What the right leadership requires and produces...

This week we have been looking at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 Peter, where we have discovered the timeless truth that living as part of God’s kingdom community requires the right leadership. So far this week, we have seen Peter reveal for us the reality that the right leadership requires the right qualifications. In addition, Peter has revealed for us the reality that the right leadership accepts their responsibility to serve those under their leadership the right way. The right leadership will serve for the right reason. The right leadership will serve with the right motivation. And the right leadership will serve with the right posture.

Today, we will see Peter conclude this section of his letter by revealing two additional requirements that make for the right leadership as part of God’s kingdom community the church. So let’s discover them together in 1 Peter 5:5:

 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.

Now when Peter refers to younger men here, this phrase is not simply chronological in nature. The context of this phrase makes it clear that Peter is addressing those who are at an earlier stage of life spiritually, regardless of their age chronologically.

As we have discovered throughout this series, the word submit, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to place oneself in a submissive role in a relationship where appropriate respect is shown to someone based on the role that they have within an ordered structure. In other words, we are to willingly place ourselves under others by placing others first based on one’s role in the relationship.

So, Peter here is commanding the readers of his letter to willingly place themselves under the godly leadership of Elders so as to place Elders first. But did you notice the word likewise here. Peter’s point here is that just as the right leadership will demonstrate servant leadership that places the needs of those under their leadership before their own needs, those under the leadership of Elders were to respond to their leadership by willingly coming under their leadership.

And it is here that we see Peter reveal for us the reality that the right leadership requires the right response. The right leadership requires the right response of willingly place oneself under the right leadership. The right leadership requires the right response of responding to servant leadership by placing that servant leadership first as we serve on mission together in community with one another.

Peter then concludes this section of his letter by shifting the focus to every reader of his letter by commanding every reader of his letter to clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. In other words, Peter is commanding the readers of his letter to relate to one another in a way that puts on an attitude of humility towards one another. As one person famously stated “to be humble does not mean that we think less of our self; to be humble means that we think of ourselves less. To be humble means that we live our lives in light of the reality that there is a God and we are not Him. And to be humble means that we act according to that reality by placing ourselves under the Lord and by placing the Lord and others before ourselves.

Peter then reinforces his command by pointing the readers of his letter to a section of a letter that is preserved and recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 3:34, the wisest man who ever lived, a man named Solomon, explained that God is opposed to the proud. In other words, God resists and rejects those whose life is marked by an undue sense of self-importance. God is opposed to those who are full of themselves because they are full of it.

By contrast, Solomon explains that God gives grace to the humble. In other words, God extends His divine favor to those who place themselves under the Lord and by placing the Lord and others before themselves. And it is here that we see Peter reveal for us the reality that the right leadership produces the right kind of community. The right leadership will produce a community that embraces mutual humility towards one another. And the right leadership will produce a community that rejects arrogance.

You see, the right kind on community requires the right kind leadership. That is why we have the process that we do at the church where I serve when it comes to establishing leadership as a church. That is why prospective leaders at the church spend significant time in prayer and study of materials explaining the Biblical expectations and responsibilities of Elders and Deacons. That is why we post prospective Elders and Deacons with their qualifications so the church can examine these prospective leaders as to whether or not they meet the Biblical standard for leadership.

Because, as we have discovered this week, living as part of God’s kingdom community requires the right leadership. The right leadership requires the right qualifications. The right leadership recognizes their responsibility to protect, care, lead, and feed those under their leadership. The right leadership accepts their responsibility to serve those under their leadership the right way. The right leadership requires the right response.

And the right leadership produces the right kind of community. The right leadership will produce a community that embraces mutual humility and that rejects arrogance as we serve on mission together in community with one another….