1. 1 Peter 5:3 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What "domineering" ought the elder avoid?

1 Peter 5:3 (ESV)

3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

The term translated as domineering gives the picture of a sheep under (the knee of) the elder, being forced to do as told. This is clearly unacceptable in the church of God. Instead of putting a sheep, as it were, under your knee, the elder is to model for the sheep how the sheep ought to respond to the challenges of life. See also John 13:34, John 15:13–14, Philippians 2:1–4, and Acts 20:35.