I Peter 5:1-4 “Elders as Shepherds”

If we sum this entire letter up briefly, I think we could say that Peter was teaching us three things that empower us to endure and overcome suffering: know what we have been given and who we have become in Christ, be willing to be different, to not fit in, to not find comfort in the world we live in and choose submission, no matter the cost, in every relationship that we find ourselves in. To close out the letter, Peter turned these same themes to the church itself, he wasn’t only telling them how to live in the world but how to live in community with each other, the body of Christ. In tonight’s text we will see that Peter gave a very specific and clear instruction to the leaders of the church, he then gave just as clear an instruction to the brothers and sisters within the church and surprisingly, tied those relationships together revealing that when we walk right with each other, it is not only a witness to the world, but it protects us from the enemy. This letter was written to the suffering, but it was written as a call, to all of us, from every era and every culture, to live in submission to each other, causing pleasure to God and giving us protection from Satan.