1 Peter 5:5
1 Peter 5:55Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Applied straightforwardly to congregational order — younger members submitting to appointed elders, and all Witnesses cultivating humility and cooperating with the organisation's arrangements. Submission to those taking the lead is a strong theme in Watchtower teaching, and this verse is one of its regular supports.
The instruction about younger and older men is real and Christians keep it. But read the whole verse, because Peter does not stop with a hierarchy — he immediately says all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. The submission runs in every direction, not only upward. Then the reason he gives: God opposes the haughty and gives undeserved kindness to the humble, quoting . The warning is aimed at those in a position to be haughty, which in context is the older men Peter has just addressed in verses 2 and 3 — shepherd the flock willingly, not lording it over those entrusted to you. So this passage cuts toward leaders as much as toward the led. It is worth reading verses 1 to 5 through with a Witness, and asking who Peter is warning and what he is warning them against. A verse used to encourage compliance turns out, in its own paragraph, to be a caution against leadership that lords it over people. Compare , , .