1 Peter 5:1-11
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
The last two weeks, we saw in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians how we are to work at pleasing the Lord and how we are to love one another and strive to live quiet lives. Here in 1 Peter, the believers are being instructed on how the elders or pastors among them are to do those things. Peter starts off by saying that they are to be shepherds of God’s flock. They are to watch over the flock willingly. Verse 2 says, “not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve;”.
Using Peter’s metaphor of a shepherd, I picture a shepherd in a field, happy to be there. The shepherd is joyful and kind. It is not a burden and chore to be tending to the sheep. It is what the shepherd was born to do. The shepherd doesn’t have the job because he or she must do this, but because they have said yes to God’s call and are willing to follow Him. Peter says, “you are willing, as God wants you to be.” The person who has said yes to the call to become a pastor, elder or minister in the church is pleasing the Lord by willingly taking on this role.
This makes me wonder about the people who find themselves in ministry positions, but they no longer actually want this role, they only serve out of obligation. It is my opinion that if a pastor or minister is loathing their position, then it is time to find a new job. They should step aside and let someone who is willing and happy to do it fill that position.
The second thing Peter says is that this leader should not be “pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve.” If the minister is loving people the way the Lord wants us to love each other, not focused on his or her self, but focused on others, then they won’t be pursing dishonest gains. They will treat people with love. Also, Peter says, they should not be “lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” They should not lord their ministry position over the other people in the church. They should actually be an example of how to serve one another. We know this is what Peter means, for then he says, “In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’” Part of loving our fellow believers more and more, as Paul said in Thessalonians, means serving one another and submitting to one another in humility. This metaphor of a shepherd, humbly tending to his flock, certainly sounds like the perfect model of a quiet life. I imagine shepherds would mind their own business and just focus on their sheep. I don’t think shepherds are worried about becoming famous or important in the eyes of other people.
Peter says that leaders should lead the way in this humility because this is what the Lord has modeled for us, for He is the Great Shepherd and if we follow Him in this way, then when the “Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” That is something to look forward to and keep in our minds as we work at following Him.
Thinking of shepherds, I immediately think of Psalm 23:1-6 which says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
The Lord is the good shepherd who leads His sheep. He provides for everything that we need. He is here to guide us and comfort us. Good pastors and leaders are like Him, “being examples to the flock.” Jesus is the perfect example of a good shepherd humbly leading His sheep.
Then Peter says that we are to, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” This seems a little out of place, doesn’t it? What does anxiety have to do with humbling ourselves?
The Greek word for humble is tapeinoó, and it is pretty straightforward. It means to make low, to humble. Even though I think we all know what humble means, I wanted to look it up in my favorite dictionary. The American Dictionary of the English Language, published by Noah Webster in 1828, says: “Humble, to make humble or lowly in mind; to abase the pride of; to reduce arrogance and self-dependence; to give a low opinion of one’s moral worth; to make meek and submissive to the divine will; the evangelical sense. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you 1 Pet. v.”
Isn’t it interesting how much dictionaries have changed over the years? I really appreciate that definition. Applying those definitions to this word helps us better understand what Peter is saying. He says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
It’s hard to be truly humble. C.S. Lewis said, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less." It’s hard to do that. It’s human nature to be self-centered and to want recognition. If we are submitting to God though, we will wait for God’s timing in all things. Including, recognition. The 1828 definition of humble says that being humble means that we reduce arrogance and self-dependance, and that we submit to the divine will. That means that we understand ourself in relation to God and we rely upon Him and not on ourselves. How does this tie in with the next verse about anxiety? I think when we are overly confident in ourselves and think that we know better than the Lord, then we open ourselves to depression and anxiety. Alternatively, when we don’t trust the Lord and we resist doing what He asks us to do because of fear or selfishness, this also leads to depression and anxiety. This happens because when we intentionally operate outside of the Lord’s will, we invite a lot of stress into our lives.
A new study out of the University College London has concluded that unlike what we’ve been told, depression is not caused by a chemical imbalance but because of stress (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/202207/depression-is-not-caused-chemical-imbalance-in-the-brain). Whether the stress is emotional, physical, mental or spiritual, some person or life change is causing us stress, whenever we feel stress, we are vulnerable to feelings of depression or anxiety. When we give to God whatever situation or problem we have that is stressing us, and we tell Him He can be in control or that we need Him to help us, then He can help us.
I have found that if I am living in such a way that I am submitted to Him and humbly following Him, letting go of my own desires, then depression and anxiety are easier to cope with than if I want a specific goal, of my own making, to manifest.
I wanted to see what other Christian leaders and teachers have written about anxiety and depression, and unfortunately, most posts and books I discovered, rather than offer spiritual solutions from Scripture, all reassure everyone that it’s ok to take prescription medications because of the “chemical imbalance” that is present in some people’s brains. I realize that this is a controversial statement to some, but that new study proves that the chemical imbalance that doctors thought caused depression and anxiety does not exist. The findings of the study seem to be conclusive. To be sure, I also tried researching past studies to see what doctors were basing their protocol of prescribing these drugs from. I could not find documentation that showed these drugs were effective. It actually confirmed to me the new findings. So working from this new information, if we now know that there is no chemical imbalance that causes depression, then will all the pastors and Christian leaders who have said things such as former mega-church pastor and author Perry Noble wrote, now recant and change their positions? He had written a few years ago that, “The brain, just like the liver, is an organ in the body. And scientific research has proved over and over again that chemical imbalances in the brain can lead to cases of anxiety and depression. If you would take a pill to cure the liver then why would you not do the same for the brain?”. (https://perrynoble.com/blog/should-christians-take-medication-for-mental-illness) He did not cite any of this scientific research because, apparently, it doesn’t exist.
For full-disclosure, I too have gone along with this idea that prescription drugs can help people who have a chemical imbalance in the brain cope with anxiety and depression. Why wouldn’t we believe something that we’ve heard said over and over again? People, like that author I cited, have thrown that idea around like it’s a well-accepted fact, but it is not factual. People, myself included, have believed a myth. In our day and age, with so much information on the internet, deciphering fact from fiction has become a real problem in our society. The proliferation of internet posts has made finding the truth out that much more difficult, because people use each other’s unproven statements as proof of truth.
If it is now known that depression and anxiety are not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain (https://www.anxietycentre.com/myths/anxiety-caused-by-chemical-imbalance-in-the-brain/), then we should probably stop saying that it is a reason for Christians to use prescription drugs to “fix” it, don’t you think? I think the Christians who have said all along that we need to rely on God to help us deal with depression and anxiety, and not turn to pharmaceutical drugs, deserve apologies from the other Christians who shamed them for saying so. While oftentimes the Lord uses modern medicines to help and heal people, we should not use pharmaceuticals in place of pointing people to Jesus and to the help and healing that He offers.
When looking up what others have written, I found one quote about anxiety that I thought was simply perfect, by none other than George Mueller. He said, “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.” What if our message was not that people should turn to pharmaceuticals for help, but to Jesus? With 1 in every 6 people on antidepressants in the U.S. (https://bpr.berkeley.edu/2021/11/07/americas-epidemic-of-antidepressants/), we have a tremendous opportunity to point people to the need for faith in Christ. Shouldn’t we use this opportunity?
I think this information is worth putting into this message, because I think the result of people taking prescription drugs to alter their moods is detrimental to their walk with God. I have talked with many people who have been prescribed these drugs and they all say the same thing: when they are on them, they don’t feel anxiety, but that is because they actually don’t feel anything. They can’t cry, but they also can’t feel joy. They feel nothing. The term for this is called “emotional blunting.” I think this is a problem because how do we respond to people around us if we are emotionally numb? How do we respond to the Lord if we can’t experience joy or godly sorrow? In this text, we are told to “Be alert and of sober mind.” In the same way that we should not go through life intoxicated on alcohol or some other substance, why is it acceptable for Christians to go through life emotionally numb from prescribed medications? How can we be alert and of sober mind if we are emotionally numbed?
Instead, we are to, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” We won’t be able to cast our anxiety on Him if we don’t feel the anxiety any longer. Because the thing is, just because a person is medicated, it doesn’t mean the underlying issue that is causing the person to want to be medicated is now fixed. Rather, the word tells us that we can give our anxiety to God. That verse is assuming that we will experience anxiety. That means anxiety is a part of our natural, normal lives. The Lord knows we will all experience anxiety, and when we do, we are to cast that anxiety on Him. He will help us.
Let me take this from another angle. We all feel sometimes like we know how a certain part of life should be going. We come up with some idea or goal for how we’d like our life to turn out. When life doesn’t go the way we planned, we get stressed. Then the stress leads to depression. We want things to be a certain way! We want what we want. Even if the things we want are good and healthy things, if we insist on our way, that is the opposite of humble.
An example of what I am talking about is Jonah. He thought he knew better than God. He did not want to do what God had told him to do. He did not want to go to the wicked people of Nineveh and tell them to repent, because he knew they would repent and find forgiveness. Eventually, he followed God’s directive, but only after suffering in the belly of big fish. Finally, he went and told the people of Nineveh that God was going to judge them. They repented and worshiped God. That made Jonah so depressed that he wanted to die when the plant he was taking shade under withered and died. He was not humble. The Lord then humbled him by saying to him about the plant, “you did not tend it or make it grow” (Jonah 6:10). I don’t think Jonah was mad that the plant died. I think Jonah was still mad that God had him do the thing that he didn’t want to do. He transferred his anger about being told to talk to the Ninevites onto the plant’s death. It was the thing that pushed him over the edge. If he was humble, he wouldn’t have second guessed God and thought that he knew better than God. He would have just submitted to God’s original plan and he would have saved himself a whole lot of trouble, too. If we humble ourselves, under God’s mighty hand, that means that we will submit ourselves to His plan. When we do that, we save ourselves from a whole of trouble. How different would Jonah’s story have been if he simply submitted to what God asked him to do right away? I think we would all have a very different opinion of Jonah. He would be seen, not as the guy who resisted God, but as the guy who submitted to God and so God lifted him up. I think we’d think of him the way we think of Elijah or Ezekiel or any of the faithful prophets of the Old Testament. If Jonah had humbled himself and done what the Lord told Him to do the first time, he would have been lifted up in history. He would have been exalted in our opinion of him. Instead, he was the guy who wasn’t humble and so he ended up depressed and miserable.
Now, I am not saying that all depression or anxiety comes from disobeying the Lord. Not at all. But when we come up against a problem or stress that is not of our making, we still have a choice to make. Do we give our problems and stress to the Lord? Or do we try to solve the problems on our own? Do we try to run from our stress or bury the problems by numbing ourselves? If we cast our anxiety on the Lord, He will help us. We should believe this promise as surely as we believe all the other promises in the Bible. He will help us because He cares for us and loves us. But if we don’t give Him the depression or anxiety, or we simply mask it, how can He help us?
Peter tells us in verses 8 and 9, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” Again, the reason we need to be of sober mind is because the devil is real. He wants us to go through life distracted, checked out of reality, consumed with escapism, and emotionally numb. The word says we are to resist the devil and stand firm in faith. Also, we should realize that all over the world other believers are going through trouble and problems, too. We should not think that our suffering is unique to ourselves. This is why unity and love among believers are so important. We need each other. We can encourage and help one another. We can remind each other that not only will God help us and take our depression and anxiety if we give it to Him, but this suffering we experience in this life is only temporary.
I want to conclude this message the same way Peter did, by reminding myself and you, that “the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” We have eternity to look forward to. Everything that is wrong and painful, hurtful, stressful and damaging to us here, will all be gone in a blink of an eye. The Lord Himself will make us strong, firm and steadfast. Because of that hope, we can say as verse 11 says, “To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Pray: Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your love for us. Thank You that we can cast our anxiety and cares upon You. Help us, by Your Holy Spirit, to trust You enough to give our problems to You. Help us have faith in Your plans. Help us believe this truth: that when we set aside our plans for Your plans we will find that Your will is better for us. Help us to follow You in humble obedience. Help us to obey You like Jesus, who modeled humility for us. In His name we pray, amen.
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