saw three weeks ago is that the big idea is for the church to understand that God appoints certain men to look after your soul.

In 1 Peter 5, verses 1 through 5, there are eight tass hau. And in your outline, it says seven tass hau. There's actually eight tass hau. And three weeks ago, we saw the first three. The first is by testifying alongside other shepherds concerning Christ's redemptive work.

The second is by leading the way, longing for future glory. And the third is by knowing the sheep under their charge. In particular, in that third point, I explained that it is of utmost importance that the shepherds know their sheep under their care.

For a church to be a healthy church, this must be the case. Now, this leads us to our focus this Sunday. And as we begin, I'm going to begin by reading the text in full, 1 Peter 5, verses 1 through 5.

So I encourage you to turn there with me. And if you don't have a Bible with you, we do have those red Bibles that you can follow along in. 1 Peter 5, verses 1 through 5. So I exhort the elders among you, as a 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. 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. This sermon is, once again, titled The Shepherd Calling. And this morning is part two.

Next Sunday, we'll look at part three. But here's our fourth point. We are to understand, once again, that the Lord has appointed certain men to look after your soul. And the fourth task, how, is by serving joyfully the flock under their care.

And we'll see this in the second half of verse two, where, once again, Peter writes, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you. The New Testament lays out many qualifications for elders.

The place to find most of the qualifications is in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. But there are other places where you find other qualifications. Our text is one of those places where we see Peter gives us specific qualifications that need to be understood.

What Peter says in the middle of verse two is that every shepherd, as he exercises oversight, must perform his task as a shepherd, not under compulsion, but willingly. In other words, he shepherds not because he needs to do it, because that's his title, but he performs the task because he wants to do it.

The author of Hebrews says this very thing in Hebrews 13 .17. There he writes, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.

Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. The Apostle Paul, also in 1 Timothy 3 .1, implies this when he writes, the saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

How does a man know that he is called to pastoral ministry, or he's called to be an elder in a church? The Lord puts a strong desire in his soul to preach and teach the word of God and to shepherd God's people.

I remember having that strong desire in my soul when I was 24 years old. At that time, I was working a job as a sales representative for the running shoe company, Brooks. On the outside, this job looked like a dream job.

As a runner, I sold products that I used, and I still wear Brooks to this day, by the way. I love those shoes. I also worked in a community that I was already involved in as a runner. I had my own hours.

I wasn't stuck in an office all day. I was able to do some traveling, and I enjoyed doing traveling. But even though all this made this job a good job, I remember sitting in my office one day with an empty feeling in my heart.

The feeling that I had is that I'm supposed to be doing something else. During this time, I was digging deep into God's word and desiring to tell people what I was seeing in the word. I also regularly met with guys where we enjoyed the word and fellowship together, and this included me discipling.

This led me to an informal internship during the summer of 2011 at Mound Evangelical Free Church. During this time, I had several people affirm that they thought I should pursue pastoral ministry. At the end of 12 weeks, I knew this was what I was supposed to do.

And here's a funny story. When I was a sales rep, I would do these clinics at different places, and one of the places I did a clinic at, one of the guys who was there called my boss up afterwards. He said, that might have been the worst clinic we have ever seen performed.

Less than a year later, I preached at Mound Free Church, and everyone's like, you should become a pastor. All this happened within the same year. So what was the problem? It wasn't that I was a bad public speaker.

It was that my heart was in one, and it wasn't in the other. So interesting to remember that memory in my life. Now, what's interesting is that two months after my internship, out of nowhere, I lost my job.

The company Brooks was reorganizing their territories, and as they did this, they made cuts, and I was one of the ones who got cut. Two months later, I started seminary. I'll never forget that strong desire that came to preach and teach God's word, and to shepherd God's people, and 13 years later, that desire is stronger than it has ever been.

The other three shepherds in this church, Mark, Keith, and Doug, too have the desire to lead God's people and meet the qualifications to be an elder. True biblical elders have this desire, and this desire doesn't leave.

To be a shepherd and pastoral ministry in particular is not a job. It's a calling. Anyone who treats pastoral ministry like it's a job, where one punches the clock, collects a check, and cannot wait to retire, this person has no business being a minister of the gospel.

I remember reading an article during the height of COVID -19 where the author wrote that more pastors are thinking about retirement than they are than ever before. And when I saw this, I thought, I hope these men retire.

If a pastor cannot handle the adversity that comes with pastoral ministry, it may be that he was not called, but rather is treating it like a career. Pastoral ministry is hard, but at the end of the day, when one is called, he continues in it, understanding that this is why God placed this person on the earth.

A man called by God cannot see himself pursuing any other path. This doesn't mean retirement is bad, but if he retires, he should be a shepherd in some capacity as long as he is still able. But there's a problem in broader pastoral ministry.

Far too many men should not be pastors. A while back, Eric Herring and I were having a conversation where he said he would not recommend two thirds of chiropractors. It might be the same number in pastoral ministry.

A pastor who treats his ministry like a job won't perform his responsibilities willingly as Peter writes in the middle of verse two. A true biblical pastor and a true biblical elder understands the calling that God has laid on his heart.

This doesn't mean he doesn't tremble at the call of God that God has given him. He should tremble, but there is also an excitement to carry out this task. A pastor who just checks the boxes and gives a mediocre effort will not be a blessing to the flock under his care.

It is the pastor who loves what he does, who sees his ministry as a great blessing. It is this pastor and elders who will be a great blessing to their congregation. If I gave the impression that I would rather be somewhere else, you would not feel loved.

And the pastor who does this brings great shame upon gospel ministry because that isn't what gospel ministry is supposed to be. Gospel ministry should be done with joy. What I can tell you is that when I was in college, pastoral ministry was not on my radar.

But at 37, I cannot imagine what my life would have been like over the last 11 years. 11 years ago was when I started pastoral ministry. The best seven years of my life have been the seven years with you.

And I love telling people on the outside about the wonderful people in this church. You make my ministry such a joy to carry out. I know that Mark, Keith and Doug would say the same thing about you. One week ago, we went to a different church and it was good.

I mean, I was grateful for it, but we missed being here. And it's never fun to take time off because this is my favorite time of the week. Why would you take off something that's their favorite time of the week to be able to see everyone?

But I'm so grateful that the Lord not only called me to pastoral ministry, but also called me to this ministry at Eureka Baptist. I cannot imagine a better church to pastor and I hope to be here for many, many years to come.

Wouldn't it be cool if we were here till Christ came and we just all got caught up in the air together? I think that'd be so wonderful. So shepherds need to carry out their responsibility with joy. Pray that this would always describe the shepherds of this church.

For however long the Lord has us as your shepherds. This is what God wants, as Peter writes, to shepherd willingly as God would have you. I once heard it said that God loves a joyful pastor. His design is to put shepherds in place who love what they are doing as they carry out the responsibilities given to them by the Lord.

So understand that God appoints certain men to look after your soul. And the fourth task, how, is by serving joyfully the flock under their care. And this morning we're gonna look at one more point and it's the fifth task, how, you're to understand that God appoints certain men to look after your soul and that's by refusing to abuse their authority.

Refusing to Abuse Pastoral Authority

This one is the one that fills my heart with righteous indignation. That frankly sometimes might spill into sinful anger. And that's a confession of mine. Please pray for me. I struggle with that. Sometimes I get so angry it kind of turns into, I wanna hit a tree or something but yeah, please pray for me on that one.

But let's read the end of verse two and the beginning of verse three where Peter writes, not domineering over those in your charge. Actually let's go back to the end of verse two here where he says, not for shameful gain, but eagerly.

Not domineering over those in your charge. This is not allowed. God is saying through the writing of Peter, a shepherd who does it for shameful gain, a shepherd who is domineering should be nowhere near pastoral ministry or be an elder.

God desires for shepherds to do their task willingly and that they would carry out their responsibilities without being domineering. This is another qualification that Peter adds that is not specifically addressed by the Apostle Paul in the main elder qualifications passages in first Timothy three and Titus one.

Once again, as Peter writes in the beginning of verse three, not domineering over those in your charge. Those who are domineering are in the ministry because of what the end of verse two says. They are in the ministry for shameful gain.

Like would anyone really do that? Yes. They aren't in the ministry to eagerly, willingly and joyfully fulfill the task that God has given. But sadly, some men and sometimes women are in the ministry for all the wrong reasons.

We live in interesting times. Over the last several years, what I have told people is that it feels like we have entered the twilight zone. I used to like watching that show. Everything's just weird, right?

The twilight zone. 10 years ago, I thought there were many well-known evangelical leaders that we could trust. And as I stand before you in January, 2024, I am blown away by the amount of corrupt Christian leaders who have been revealed.

It is truly staggering. And it's my responsibility as a shepherd, a watchman on the wall, as scripture says, and as what the second half of Titus 1 .9 says, we are to rebuke those who contradict sound doctrine.

There are certain Christian leaders who I once thought reliable, who I discovered are either wolves or they behave like wolves and are disqualified from being a shepherd of God's people. A multitude of churches in America are led by men who have no business being a pastor because they are in the ministry for shameful gain.

As Peter writes at the end of verse two. In the previous point, I mentioned that some pastors treat pastoral ministry like a job and they don't do it with the joyful heart that makes a man qualified to be a shepherd.

This person who checks the boxes is abusing his position and finds enough benefits to pastoral ministry that keeps him from switching careers. Other men are worse than this, however, and they put themselves in ministry for the worst reasons.

These men love power. They love being in charge and they abuse their flock to get what they want. One who is domineering abuses his authority. He runs his church like a dictatorship where he has absolute authority rather than the congregational church that he inherited.

Do you know what domineering pastors hate? They hate their church constitution because they don't want to leave their church following the constitution because the constitution limits their power. So this type of behavior happens not only with leaders in government who abuse their power, but also with church leadership.

Sadly, there's a great example of this taking place in broader Christianity right now with a well-known pastor who has been exposed and he's going to be more exposed in the coming months. Now in this church, we name names.

We do it because the Bible tells pastors to name names. This is one of the unwritten rules of American evangelicalism. You're not allowed to name names. One thing you learn about me is that I hate unwritten rules.

To follow unwritten rules is to actually be unbiblical. The apostles of Jesus had no problem identifying men who were dangerous to the flock of God. In the New Testament, we read of Alexander the coppersmith, Diotrephes, Demas, and Hymenaeus.

Even believers like Iodia and Sintetic were called out by name. Even Peter was called up by name, by the apostle Paul in Galatians chapter two. So when Jesus repeatedly called out the Jewish leadership, it's interesting that he doesn't name names, but everybody knew who he was talking about, like in Matthew 23.

He was talking about the Jewish leadership that was corrupt. So I'm going to name a name, and that name is David Platt. I first heard of David Platt in 2010. He was a rising star in the evangelical world.

He became big when his book, Radical, was released. Around this time, he was platformed at major conferences by Christian leaders like John Piper. I heard him preach at a conference in Minneapolis put on by John Piper's ministry, Desiring God.

The message he preached was good. So at this time, I didn't see him as a threat. I also read his book, Radical. At the time, I didn't see a major problem with his book, but in hindsight, there were serious problems with it.

The book, Radical, was social justice before social justice came on the scene. Of course, we didn't really know what it was at the time. He went after American prosperity, and now I see he was pretty much pushing a poverty gospel, that we should sell all of our possessions, and the less you have, the more spiritual you are.

David Platt, in recent years, has pushed social justice hard. He's walked with Black Lives Matter. One of his associate pastors, in fact, who actually, by the way, is taking over the lead pastor role at this church, McLean Bible Church, where David Platt is pastor, he famously said, sometimes I wanna just torch all white people.

Never apologize for it. And he's now the lead pastor at this church. If your congregation is too white, you are sinning. We're a very sinful church. He thinks redistribution of wealth is okay. He pushed the teachings of critical race theory, which is rooted in Marxism.

Since 2017, Platt has pastored McLean Bible Church in Northern Virginia, and as he has pushed CRT, his church has imploded. They went from 15 ,000 to about 4 ,000 to 5 ,000 people in only a matter of a few years.

Critical race theory is not the only major problem in his ministry. What is coming out from those who left the church is that he is a very domineering leader. There's a documentary coming out this winter titled The Real David Platt, and there's already been a trailer released that talks about him.

A couple weeks ago, the trailer was released where church members, through personal eyewitness testimony and documentation, show his domineering leadership style. On Friday, in fact, I had a several hour conversation with a wonderful Christian man by the name of Sal Cordova.

Sal Cordova, he actually is really involved in creation ministries. I asked Alan Walker, I said, Alan, do you know Sal Cordova? And he doesn't know him, but he knows that the guy that Sal Cordova worked for, John, what's his name, John Sanford.

John Sanford runs Lagos Research Associates, and Alan Walker's a member of that, and Sal worked for John Sanford. So he's fighting evolution. He's actually a young earth creationist, so he's this great guy, and he goes to this church.

He actually did apologetics there for years and years, and he notices some serious problems, and he can't stay silent. Earlier, I mentioned that domineering leaders hate their church constitution. McLean Bible Church's constitution says that they would always be an independent church and not linked to any denomination, but Platt, from day one, has made this church, secretly, without the church's approval, a Southern Baptist church.

What people in the church have discovered is that there has been a movement of money between David Platt and the Southern Baptist Convention. The movement of money is in the millions. What I have explained from this pulpit before is that the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention is largely corrupt as well.

There's been an effort to find large churches, make them Southern Baptist churches, and then drive the social justice agenda at these churches. They try to take over First Baptist Church in Naples, there's another church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that they try to take over.

They desire to advance the social justice cause, and they strongly desire to advance their brand that the end justifies the means. In a twisted way, they believe they are doing God's work as they prioritize the world's values, and in the process, all sorts of biblical ethics are violated.

What has happened at McLean Bible Church with David Platt is corruption at the highest level. The people of the church don't know where the money is going between him and the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention.

He has also put in leaders who are just like him. The church voted not to receive these men put forward by him as elders. So what Platt and the other leaders did is they had a new election in an environment where they knew they would get these men through.

They actually did it in a Sunday morning service. All of this has led to people in the church to be rightly upset, protesting this domineering style of leadership. When the people of the church have asked for access to the financials and have expressed concerns about social justice and were troubled how his elders were elected, they have either received no response or they have had their membership removed, or worst of all, three people, including Sal Cordova, have been threatened by arrest when they came on the property of the church.

Sal told me the story. He came to church one day because he was exposing what they were doing on social media, on YouTube. He shows up to church one day and they said, you can't be here. And if you don't leave right now, you will be arrested.

To question a domineering leader is a no-no. You question him, you get silenced. You get in trouble. And while all this is happening, David Platt, the one who preached the poverty gospel in his book, Radical, has enriched himself.

One member of the church, in fact, it's this Sal gentleman, he estimates that he makes about half a million a year and he actually found a document about speaking fees where he charges 10 to $20 ,000 to speak at a given place.

10 to $20 ,000 to tell people to sell their stuff and to go to the mission field. That's the whole emphasis of the ministry, but he himself is not living it. Now, making a lot of money is not sinful, but when you go after the American dream and tell people to sell their possessions and give lots to missions, while you yourself have a million dollar home and make an enormous salary and have a high asking price to speak, this person is a big time hypocrite that cannot be trusted.

The thing about David Platt is that he comes off sincere. He fooled me for many years, but the Bible says there are teachers who disguise themselves as sheep, but they are really wolves. Jesus said this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 .15, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Do not be fooled by the way he speaks. Don't even be fooled by the many biblical things that he has said over the years. Look at what he has done to the church that he has pastored. Don't look at what people say, look at what they do.

Jesus said in Matthew 7 .16, you will recognize them by their fruits. Through his abuse, he blew up what was a vibrant church. Lon Solomon pastored at this church for decades. It was 200 people when he started there.

Under his leadership, the church grew to 15 ,000 people. And then once he moved on and David Platt and his guys got in there, the church has completely imploded. What a tragedy. Through his domineering leadership, the flock have scattered in every direction.

They're going to all different churches. They've had a 70 decrease in attendance. And it would not be surprising if the church is gone altogether. This happens in big churches like what I just mentioned.

And it happens in small churches as well. I heard of a church recently that said they got rid of their constitution because of the domineering leaders. It limited their power. So we have to get rid of this.

These dangerous men are not there to serve the Lord Jesus and shepherd his flock. They put themselves in these positions for shameful gain. As Peter writes at the end of verse two. Pastoral ministry can be a place for a man to get what he wants.

To get his ego stroked. It is a position of authority. It is a position where people are under you in the church context. It's a position where one can take advantage of others by abusing power. We talk about corrupt politicians.

What is it that corrupt politicians want? They say they are there to represent their constituents. But really they value their position because it gives them the three ugly sisters. Fame, power, and money.

The ministry has given Platt all three of these. Millions of people know who he is. He has made millions. And he has been placed in positions where much control has been given to him. People use religion to get what they want.

Sometimes men in ministry for shameful gain fail at fame and money. And so they just cling to power. And the people who are supposed to be under their care are not cared for, but abused. The judgment day will be a fearful day for domineering pastors.

And as I was talking to Sal on Friday, we both recognize too that sometimes a leader can go off the rails. And he is a genuine believer, but he just went off the rails. I mean, you read about the kings in the Old Testament.

Sometimes they go off the rail. That's true. But sometimes they're wolves. And sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. But it's gonna be an unpleasant experience for a pastor, a Christian leader, who fails by using ministry for his own shameful gain.

Pastors will be judged with special strictness as they stand before Jesus, as James 3 .1 says. Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Anyone who pursues pastoral ministry should tremble. Anyone that becomes an elder in a church should tremble. What a shepherd teaches will be looked at with scrutiny by the Lord Jesus and how he shepherded the people will be looked at with scrutiny as well.

This should not keep men from pursuing ministry, but it should give them pause. If you are going to be a pastor or elder, you better do it right. You better take care of the people under your care. The judgment day will be ugly for the one who abuses his position.

False shepherds will hear these words from the Lord Jesus as he said in Matthew 7, 21 through 23. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven.

On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Domineering leadership in churches happens far more than people realize. And this is something that even true teachers can fall into, but hopefully repent once they realize they are overextending the authority given to them by God.

The only authority a shepherd has is outlined in the pages of Scripture. To go beyond the responsibilities laid out in the Bible is to go beyond the authority that God has assigned a shepherd. A true shepherd of God's flock understands his place.

He understands that he is there to do what the Lord has instructed him. He is to teach and to look after the people under his care. He is to be used by God to lead his people to green pastures. The Lord is the one who leads his people there, but he uses undershepherds to carry out this task.

When a pastor or elder abuses his position for shameful gain, this is an abominable sin. But true shepherds understand their place. So pray for the shepherds of this church. Help us not to be anything like the shepherd that does it for shameful gain and is domineering.

Pray for other churches too. Pray for churches everywhere to have good shepherds. Pray for justice to come upon those who are domineering, who are doing this for their own shameful gain and for those who have just gone off the tracks.

But our genuine believers pray for their repentance. May the Lord rid his church of corrupt men and may he put true biblical shepherds in their place. That needs to be our prayer. Understand that God appoints certain men to look after your soul.

And the fifth task how is by refusing to abuse their authority. Now next Sunday, Lord willing, and we talked about this on Wednesday night, Lord willing, we're not guaranteed next Sunday, but if we are here next Sunday, if I am here next Sunday, which I plan to be, we will be looking at the last three points of 1 Peter 5, 1 through 5.

And we're gonna see the positive side here of the shepherd who sets an example. The shepherd who looks ahead at his reward. And also an instruction for the people of God, the flock of God in churches.

Humbly following the leadership that the Lord has placed over them. So this time let's bow our heads in prayer. Father in heaven, as I say all this, you want me to say take heed lest you fall. Lord, I know that I'm not above falling.

I know that no elder in this church, Lord, is above falling. It's a scary business, Lord. It's a scary business pursuing ministry and the weighty responsibility given and how many abuse it. Some right from the get-go abuse it and they have evil designs.

Others maybe started off with the right motives, but those motives changed once the temptations came to have fame or to have money, to have power. Protect your shepherds, Lord, from those temptations and help us to shepherd the flock of God that you have placed in our midst and rid the churches, Lord, that have domineering pastors.

Rid them of these men and put true biblical shepherds in their place. May the shepherds all across America and all across the world and in this community be shepherds who do it joyfully and who follow your word as they lead.

In Jesus' name, amen.