Podcast Introduction

Today is Epistles Sunday, and our reading is 1 Peter 4-5. I’m calling today’s episode “Perspective.”  

Design and Photo: Steve Webb

Comments on 1 Peter 5

In today’s comments I’d like to address chapter 5, verses 1 through 6.

Peter tells the older members to be shepherds to God’s flock from a sincere desire and not for money, and do so by providing a good example, not by lording it over them. And then he tells the younger folks that they should be willing to submit to the older people. He wraps up this section by saying that they should all be very humble with each other.

These verses grabbed my attention because I have been involved in the church since I was in my teens. So I’ve been one of the younger crowd, and now I’m definitely one of the older crowd. I’ve been on both sides. 

You know, it’s funny how we move through life. (We’re taking a side trip here. I’ll get back to 1 Peter in a moment.) Right now, my newest granddaughter, Penny…have I told you about her? LOL…right now, pretty much any room she’s in, any crowd she’s in, she’s the youngest person in the room. Of course she doesn’t know that, but she is. So as we move through life, we go from being the youngest person in the room, to being the average age of the population, and in most rooms you’re in, many of the people are generally your age, to being an older person like I am, and in many cases…more every year…I’m the oldest person in the room. It’s kind of a funny feeling. And to go from being the youngest person in your family, including extended family, to being the oldest, as I am for the Webb branch of the family, is kind of a humbling thing. Back now to first Peter. 

When I was young, there was no doubt that the elders were in charge. Church was pretty much entrenched in the way things were done. But I gave my heart to the Lord right around the time that the Jesus Freak movement was born in the late 60s, early 70s, and a lot of changes began to happen. I guess in some part of the world, like Australia, Jesus Freak is a derogatory term. Here, it was not generally meant that way. It just meant someone who was a bit of a hippy and loved Jesus. That was me.

But now, somehow we have come to a point in today’s culture where the older people in many churches no longer have a voice. If you’re older than 35 or 40, you might as well just find a seat.

Well, having been a young person right there when things began to change, and now being one of the elders, I’m currently much closer to 70 than 60, I have the benefit of perspective that the younger folks don’t have. It’s something that is impossible for young people to have. They can’t. 

Several years ago, I attempted to hike to the top of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the continental U.S. I came up short, but that’s another story. What I want to talk about now is that the view from the trailhead…the beginning of the trail that led to the top…was extremely limited. Being in the forest, it was beautiful, but the trees limited the view. You couldn’t see very far at all. 

But after being on the trial for a couple of hours, you gained some altitude and there were places where you could look out over the beautiful Owens Valley. You could see for miles. 

After having been on the trail for several hours, you were above tree line. There was nothing to block your view and you could see even further because you were so much higher.

That’s how it is with elders versus youngsters. The young people think that they know it all, but they’re really just starting out on the trail. They don’t know that there is so much more, because they’ve never seen it.

There is a reason that the Holy Spirit, through Peter, calls the elders to shepherd the flock. They’re further along and higher on the trail. He doesn’t call them because they’re better, but because they’ve got the benefit of perspective. The younger folks should humbly accept that with age comes perspective,