Perhaps you’ve heard the verse about casting all your cares on the Lord, because he cares for you (1 Pet 5:7, CSB). Some translations talk about your “anxiety” (NIV) or “anxieties” (ESV), instead of your “cares,” but the idea is the same. Does this mean we can trust God with whatever bothers us on a given day, or through a season of life? And that the greatest comfort we can find in the midst of any anxiety is that God cares for us?
Well…yes. Of course it means such things. For this week’s text (unlike the widow’s mite or the parable of the talents), the context will not overhaul our common usage of this verse. But the context will suggest a particular application I bet you’ve rarely considered.
Context matters. If we learn to read the Bible for what it is—and not as a collection of independently assembled inspirational stories—we’ll discover that some of our most familiar passages don’t actually mean what we’ve always assumed.
Kheel Center (1966), Creative Commons
Peter’s Wider Audience
Peter wrote his first letter to “those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Pet 1:1). These people were Jewish believers in Christ who had been scattered across the Roman empire. They were enduring severe trials for their loyalty to Jesus (1 Pet 1:6, 2:12, 3:9, 3:14-16, 4:1, 4:12-14). To capture this dominating theme of suffering persecution, 1 Pet 5:10-11 might serve as the letter’s main point.
I’d like to follow the argument of the section about casting your anxiety on him (1 Pet 5:1-11), but first let me point out how the immediately preceding section concludes with another of those verses about suffering:
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Pet 4:19)
Peter’s overall tone is clear: Suffering is hard. We don’t want to make it any harder than it already is. One way we do this is by trusting God through persecution.
The Text’s Logic
When we hit 1 Pet 5:1, Peter narrows his applications specifically to the church’s elders, whom he exhorts to shepherd God’s flock. Peter then lists three contrasts between proper and improper oversight (1 Pet 5:2-3) before concluding with their hope of glory (1 Pet 5:4).
In verse 5, Peter shifts attention to “those who are younger,” by which phrase he seems to refer to the rest of the church who is to “be subject to the elders.” And then he lumps both groups (elders and church members) together with the command to “clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.”
So Peter wants elders to shepherd with humility, and he wants church members to submit with humility. All need humility. And this humility is unquestionably precious, because “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Do you want God to be gracious to you or to oppose you? Whether you are a leader in the church or a follower, seek to put others before yourself, thus clothing yourself with humility. When you do this, you are doing nothing short of humbling yourself “under the mighty hand of God,” who will exalt you at the proper time (1 Pet 5:6).
But let’s be honest: Such humility is terrifying. Are you telling me, Peter, that, as an elder, if I focus more on being an example than on pointing out all the ways my people need to change, God will be gracious? Are you telling me, Peter, that, as a church member, if I submit to the leadership of fallen men who keep making poor decisions and choosing not to consult the congregation, God will exalt me?
Yes, that’s exactly what he’s saying. What does it look like to clothe yourselves with humility toward one another and to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God? It means that you don’t create factions in the church, with the leadership vs. the people, or with strife, suspicion, and power struggles. You don’t lob accusations back and forth across the aisle. You don’t rally supporters to your cause or try to marginalize dissidents.
No. This kind of humility means you will be honest about whatever anxiety you feel toward the other side (either the leadership or the laity), and you will cast that anxiety on the Lord. He cares for you far more than sinful leaders ever could. And he cares for you far more than ungrateful followers ever could. You don’t need the other side to give you your security; you have it in the Son of God, who never reviled those who reviled him (1 Pet 2:23).
(Caveat: Now there are times when we need to speak up and resist real wrongdoing in the church. Peter is not necessarily speaking to those situations. So let’s not go immediately to all the loopholes that might convince us his instruction here doesn’t apply to us.)
Now if our church is under attack from the outside for standing on the truth of the gospel, the very last thing we need is to be mistrustful of either the leadership or the congregation. We don’t need to freak out if we disagree with the decisions being made. And we don’t need to freak out if we don’t feel unquestioning support for our authority. Wherever you find yourself before God: Cast your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Don’t make the situation any worse. The devil prowls about, seeking to exploit just such a crack in the community of God’s people (1 Pet 5:8-9).
Conclusion
Does this mean it would be incorrect to apply 1 Pet 5:7 to a financial loss, parenting heartache, or romantic disaster? Of course not. Peter clearly draws on a larger principle when making his application to relations between church leaders and laity. But as we make a variety of applications, let’s at least not ignore the main thing Peter had in mind.
Context matters.
