ugly spiritual abuse

…not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

1 Peter 5:3

I find myself drawn to understand what Peter is imploring elders to avoid. I’ve been a pastor since 1988. That’s nearly four decades of church leadership in three different congregations. I’ve worked with pastors, trained pastors, helped launch pastors during this entire ministry span. I’ve taken in new church members with their dreadful stories of pastoral abuse. I’ve witnessed ways in which church leaders are not led by the love of Christ and have accused others, manipulated them with false guilt, sinned against their brothers and sisters, and abused their power. I’ve had moments where my own ministry has been hurt by my selfish motivations. Elders are first and foremost gentle shepherds. As such, we care for a flock that belongs first to Jesus Christ!

I am alarmed at how often Peter’s warning goes unheeded. He warns us sternly against the direction selfish agendas WILL take ministry if we don’t guard against it. The word “domineering” has a scary range of meaning… none of it good! It means to control, to subjugate, to overcome by force, to dominate, and most insidiously, to be lord over. Bad elders try to be the lord of the church. That’s Jesus’ job!

Lord Jesus,

It is Your job to be Lord over Your church. I have no power over the souls that You ask me to shepherd. You are the Master. I am called to be a simple example of a man transformed by grace to lead by grace and love with Your grace. I need the gospel to set my agenda and not my own pride. Forgive me of any personal desire for control. Purge me of it. You are in control, Lord! You are the Lord of Your church! I am Your servant and the servant shepherd to Your people. You change me so that I can lead in that way. Make that simple shepherd’s service the story of my life, I pray.

Amen

vindication and restoration

The LORD has brought about our vindication;

come, let us declare in Zion

the work of the LORD our God.

Jeremiah 51:10

When Israel was to be freed from Babylon, God prophetically decreed through Jeremiah that again at the temple, at Zion, they would praise God for His work. They would be vindicated. Their captors would not keep them. They would be free to praise God again. They would be home again in Zion where in grateful worship they would recount how God kept them and restored them.

What has been the worst of experiences would be made glorious and praise worthy. This is what their reality was:

• Babylon wiped out Jerusalem without mercy.
• Wealth was ransacked, treasures stolen, landmarks torn down.
• Death was everywhere. The strongest were killed in battle. The rest were led captive to Babylon.
• Captivity was lengthy. 70 years went by. Entire lifetimes were lived ignorant of the life that once was.

But God would turn it all around. And the tables would turn back to Israel’s restoration. The work that they would declare:

• The Chaldeans would be plundered by the Persians in retribution.
• Jews would be spared at this time.
• Their new captors would provide means favorable to Judah’s restoration.
• Jerusalem, the temple, and their new homes would all be restored in the land of the promise. Praise would erupt as new life rose from rubble.

God specializes in restoration. He uniquely graces our broken lives with new beginnings. He leads us through our exile experiences to find renewed hope and joy! He disciplines us for our good so that we might declare His work in praise to all who will hear. He restores our joy so that our hearts are once again unburdened. He vindicates us and then HE gets the glory. Oh, how my soul knows this!

hard but not harmful

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

1 Peter 3:13

This is a compelling argument for obeying the gospel and doing what is good. What’s it going to hurt? You will please God. And in doing good works you will help people. It’s a “win/win” sort of outcome.

Why then does my sinful self want to assert my own wants above what is best in giving myself to do what God says is good? I must, even as a Christian, choose to do what is right, against my selfish resistance to it. And when I do this, I do no harm. I receive no harm, but rather the joy of pleasing God and finding that other people are better because of my displayed love in Christ. 

Just because I have to choose to do the right thing does not mean I am ineffective. It is actually the opposite. Most of the best work in the world is done by those who are disciplined to reject selfish urges for the sake of a bigger commitment.

Like a soldier or an athlete who overtrains on the basics, who watches out for bad habits, who practices good nutrition and cross trains for a mix of strength, stamina, and conditioning, I too must pour myself into spiritually disciplined choices. The gospel and Holy Spirit empower me to do this. I have to be zealous if I want to truly do what is good. I have to commit. I have to do something with my faith both internally and externally. It may be hard, but it is not harmful.

prayer for my character

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

1 Peter 3:8

Lord Jesus,

I come to You in the stillness of this new day and I ask that these things be true of me today. Mark my interactions with people with what You ask of me. May I both give and receive these experiences as I live for You.

Bring me into unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ. May I agree with those I see today. May we together worship You, love You, obey You, believe the gospel, and know Your Word. Give me unity in and with Your church.

Help me to sympathize with the hurting. I will have multiple conversations at various levels with people who are hurting and confused by life. Draw me into the story that You are writing in their lives. May Your Spirit give me wisdom to help them. Bring my heart beside their hearts. Help me to come alongside them with Your comfort and Your care, sweet Shepherd of our souls!

I want to love my brothers and sisters well. My church is so close to me. They are indeed my family. They care for me well, particularly this last year of sorrow and suffering. May I, in gratitude, love the family of God.

Soften my heart, dear Lord. Give me tender affection to those who need to be loved by You through me. And if they are hard to love, let me remember how hard it was for You to love me as You hung on a cross. Melt away my reticence, my cynicism, my fear of closeness, and give me Your tender heart for Your people and for those lost outside needing Your rescue!

Keep my thoughts of myself steeped in humility. I must decrease and You must increase! Any success I may have will be solely what You grant. Any strength will be the result of Your healing power and mercies. Shut me up to pride and boasting. Let my praise by only You, my God!

Amen

subject

Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

1 Peter 2:17

Honor everyone.

No human being disdained.

No life lived in vain.

Every human dignified,

by God’s image inside.

I show honor and I defer

to the God Who made each neighbor.

Love the brotherhood.

The Church in whom Jesus lives

deserves all the passion I can give.

Every member does a part

and I will follow with my heart.

This family of God in which I thrive

will be His grace… warm and alive.

Fear God.

My highest honor is my Lord’s

as I submit to His Word.

He holds my future, redeems my past,

as in everlasting life I last.

I fear God and worship Him

for He rescued me from my sin.

Honor the emperor.

Human authority is God’s design

to keep us safe without decline.

Rulers exist by God’s command

at every level in every land.

Sovereign God overrules each nation

until Jesus returns to overhaul creation.

God’s

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9

Two observations fill me with wonder and praise as I read this verse. When I came to Jesus for salvation, believing and trusting Him, I became part of a much bigger thing than I ever imagined. It wasn’t so much about my individual need. It wasn’t that I got my “own personal Jesus” like the song offers. An individualistic salvation is just selfishness masquerading as faith. No… Jesus saved me to belong to Him, to belong to His people, to belong to His purpose.

A people of His possession. I am part of a much bigger salvation community. I am called into what Peter called…

• A chosen race. A new tribe of people with a unique identity is forged in the church.
• A royal priesthood. The King redeems us with kingly blood, making us princely priests to minister His saving work and good news.
• A holy nation. In a world of broken nations, the church arises holy among all the nations of the world with a unique calling to be holy as God is holy. 

A people of His purpose. I am part of the Church. The church is called to proclaim the excellencies… the superiority… the necessity… and the exclusivity of Christ. We stand in a dying darkness holding out the ONLY light of life. And every person coming to the light of Christ joins us as God’s possession with God’s purpose.

Lord Jesus,

May I live as Yours. Own me today. Use me today. May it be not that You are mine in selfish individualism, but instead, that I am Yours in sacred abandon! And may this life burn bright and at full power to be used for Your purpose.

Amen

eat it up

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

1 Peter 2:2-3

I expect to be eating today. Why? Because I am alive. I’ll get hungry. I will need nutrition and energy. I will be moving and doing things and for that I will need food. I find it perfectly normal to eat today. And every day of my life I have had that same need. It is healthy to long to eat. As a hungry infant I craved milk. As a mature adult my tastes are much more sophisticated. But I will and I must eat.

The same is true for me spiritually. I expect to be eating. I’ve opened the Word of God this morning, disciplining myself that even before breakfast fills my belly, the pure spiritual milk of scripture feeds my soul. Why? Because my soul needs the nourishing truth and power of God‘s Word to thrive today. I will be interacting with God and with people created in God’s image. Spiritual forces will align against me. The Holy Spirit will protect and empower me. But without that nourishing Word, I don’t stand a chance to have the stamina to win the contest.

One of the wonderful reasons I keep eating food is that it simply tastes very good. I am blessed with a variety of choices in my diet. This can lead to good health, growth, and strength. And the same is true for my soul. I have tasted and I have seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). He seats me at His rich banquet table (Song of Solomon 2:4)! It is no boring meal set before me.

Lord,

I have been fed well in Your Word. Now nourish this soul, sustain me, and empower me for this day, I pray! I am delighted to feast in Your Presence, tasting that You, My God, are so very good! May I grow in this nourishing salvation.

Amen`