CHRISTIAN RELATIONSHIPS

1 Peter 5

Christianity is life, abundant life. And life is about relationships. So Christianity is about relationships. Things like love one another and love your neighbor. When we looked at the “household code,” especially the one in Ephesians, we discovered that every member of the family and its associates (servants) had a part to play. All came under the rubric, “submit yourselves one to another.”

As we end Peter’s first letter, we find challenges to the church very much like the challenges to the family. Here he challenges first the elders or shepherds, then the young men, and finally everyone. Each member of the church has a role to play. As the Spirit has given us gifts, we are to discover, develop, and deploy them to build up one another and so the body of Christ.

Remember Peter comes from the Jewish background of synagogues, which are loose organizational structures led by a teacher or rabbi. This is the form in which he is thinking about the local congregations, many of which are still meeting in someone’s house. He challenges the leaders first, calling them elders and shepherds. Then he turns to the younger generation, leaders in training, and finally includes everyone. The most important takeaway is that everyone has a role and that the fellowship of the congregation is an important doctrine.

He begins with the leaders. He first calls them elders, presbuterous in the Greek from which we get our word Presbyterian. Peter is an apostle, but he chooses first to cast his lot alongside them. He too had been an elder in the church in Jerusalem, so he is only asking them to do what he himself had done. A good leadership principle is to do exactly that, thereby teaching by example.

He also calls himself a witness of Jesus’s death and has since shared through persecution – he may be in prison at this point – Christ’s passion. He takes joy in the fact that enduring suffering in His name insures glory when He is revealed as the coming King!

The elder, or leader, should be a shepherd, taking care of, feeding, and guiding the flock. He should do this cheerfully because it brings him joy, not for money or even from compulsion. We today would say the shepherd should feel called by God to the task. He is not to lead as a boss, coming from his authority, but walking beside them as an example. When Christ returns the pastor will receive his visible reward. (Yet do we need a reward? I find that service of Christ and people is its own reward.)

In my experience much of church conflict comes from tension between the old and the young. The old seem set in their ways and resist change. They may also become territorial and not give way to things the younger men, as Peter calls them, may want to try. Now the apostle warns these younger men to learn to be followers so they later may become a leader. Submission extends to them.

Indeed, Peter turns to them all and challenges them to stand humbly with each other, as each is part of the team, not the entire team!

Verse 7b should be familiar to all: Cast all your cares on him, for he cares for you. Reminds me of Philippians 4:6 that says not to worry about anything, but pray about everything. I like the alto moving against the soprano melody in the old gospel song, “Leave It There.” We often, I fear, lug our sack of troubles and dump the before the Lord, as if to say, “There! That’s a load.” Then we turn around, harness up the bag again, and stagger off! LEAVE THEM THERE!

Do you believe in the devil? Peter certainly did. I’ve seen people nervous when snakes or bears have been seen loose in the area, and for good reason. We need to be just as alert against the devil, who is more dangerous than a loose tiger. The tiger may or may not bother someone. The devil is definitely going to bother everyone! In the churches that receive this letter, one way the devil was after them was through persecution. He reminded them that many Christians were also suffering, and that Jesus was the leading sufferer in their cause. I frequently hear Christians today warning that persecution is coming to our country. I respectfully disagree, at least for a long time. I’m a news junkie and get several news feeds during the day. Just today I saw an interview with two Iraqi women who had been captured by ISIS and used as sex slaves and otherwise abused before they escaped. I also read of 17 men executed by the fanatics in Mosul. That’s persecution, and we need to pray for those plunged into that situation.

Verses 10-11 are a doxology, praising God. How often during the day do you praise Him?

He finishes off by noting that Silvanus, aka Silas, was his amanuensis, or scribe, to write down the letter. And he sends greeting to the others from Christians in Babylon, aka Rome, and his “son” Mark. That association with Mark, btw, may have led to Mark’s writing his gospel including Peter’s reminiscences.

Oh – don’t get excited over the holy kiss bit. Shaking hands or hugs are the modern equivalent.