SERVING AS OVERSEERS
"SHEPHERD THE FLOCK OF GOD WHICH IS AMONG YOU, SERVING AS OVERSEERS, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly."
1 Peter 5:2 (NKJV)
This passage is very important for whoever is serving in the ministry work:
a. Whoever is serving, overseeing or pastoring the people of God, should not do the work as if he or she is being forced to do it—not by compulsion, but willingly (1 Peter 5:2).
b. Another one is: the work should not be done for dishonest gain, but should be done eagerly or with enthusiasm (1 Peter 5:2).
Whoever is craving for money or material gain should not serve in the ministry work (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7).
Whoever in the ministry work and he or she is greedy for money, covetous, such has found himself or herself in a wrong field of operation.
God wants the prosperity of His servants, He wants them to be blessed (Psalm 35:27; 1 Corinthians 9:9,10,14), however, their desires or primary motives of serving should not be about material rewards or wealth acquisitions (1 Peter 5:2).
Do the work as unto the Lord. Whatever you are doing in God's vineyard should not be done as If you are being forced or compelled to do it (1 Corinthians 9:17,18).
I. Be passionate and enthusiastic about the work.
II. Do It willingly and not for dishonest gain.
III. Be eager and diligent in the doing of the work .
IV. A minister should also not lord it over the people entrusted to him or her.
V. He or she should be an example to the flock, the people under his or her leadership (1 Peter 5:3).
How does a minister lord it over the people under his or her leadership?
a. When the minister is not taking spiritual oversight of the people, but wants to milk them (Acts 20:28; Hebrews 13:17). It is against the law of civility to want to milk a cow you have not fed!
b. A minister who is making merchandise of the people, using them as a means of making money, is lording it over the people. The people who are not spiritually fed or watched over but you are collecting their substance—material possessions; goods; wealth or whatever. It is a way of lording it over the people.
c . When you are bossy, dictatorial or domineering, in your leadership style; It means you are lording it over the people.
In God's vineyard or ministry leadership; a minister is called or appointed or assigned to be a servant leader. The leader should see himself or herself as a coworker or co-labourer in God's vineyard with the people under their leadership:
25 AND HE SAID TO THEM, “THE KINGS OF THE GENTILES EXERCISE LORDSHIP OVER THEM, AND THOSE WHO EXERCISE AUTHORITY OVER THEM ARE CALLED ‘BENEFACTORS.’ 26 "BUT NOT SO AMONG YOU; ON THE CONTRARY, HE WHO IS GREATEST AMONG YOU, LET HIM BE AS THE YOUNGER, AND HE WHO GOVERNS AS HE WHO SERVES. 27 "FOR WHO IS GREATER, HE WHO SITS AT THE TABLE, OR HE WHO SERVES? IS IT NOT HE WHO SITS AT THE TABLE? YET I [Jesus] AM AMONG YOU AS THE ONE WHO SERVES" (Luke 22:25-27 NKJV).
When a minister approaches the work of God with this mindset, he or she would not be bossy in their leadership style. He or she would not have overblown or exaggerated views about the self. A believer or a minister should not think of the self more than they ought to (Romans 12:3). Superiority complex is not of God, neither inferiority complex is also.
Relate with the people under your leadership as God wanted you to. In the verse 4 of this same chapter of 1 Peter 5, we are told that when the Chief Shepherd appears, that is, Jesus Christ, the leaders or ministers would receive a crown of glory that does not fade away. The coming or appearance of the Chief Shepherd is WHEN and not IF, which means He will eventually appear or come even if the coming tarries, He will surely come.
If you know that you are put in that leadership position by Someone, Jesus Christ, God, who will surely come someday, you will do well to do the work as you are expected to do it and not lord it over the people (Matthew 24:45-51).
Are you willing to receive Jesus when He comes? Are you expectant of His coming? Peace.
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