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Enjoying God Blog

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I’ve always found it interesting that Peter warns Elders in the local church never to pastor or lead the flock of God “under compulsion, but willingly” (1 Peter 5:2).

Why would anyone ever submit to pressure to serve as an Elder? What could possibly motivate a man to serve under compulsion? Here are some possibilities.

  • his love or desire for the praise and approval of others
  • his desire to avoid the disdain and rejection of those whose approval and respect he craves
  • he sees ministry as an opportunity to become famous and well-known and acknowledged in public
  • he yields to pressure put upon him by parents, educators, mega-church leaders
  • he feels incompetent to do anything else in life
  • he mistakenly believes that a life of ministry merits favor with God

No one should ever be pressured into serving as an Elder. God wants our ungrudging service. Note well the use of the cognate noun translated “under compulsion” in 2 Corinthians 9:7 with regard to giving – “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Thus, just as with financial generosity, Elders are to serve “willingly” or “cheerfully” (cf. Heb. 13:17). How can you determine if you are acting under “constraint” rather than “willingly”? Here are some possibilities.

First, you have yielded to the pressure of unrighteous constraint rather than the impulse of joy when you serve in order to vicariously satisfy someone else’s goal for life and ministry rather than your own.

Second, you have yielded to the pressure of unrighteous constraint rather than the impulse of joy when you pursue the pastorate because you think God will be angry and disappointed if you don’t.

Third, you have yielded to the pressure of unrighteous constraints rather than the impulse of joy when you pursue the pastorate because you think God needs you and whatever unique contributions you alone can bring to the people of God.

Fourth, you have yielded to the pressure of unrighteous constraints rather than the impulse of joy when you pursue the pastorate because you think God will love you more and be more disposed to grant you the blessings in life you desire.

Finally, you have yielded to the pressure of unrighteous constraint rather than the impulse of joy when you pursue the pastorate because someone else has shamed you into making that decision.

All Elders and Pastors must remember that the charge we have received to “keep watch” over the souls of our people, a responsibility for which we will one day “give an account,” is one that we must do “with joy and not with groaning” (Heb. 13:17).

1 Comment

Thanks Sam, I really appreciate your ability to condense a bigger issue into a manageable moment in time - without misrepresenting the topic through brevity. Thanks for the serious reminder of this 'noble task', but thanks too for balance it with the joy that comes with this great gift.

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