Today a Christian worker may labour for many different kinds of rewards. Some work hard to build personal empires; others strive for the applause of men; still others seek promotion in their denomination. All of these things will fade one day. The only reward we ought to strive for is the “Well done O good and faithful servant!” What a joy it will be to place the crown at His feet (Rev. 4:10) and acknowledge that all we did was because of His grace and power (1 Cor. 15:10; 1 Pet. 4:11). We will have no desire for personal glory when we see Jesus Christ face-to-face.
Everything in the local church rises or falls with leadership. No matter how large or small a fellowship might be, the leaders must be Christians, each with a vital personal relationship with Christ, a loving concern for their people, and a real desire to please Jesus Christ.
The steps to glorify God: (5:5-7)
Peter knew that the Church was about to face the fiery trial. It was the reign of Nero who made all the Christians as scapegoats under his ruthless tyranny.
- Live as servant: (5:5): Peter had admonished earlier Christians to be submissive to government authorities (2:13-17), slaves to their masters (2:18-25), wives to their husbands (3:1-7). Now he commanded all of the believers to submit to God and to each other. The younger believers should submit to the older believers, not only out of respect for their age, but also out of respect for their spiritual maturity. Not every “senior saint” is a mature Christian, but too often there is a generation gap war in the church, with the older people resisting change, and the younger people resisting the older people! The solution is twofold: (1) all believers, young and old, should submit to each other, (2) all should submit to God. “Be clothed with humility” is the answer to the problem. Just as Jesus laid aside His outer garments and put on a towel to become a servant so each of us should have a servant’s attitude and minister to each other. True humility is described in Phil 2:1-11. Humility is not demeaning ourselves and thinking poorly of ourselves.
We can never be submissive to each other until we are first submissive to God It takes grace to submit to another believer, but God can give that grace if we humble ourselves before Him (Jam.4:6). Submission is an act of faith. We are trusting God to direct in our lives and to work out His purposes in His time.
But there is always a danger in submitting to others; they might take advantage of us but not with believers. A person who is truly yielded to God, and who wants to serve his fellow Christians, would not even think of taking advantage of someone else, saved or unsaved.
- Get rid of anxiety: (5:6-7): Peter is calling us to be humble before and cast all our anxieties upon Jesus Christ. If we do not humble ourselves, we are becoming proud. God says: “I the Lord, your Maker, I have promised to take care of you, those who threaten you are mere men who die, why do you fear for them.” This is nothing but, we are not depending upon God, but opting for fragile self-reliance, rather than faith God and His future grace. Yes this is a form of pride. The simple remedy is that we turn from our self-reliance to God-reliance and put our faith in the all-sufficient power of future grace.
Let us not be anxious but cast all our care upon Him that in due time He will reward us. We can cast all our cares humbling before Him. In other words, when we put all our care, we are in sort of humbling ourselves before God. The reason is pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties, even if pride admits, it still does not expect that our remedies would come from God. So pride is a form of unbelief which does not want to trust God. We can make a contrast of pride and faith:
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- Faith admits the need for help, but pride won’t.
- Faith banks on God to give help, but pride won’t.
- Faith casts anxieties upon Jesus, but pride won’t.
Therefore the way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely that we have anxieties and so cherish the promises of future grace in the words of the scripture: “He cares for us” (thought taken from Solid joys).