“Shepherd the flock of God . . . being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).
“Like people, like priests,” Hosea said (Hos 4:9 NASB). The self-evident connection between the strength of leadership and the character of its flock is true in churches today. Our Lord reminds us, “A pupil . . . after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). Thus, Peter gives a mandate to elders that they be “examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).
Paul adds to this by providing himself as a model. He writes to the Corinthians, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). To the Philippians he instructs, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things . . .” (Phil. 4:9). And to the Ephesian elders he testifies, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time . . .” (Acts 20:18).
Thus, if we are to follow Paul’s model, every elder is challenged to say to their congregation what Paul says to the churches. Further, this example is intended to be modeled to others—Paul writes to his young coworker, “. . . be an example to the believers” (1 Tim. 4:12). That is a tremendous responsibility on the elders. As Cotton Mather, the Puritan preacher, would say, “It’s an office which every angel in heaven might covet to be employed in for a thousand years to come.”
This principle is made to work both ways. We read that the writer of Hebrews puts a threefold charge on his readers—remember (your leaders), reflect on their conduct and imitate them (Heb. 13:7).
God has placed a high standard for church leadership. Now go live it.