I. Introduction
A. Paul’s epistles to Timothy and Titus are written to the leaders and to not the sheep. The whole epistle to the Hebrews, however, was definitely written to the sheep and not to the shepherds, urging them to remain faithful to Christ and not abandon their faith in the face of suffering and persecution. Their leaders apparently were not tempted to give up on Christ like many of the people were, as can be seen in today’s two verses:
1. Hebrews 13:7 “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
2. Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
B. These verses exhort Christ’s people regarding their relationship with their church leaders.
C. Verses like these which give instructions to sheep about how to relate to their shepherds are actually quite rare in the NT. These two verses are the major ones, though there are minor ones like 1Thessalonians 5:12–13 and 1Cor.16:16. Honestly, there are many more passages which exhort the leaders about taking care of the sheep. Here are three good examples:
1. Luke 22:25–27 Jesus said to His disciples, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.”
2. Acts 20:28–35 “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert.”
3. 1Pet.5:1-4 “I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder...: 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; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
D. In many places, the NT makes it clear that: 1- Christ’s church has sheep. 2- The church has shepherds. And 3- God provided shepherds for His sheep is because He has great zeal and passion for His sheep.
1. The sheep are not there for the shepherds. The shepherds are there for the sheep.
2. Jesus never expresses special affection for the shepherds. But He often expresses special affection for His sheep. “You better take care of them because they are so precious to Me.”
3. The shepherd’s greatest privilege, the shepherd’s highest honor is to be one of Jesus’ sheep.
4. The reason the shepherd’s job is so important is because the sheep are so important to God.
5. And He continually calls His disciples to serve His sheep well.
a. Very dramatic and poignant conversation with Peter in John 21:15-19 (resurrected, denied Jesus 3 times, last time Jesus spoke with them?): “Feed My lambs. Tend My sheep. Feed My sheep.”
b. Causing one of His little ones to stumble: millstones tied around the neck and thrown into the sea
c. If, instead of feeding His people, the people who are supposed to feed them beat them and get drunken and are negligent, when Jesus comes He will cut them into little pieces and put them in a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt.24:45-51).
E. I’m not saying that God loves sheep more than He loves shepherds. But the reason He loves the shepherds is because they are also His sheep.
II. Three exhortations for members toward their leaders in these two verses:
A. Remember and consider them: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
1. Part of the Christian life is paying special attention to some things. Notice here that one of the things we’re supposed to pay special attention to is our church leaders. We should watch them, get to know them, listen to them, hang around them, find out what they think about things.
2. Notice here the connection between teaching the word of God, a person’s faith and living it out — this is the way it’s supposed to be. But we know that sadly sometimes things don’t happen that way.
3. And we need to pray for our leaders that they might be worthy of our imitation.
4. When you notice a leader’s inadequacy, that is God’s call for you to pray for them.
B. Obey and submit to them: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls...”
1. These verses do not call members just to follow the example of their leaders, but they call them to an appropriate deference to authority.
2. But notice that here in v.17 you don’t submit to leaders simply because they’re in authority (like with the civil authorities in Rom.13). It says to submit to them because they keep watch over your soul. In other words, you obey them because it is in your best interest to do so.
a. If you go to a Physical Therapist, you must obey him/her or you’re just hurting yourself.
b. It’s easy to resent authority — we’re rebellious by nature. We don’t like people telling us what to do. But we hurt ourselves when we do so.
c. The point is this: church leaders are trying to help you, so cooperate with them — for your own sake!
3. Church leaders are called by Christ to bless His people:
a. 2Cor.10:8 “...our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up & not for destroying you...”
b. 2Cor.1:24 “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy.”
4. Of course, the Bible command to obey authority is not absolute, though verses like this appear absolute. But it is important to note that elsewhere there are numerous exceptions:
a. The Hebrew midwives righteously disobey the king’s order to kill newborn babies (Exod.1:15-21)
b. Jeremiah heroically proclaims God’s truth contrary to the king and other authorities
c. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego refuse to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold -Dan.3
d. Daniel prays when it had been forbidden by the king – Dan.6
e. The apostles preach against the orders of the authorities — Acts 4:19-20, 5:17-21
C. Try to make their job a joy: “Let them do this [keep watch over your souls] with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
1. This implies first of all that church leadership is supposed to be an emotional job.
a. Part of the job of church leadership is caring about how things are going, caring about whether people are thriving in the Lord or just drifting, caring about the welfare of the flock, whether it is prospering or shriveling.
b. Becoming a church leader puts you in a place of vulnerability. You are subject to hurt and disappointment. You are subject to “groaning.” But you are also subject to great joy — you sometimes get to behold beautiful and spectacular things happen.
2. So, the exhortation here is to be one of those people who makes the leaders’ job a joy and not one of those who make it a burden, one who is a joy and not a heartbreak.
a. So, encourage your leaders. Be thankful to them. Be teachable and open-hearted to them. When you have negative feedback to give, give it humbly, respectfully and lovingly.
b. But most of all, if you want to make your leaders’ job a joy, love Jesus, follow Jesus, enjoy Jesus, grow in Jesus. That is a leader’s greatest joy.
3. And notice in this verse that this ‘making your leaders’ job a joy’ is not for their sakes, it is for your sakes. “Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
a. Having joyful leaders who love what they do — that’s a benefit to the sheep!
III. Three reminders for leaders
A. People are watching you.
1. Faith is something which can be seen by the way a person lives. And if you can’t see a leader’s faith, they should not be a leader. One of the most important qualifications of church leadership is having a faith which is observable by the way that person lives.
2. So, leaders, live a life worth watching, worth imitating. You proclaim Christ by the way you live, by the way you speak to people, even by the way you disagree with people (e.g. 2Tim.2:24–26 “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”).
3. That means putting off Jack and putting on Jesus. And that means spending time with Jesus and abiding in Jesus.
B. You must watch your people.
1. Leaders have a job to do: to keep watch over the souls of God’s people.
2. They are not called to watch like a prison guard watches over inmates, or like a parole officer watches over his parolees, but like a shepherd watches over his flock. They are his livelihood, his treasure, his wealth, his estate.
3. It may sound strange, but did you know that professional sports coaches and managers usually make a lot less than the teams’ stars, even though they are in charge? This is because star athletes are worth more than their managers.
4. The same is true in the church. The leaders are not the important ones. The sheep are the important ones.
5. Being a leader is not about being in control, it’s not about being admired, it’s not about ambition.
6. Leaders are not in leadership for themselves. Leadership in Christ’s church is all about helping His bride.
7. Watching over the sheep is not just being available to them.
a. It means keeping an eye out for them. It means keeping up with them.
b. It means being available and approachable to them. It means serving them.
c. It means remembering that they are Christ’s precious ones, the ones He died to make His own.
d. It means remembering that it is a privilege to serve the ones Christ has chosen as His bride.
C. You will give an account
1. You will be held accountable for how you watch over God’s flock. God will require an answer.
2. The Lord has put you in charge of His treasures.
3. There are many passages which give us a horrifying glimpse of what it will be like for those who abuse their position as shepherds of God’s people.
4. One is Ezek.34:2-10 — “Thus says the Lord: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill, with none to search or seek for them. Therefore, you shepherds, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand.”
5. The fact is that there is a Chief Shepherd who is watching over all the sheep, AND over the shepherds. He is the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for His sheep (John 10:11).
IV. Three things for mothers of young children
A. Your leaders are your friends, tell them how they can pray for you.
B. Their job actually bears a lot of similarity to yours.
1. You know what it’s like to have big chunks of your life devoted to your calling as a mother.
2. Appreciate their sacrifice and pray for them like you would like them to pray for you.
C. Make their job a joy: you know well how far a little gratitude and compassion goes!