Lessons from Titus Part 1

Over the next several weeks, I plan to share from my personal readings and study. Currently I am spending my time studying Paul's letter to Titus. While it is a short book (you can sit down and read it in about 10-15 minutes with ease) it has some very important truths for the church today as it carries very important instructions regarding both church organization and Christian conduct. 

Let's look at some of the historical context first before we get any further... 

General consensus here is that Paul wrote this letter after his first imprisonment in Rome in between 1st and 2nd Timothy somewhere between 63-66 A.D.

Like most of Paul's letters Titus starts off with a fairly usual greeting, 

1 Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. 3 In His own time He has revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior: 4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Paul is setting the table here, he begins by identifying himself as a servant and as an apostle chosen by God and by sharing what that calling means to him in his life; "to build up the faith of God's elect and their knowledge". He then greets Titus --   his "true son in our common faith" -- now what we know about Titus is that he was a Gentile by birth (Ga 2:3) and had traveled with Paul in the past on his missionary journeys, including to Jerusalem during the controversy over circumcision (Acts 15:1-2; Ga 2:1-5) Titus was also Paul's personal emissary to the church at Corinth, carrying the letter that we call 2nd Corinthians to the church. 

Now when Paul is writing this particular letter, Titus had been left on the island of Crete by Paul to "set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city" (Titus 1:5)

5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town: 6 one who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion. 7 For an overseer, as God’s administrator, must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not addicted to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money, 8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.

This brings us to Titus' ministry in Crete. As mentioned Titus was there to help set the organizational structure of the church in place. Paul now provides Titus a pretty exhaustive listing of both positive and negative qualifications to be an Elder (Leader, Pastor, Bishop, or Overseer) in the church. 

Those qualifications are:

Positive qualifications

1. Blameless 
2. The husband of one wife
3. Having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination
4. Blameless as a steward of God
5. Hospitable
6. A lover of what is good
7. Sober-minded
8. Just
9. Holy
10. Self-controlled
11. Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught
12. Able by sound doctrine to exhort and convict those who contradict

Negative qualifications

1. Not self-willed
2. Not quick-tempered
3. Not given to wine
4. Not violent
5. Not greedy for money

Titus was to take this process very seriously, for while there were many Christians on the island the church organization was far from perfect and the Elders occupying such a prominent position  needed to be able to demonstrate that they were capable of leading the flock, evidenced by the way they carried themselves and led their own families. Now blameless is tough because we know that we are all sinners saved in by grace but in context with the rest of the passage we see that the men Titus was to be looking for to lead the church were to be men seeking after God's heart, who demonstrated faithfulness in the small things as well as the big things, being faithful to ones wife being a key part of that.

As a Pastor, Husband, Father, I often find myself looking for the big win and overlooking the small victories. God is satisfied when we give him glory in all things not just the big wins and I think that this plays into this passage.

Another thing that Paul points out is that an elder is to have "faithful children" this means exactly what it says! That as a father it is my responsibility carry out Proverbs 22:6 and train up my children so that they might be faithful believers in Christ now this verse does not mean that we are to hold our children to standards of which they have no concept. You cannot expect a non believer to behave like a believer. This holds true in this passage as well, you cannot expect a young child to have the same understanding as a teen or an adult, nor are their behaviors even comparable. In the case of young children, children that are yet to have the capacity to understand what do you do? You seek to be blameless before God! You be obedient to the word, teaching them, training them, preparing them for that day when they come to know Christ. That is how you find your children faithful... 

In the rest of this list we find (vs 7-8) that  an Elder must possess a high moral character (blameless as a steward of God, hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled) and they must be a competent preacher (holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, able by sound doctrine to exhort and convict)... 

All of these things are important in a man of God! They speak to his character, they speak to his desire to be faithful, and blameless before God, and they speak to his calling. 

There lessons I take away from this passage are this... 

1. Church government is an important duty, not to be taken lightly or frivolously
2. Governors of the church should possess both grave and gifts 
3. Preaching occupies a prominent place in building up and extending the Church. 

Whether you feel God calling you to lead or you are searching for the man God desires to lead, understanding these truths are crucial. 

Dios te Bendiga!