Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 17 - Insights on leadership from Peter; 1Pe 5:1-7.

Title: Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 17 - Insights on leadership from Peter; 1PE 5:1-7.

 

Announcements / opening prayer:  

 

 

6. Insights on leadership from Peter, 1PE 5:1-7.

 

1PE 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.

 

"All of you, clothe yourselves with humility," starts another sentence and it should be marked as another verse. All - young and old, mature and immature, are to clothe themselves with humility.

 

1PE 5:5b and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

 

Clothe refers to putting on an apron of humility. The noun of this verb refers to a slaves apron, much like the one that Christ put on to wash the disciples' feet.

 

As such the leader proves to be examples to the flock. They are to see Christ in him, over and above any human trait he has, no matter how attractive it is.  

 

Peter had something similar in mind when he opened the letter:

1PE 1:13

Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

The exhortation is to put on humility as a working virtue which would make all the other virtues what they should be, thus workable in the Christian scheme of things. The other virtues such as kindness, generosity, justice, goodness, long-suffering, when saturated with humility, are most acceptable and praiseworthy, but when seen in a proud person, are like noisy gong or clanging cymbal.

 

What happens when you mix pride and generosity?

 

MAT 6:2

"When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men.

 

What happens when you mix pride with sacrifice?

 

MAT 6:16

"And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men.

 

What is the core problem? A bad eye is an eye that looks only to lusts and idols and is fully absorbed with self.

 

MAT 6:22-23

"The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear [single], your whole body will be full of light. "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

 

"Singleness" of purpose keeps us from the snare of having a double treasure and consequently a divided heart. The believer who is absorbed with self has a double heart, since as a new creature and a child of God he has been made for the purpose of worshipping God. When his position in Christ and his experience in life and conduct do not match he is double minded. The believer who hungers and thirsts for righteousness has a single eye in his heart that is in harmony with who he is in Christ.

 

Pride ever lurks at the heels of power, but God will not encourage proud men in His service. God alone will add power and grace to the work of the humble.

 

1PE 5:5b and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

 

Opposed is a military term used for an army drawn up for battle. The proud face God in battle while the humble receives God's gifts with gratitude.

 

1PE 5:6 Humble [be humbled by God] yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

 

There is a subtle but vital correction that must be made here. The verb "humble" is in the passive voice. It is translated as if it is in the middle voice and so the object "yourselves" is added.

 

"Humble" - tapeino,w [tapeinoo; aorist, passive, imperative] = low lying, humble. "Be humbled by God…"

 

It is "suffer yourselves to be humbled by God" and not an action that I take alone. Naturally our volition in involved in learning the word of God and being filled with the Holy Spirit, but it is God who is doing the humbling and we must be in agreement to let Him.

 

We can do nothing in the spiritual life. Only God can work His works in us. This does not negate our volition, but there is no way that our human selves can accomplish any divine virtue. God humbles us through His word and the circumstances that He directs or allows in our lives. If we react negatively to either of those then we will not be humble. If we respond positively to them through reliance on the Holy Spirit, yielding to the will of God then we will be genuinely humble. Make no mistake, no man can humble himself.

 

And, we must not forget the context. How is God humbling them?

 

The humbling process which God was using was the persecution and suffering through which these Christians were passing.

 

Allowing themselves to be humbled would therefore mean to remain under the suffering and not seeking for human solutions for alleviating the pressure.

 

It also includes the suffering of divine discipline, which God brings upon us at the proper time from the source of His love.

 

Divine discipline has the effect of humbling us.

 

HEB 12:11

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

 

The process of divine discipline should be comforting for the fact that it produces humility which is needed for yielding the fruit of righteousness. In other words, God brings us low, away from the false precipices of our pride so that He may then exalt us from the foundation of humility at the proper time. His exaltation is the only true one since only from that vantage do we produce the fruit of righteousness. Human exaltation is not based on perfect righteousness and therefore it is a hollow shell, all shiny on the outside but empty within. Knowing that we are lovingly held in this process should comfort us as we know that God is working for us and not against us.

 

Therefore, whether being persecuted for righteousness' sake or being under the chastening hand of God we are to cast all of our anxiety and cares upon Him.

 

Persecution or discipline is a fertile ground for the sin or worry or anxiety. We must be careful to cast all of our anxiety and cares upon Him.

 

1PE 5:7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

 

All means the whole of your anxiety. We are not to keep a portion of it for ourselves. Don't be selfish with your anxiety.

Peter says here that you are God's number one concern.