AT A GLANCE

In this sermon, we explore what it means to be a biblical elder—men called to shepherd God’s people not by popularity or pragmatism, but by faithfully feeding them the Word of God. Drawing from Peter’s firsthand experiences with Jesus in Mark 6 and John 6, we see how true compassion means telling the truth, even when it’s hard. Elders don’t exist to entertain the flock—they exist to lead with humility, teach with conviction, and point people to the Bread of Life. This message is the first in our series on Wildwood’s Core Values.

Internalizing Our Core Values

Core Values are what drives an organization. But they are only as good as they are internalized. If they are simply words on the wall they don’t do anything. But when they become internalized, they can be powerful drivers, unifying a diverse body, making it more effective in its mission. 

The Church’s Mission and Wildwood’s Core Values

No organization on the planet has a more important a mission than the church – make disciples of all nations. Wildwood’s Core values are: Biblical Eldership, Meaningful Membership, Family Transformation, and Community Impact. We’re going to review Biblical Eldership today, Family Transformation next week, and then meaningful membership and community impact the following two weeks. 

After this Core Values series Pastor Andrew will preach on his final Sunday prior to sabbatical, July 6^th. Then on July 13, we’ll return to our normal exegetical sermons as we study the life of David in 1 & 2 Samuel. As a brief aside, please prayerfully consider how you will bless the Robinson family with cards of encouragement and a love offering that we’ll collect on July 6^th. 

The Call to Shepherd: 1 Peter 5:1–4

Returning to Biblical Eldership, there is perhaps no passage of scripture that speaks more thoroughly and powerfully to this than today’s passage, 1 Peter 5:1-4. 

stylographically ¹ luminously So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:  ² shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; ³ not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 1 Peter 5:1-4

The first principle of biblical eldership comes in verse 1. The Apostle Peter, the outspoken leader of the first church in Jerusalem, related to the elders as a fellow elder. 

When it comes to biblical church leadership, there is equality among a plurality of elders. We believe in a plurality of biblically qualified leaders who are equal in authority and responsibility; even if not equally gifted or available. Second, Peter told the elders they were to shepherd the flock of God that is among you. 

Peter’s Restoration and His Understanding of Shepherding

How elders are to shepherd the flock of God is not a mystery. Peter’s story is instructive for us. In John 21 Jesus pulled Peter aside to reinstate him to the ministry after Peter denied knowing Christ three times. 

In that pivotal encounter Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me” three times, one time for every denial. Each time Peter responded in the affirmative, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” John 21:16 In response, Jesus told Peter to “Feed my lambs…tend my sheep…feed my sheep.” John 21:15-18

In today’s passage, Peter referred to Jesus as what? The Chief Shepherd. Right, so Peter understood that Jesus was telling him in John 21 to do what He had seen Him doing – shepherding the flock of God. This also speaks to Peter’s instruction to set an example, as opposed to domineering. It’s what he saw Jesus doing. 

Feeding the Sheep Means Feeding the Word

How did Peter understand shepherd? What is the essence of shepherding or “feeding” the flock in Peter’s estimation? Again, not a mystery. In Acts 6, just a short time after the events of John 21, Peter is met with a leadership crisis. The Greek widows of the church began to complain that they were not being treated fairly compared to the Jewish widows in the distribution of food. 

Ok, Peter, you’re the leader. This is your problem. “Nope,” Peter concluded. Instead, he told the church to set forth seven godly men who would be responsible for feeding the widows. What was Peter’s priority? “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:4 

As Luke records, this pleased the whole church! Well-done, Peter! Peter understood that when Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” He meant feed them the Word of God. 

Jesus, the Compassionate Shepherd: Mark 6

So, when Peter exhorted the elders to shepherd the flock of God, he meant teach them the Word of God. Where did he get the idea that shepherding the flock meant teaching the Word? Answer: This is what the Chief Shepherd did, and Peter watched and learned from Him. 

Let’s go to Mark 6. I want you to follow along with me as I unpack a formative experience of Peter’s. In Mark 6:34 , Jesus and His disciples arrived on shore seeking a desolate place to find some rest after busy and fruitful mission trips. 

Instead of finding solitude, they’re met with a large crowd of people. What we read is very significant to us, “…[Jesus] had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things.” Mark 6:34

In His compassion for the crowd, Jesus taught them. Peter was front and center, watching the whole thing. That’s important to us. But that’s not the whole lesson. 

What follows was equally instructive for Peter and the rest of the disciples and for us. What follows in Mark 6 is the feeding of the 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus had the crowd sit down in groups of 50 and He blessed the food and distributed. Five thousand men ate their fill and had leftovers! 

“Immediately,” Mark says in verse 45, “He made His disciples get in the boat” and cross the Sea of Gallilee. This is where Jesus walked on water and called Peter out onto the waves with Him, as recorded in Mattew 14. 

The Crowd’s Shallow Response: John 6

Let’s turn over to John 6 now. You’ll see in verses 1-14 the same story of Jesus feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fish. The crowd responds, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” John 6:14 

And Jesus withdrew. This is the crowd He had compassion for, the “sheep without a shepherd.” And they were responding! But He withdrew. Why? Jesus had seen it before. 

This is a common theme in the Gospel of John. People saw a sign and responded, but Jesus knew they weren’t sincere. He knew their hearts. This crowd would prove to be no different. 

Now, this crowd, for whom Jesus had compassion as sheep without a shepherd, teaching them many things and miraculously feeding them the night before, has found Him once again. How does the Chief Shepherd receive them the next day? 

Verse 26, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you…” John 6:26

True Compassion Means Telling the Truth

The compassionate shepherd that He is, knowing the hearts of all men, knew that these people were only looking for breakfast. They didn’t want Jesus, they wanted to be catered to. 

And this is where the point really comes into focus for us as it relates to Biblical Elders and why Peter exhorted elders to shepherd the flock; why Peter rightly understood that meant teaching instead of distributing food to the widows. 

Look at what Jesus did next. The compassionate shepherd looked at the sheep without a shepherd and he told them to pursue bread that endures to eternal life. (v. 27) 

What so many in the crowd were seeking was a temporal high; they craved an experience. They wanted Jesus to make them feel good. Instant gratification. “Give me my fix. I want breakfast!” But to do so would not have been compassionate. 

Instead, Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, showed Peter and the other disciples what compassion really looks like. He told these people the truth. Jesus didn’t feed them biscuits, He offered them living bread. He offered them Himself. 

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’” John 6:35 What they had come for was temporal satisfaction to temporal needs. Jesus offered them much more. Did the crowd receive it? No, they began to grumble about what Jesus said. 

Jesus again invited them to believe on the Son of Man, the bread of life and live forever. And once again they complained about His teaching. And finally Jesus looked at them and said six times in six ways, “you must eat my flesh and drink my blood.” (John 6:53-59) 

That’s all it took for the crowd to disperse and walk away. 

“This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?…After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” John 6:60, 66 Jesus was the most compassionate man ever and, in His compassion, He taught them the Truth; the truth that caused most of the crowd to reject Him. 

He didn’t apologize for offending them. He didn’t say, “Wait, wait, wait, you’ve misunderstood. I’m just offering you eternal life! Please come back and I’ll give you what you really want: breakfast.” No, He turned to His twelve disciples and asked if they were going to leave as well. And who spoke up? Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68-69

Why didn’t Jesus just give the crowd what they wanted? He could have had a huge following! Because He had compassion on them. Compassion to tell them the truth, even if meant that many, or most, would walk away. 

Why did Peter refuse to get sucked into the distribution of widow’s food in Act s 6? Because he had compassion. He had already been there and done that and saw how it worked out. What the church needed was not bread, but the Bread of Life. 

I believe failure to embrace biblical eldership explains a lot about the state of the modern church. Too many elders, thinking they have compassion, focus on feeding the crowd anything and everything BUT the Word of God. They focus on the felt needs. They focus on not rocking the boat. They focus on not losing anyone. Do whatever the crowd wants. Appease. Entertain. 

Paul predicted this. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,” 2 Timothy 4:3 

Elders, shepherds, pastors, demonstrate their care and compassion by not giving the crowd what it wants, but what it needs – the Word of God. 

Biblical Eldership Is Rooted in God’s Love

Last week I was challenged to consider what is the essence of the Word of God? I have concluded that the entire bible is summarized in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” 

Would you agree with me that the bible, from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 is a story of redemption rooted and grounded in God’s love? If so, then what it really means to be a biblical elder is to proclaim the love of God. 

Our message is not try harder & do better. But come to the Good Shepherd who has laid down His life for you, and offers you the bread of Life, because He loves you and the Heavenly Father loves you and sent His Son for you. Biblical elders have the sacred task of proclaiming to the church of Christ that God loves them and offers them everything they need to truly live. 

Why Elders Must Preach the Word

Biblical eldership is a core value of Wildwood because it drives the faithful leadership of Christ’s church. A plurality of biblically qualified men, equal in authority and responsibility, whose primary function is to be devoted to prayer and the ministry of the Word. 

Peter calls elders to shepherd the flock of God; feed the sheep the Word of God. He saw firsthand that giving the crowd what they want will never truly satisfy them. Compassion means teaching the truth, even if it leads some to walk away.    

The role of elders is to proclaim to you the Word of Truth. Feeding to you the bread of life. Constantly setting before you the love of God made manifest in the life and death of God’s own Son whom He sent so that you would not perish but have eternal life. This is what biblical elders do.