In John 21:15-17 we see Jesus telling Simon Peter to “feed my lambs”, to “take care of my sheep” and “feed my sheep”. Clearly the responsibility of maturer Christians is to take care of those “younger” Christians. I say younger, not in physical age, but with regard to when a person first believed and also their level of growth in the Lord. Here Peter is concentrating on elders, but we can still learn some lessons for ourselves on leadership.
We see that the leadership qualities expected from an elder is not that of overlording, oppression, bullying etc, but of overseeing. The flock are under the elders care. This is a stark contrast to many peoples modern day perception of say management in a business. Some people are unlucky enough to be under a manager that can be very controlling, only looking out for themselves, and not caring to much for those working underneath him or her.
You see on TV programs like the Apprentice, or dramas, images of demanding and harsh managers who’s main goal is their own benefit or that of their companies without necessarily considering the welfare of those they supervise. This is hopefully a rare occurrence, but one that certainly does happen from time to time, and can also happen in a church environment.
It is very clear from this short passage of the importance of serving the Lord in leadership and not abusing the position of leadership, nor doing things that will in some way bring benefit to ourselves, or glorify ourselves instead of the Lord. In Matthew 19:27-29 we are reminded of the rewards in heaven we will receive for serving Him faithfully.
What an amazing promise.
