Dominate or serve ?

Tuesday 25 May 2021

Dominate or serve ?

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to believers with your words, your conduct, your love, your spirit, your faith, your purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

Take care of the flock of God that is in your care by watching over them not by compulsion... not by dominating those entrusted to you, but by being models of the flock. 1 Peter 5: 2,3

How can a Christian, young or older, influence those around him for good and gain their trust ? To answer this question, here are three examples, one negative, two positive :

Rehoboam was 41 years old when he succeeded his father, King Solomon (1 Kings 12). He thirsts for power. He consults the elders, but rejects their advice. To be at the service of his people seems to him a weakness. He turns to his friends and finds the advice he's looking for. For them, the harder a leader, the more he is respected. They ignore that leaders who try to establish their power through fear and threat never engender loyalty and loyalty in their subjects. Their bad advice will lead to the division of the kingdom.

Timothy is young (the word "young" applied to anyone under their 40s). Paul, his spiritual father, sent him to Ephesus to teach the Word of God to the brothers and sisters. But how do you bring the necessary care to the congregation and correct the doctrinal errors of false teachers ? Not by taking refuge behind the authority of the apostle, but by being a model of the faithful, by setting a good example by his words, his conduct, his love, his spirit, his faith, his purity. This is the divine way to be helpful, especially when you meet opposition like Timothy, perhaps because of his age.

The apostle Peter explained to the elders, these mature men of God, qualified by the Holy Spirit to care for the flock in a spiritual way, that the best way to accomplish their task is not to exercise authoritarian power, but to be models of the flock. It is walking in front of the herd, not pushing it from behind.

Youth is not a handicap for service. A young believer like an elder must be a role model. It is the value of example that can give moral authority. It is not a question of age but of dedication to the service of others...

Source (Pleasing the Lord)