Have you ever been
job hunting? Sure you have unless you’re lucky enough to be independently wealthy or were born with the
proverbial silver spoon in your mouth. After
theIt’s great when you find that dream job. Well, okay, maybe it’s not a dream
job, but at least you don’t have to go through the grind of a job hunt anymore. Then, suddenly, your company downsizes, you
tick your boss off for the last time, or you just plain get tired of your job
and know you need a new one. Time to go job hunting again.
So, where do you start looking for your new job? Before the internet, we all went to the
newspaper “help wanted” ads. Today, you
go to Indeed.com or Monster or to the website of companies that you are
interested in, and you look up the available jobs. You look at an overview of the job. You check out the qualifications for the
job: Do you have the minimum education
and experience needed? Are you
overqualified? You pay particular
attention to the duties and responsibilities:
Does it sound like something you’d like to do all day, every day? You look for the salary, and usually, there’s
nothing there about pay, because the company typically wants to get you as
cheaply as possible. Finally, you pay
attention to the challenges particular to the job. Does the job require extensive travel or
difficult working conditions?
If any of you have served as an employer, you have probably
placed such ads yourself. You needed a
job done, and you needed the right person to do it.
In Titus 1:5-16, we see a newly planted first-century
church in Crete. It’s a church that
needs a job done—that is, the church needs leaders—and it needs the right
leaders. Paul has left Titus behind in
Crete to finish putting in order everything that still needs to be done in
firmly establishing this new church for the long haul. The most important of the things Titus needs to
do, as Paul writes, is to find the right leaders for the fledgling church in
Crete.
Paul writes Titus to tell him the qualifications he should
seek in church leaders, the duties those leaders will be required to perform,
and the challenges those leaders will face.
If help wanted ads existed in those days, Titus could have lifted most
of the ad right out of Paul’s letter:
“Leaders Wanted.”
Let’s imagine what that help wanted ad might have looked
like, based on what we see in today’s text, Titus 1:5-16:
5 This is why I left you in Crete so
that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town
as I directed you— 6 if anyone is
above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not
open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be
above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or
violent or greedy for gain, 8 but
hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as
taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also
to rebuke those who contradict it. 10 For
there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially
those of the circumcision party. 11 They
must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for
shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One
of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil
beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This
testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the
faith, 14 not devoting themselves
to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to
the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their
consciences are defiled. 16 They
profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable,
disobedient, unfit for any good work.
First, Paul tells Titus what kind of qualifications we
would see in a help-wanted ad. We might
write that ad this way:
Leaders Wanted: Only
Godly men of impeccable character need apply
Paul first talks about the basic qualifications of an
elder. Here are the qualifications for the
help wanted ad. Paul tells Titus to appoint
elders who are “above reproach.” No,
he’s certainly not talking about someone who never sins, but he’s talking about
men who don’t make sin a lifestyle.
Elders should be men of commitment, and the first place where their
commitment must be evident is in their family lives. Let’s look here at verse 6.
Elders should be “the husband of one wife,” though some will
disagree with me, I think that first, Paul is clear that elders should be
men—male leadership in the church and in the home is not just something for
ancient cultures, it’s a biblical principle.
So along with that, men, I’m going to pick on you in particular during
the course of today’s message…and ladies, you have a huge influence in helping
us become the kind of men we ought to be, so you listen carefully, too!
Second, when Paul says an elder must be the husband of one wife,
he clearly excludes polygamists from church leadership. Less clear is whether Jesus’ teachings
placing divorce on a par with adultery excludes divorced men from
eldership. While some people believe
that divorce is a disqualifier for eldership, I think there must be some room
for grace here, and we shouldn’t put an exclamation point where the Bible is
silent.
An elder’s children must be believers, and their lives ought
to show it. If an elder is a believer,
his life will show it, and his children will naturally become Christ-followers. I’m not sure how “debauched”
a minor child can be, so I agree with many scholars that this applies even more
to an elder’s adult offspring than to younger ones.
Look at verses 7 and 8.
Paul calls elders God’s stewards—there is deep trust and confidence in
there. Elders must be more than men of
commitment, especially at home, but they must be men of character and
impeccable conduct. Again, above
reproach. Not drunks or hot-heads, or
brawlers. Rather, Paul says elders ought
to be hospitable—they should go out of their way to help others.
When Paul writes that elders should not be “greedy for
gain,” he’s not talking about a prohibition on paid ministry, as some have
taught. Rather, an elder ought to have
his priorities right—he’s not in the ministry because he seeks profit. What’s more, an elder ought to be
self-controlled, honest, and self-disciplined.
They love what is good, and their lives show they actually believe what
they say they believe.
Not long ago, I was cleaning out my closet and I found my
original officer’s commission in the Navy.
When I read the certificate, it opened with, “The President of the
United States of America: To all who
shall see these presents, greeting: Know
Ye that, reposing special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor,
fidelity, and abilities of Bart Lee Denny, I do appoint him and Ensign in the
United States Navy…” Special trust and
confidence. The President was demanding
absolute trustworthiness, a life beyond reproach. Seems like a lot to put on a
young fellow’s shoulders.
Likewise, there was good reason for Paul to demand Titus
only appoint elders who were above reproach—he didn’t want elders who would be
open to the charge of hypocrisy. In 1
Timothy 3, Paul laid out similar qualifications for elders at Ephesus, and when
he talks about an elder’s family life, he says, in 1 Timothy 3:5, “for if
someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for
God’s church?” Paul knew that other
people would be asking the same question.
People know when their leaders don’t live up to what they expect of
those who they are leading. I’ve had
leaders over me who were hypocrites, who didn’t follow the same rules that they
were supposed to enforce. When they told
me to straighten up and fly right, my inner voice was saying, why don’t you
practice what you preach? I know I’m not
alone in such thinking, and that’s what makes hypocrites such ineffective
leaders.
In my lifetime, we’ve seen the devastating results of church
leaders who fail to meet or to continue living up to the standards of
commitment, character, and conduct demanded here in Titus 1. We have seen the devastating and
embarrassingly public moral failures of television evangelists and church
leaders. Each of us can think of some
examples. We don’t have to name them out
loud. Every one of those failures
inevitably leads a local church shaken and rudderless. More than that, such moral failings can shake
the very faith of believers and is an incredibly terrible witness to the
life-changing power of Jesus Christ.
Rest assured God will hold such failings to account. As James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should
become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged
with greater strictness.”
The church still needs leaders today, and the qualifications
Paul outlined for Titus and the church at Crete. Men, maybe you’re sitting here today and you
say to yourselves, “I don’t have to worry about that, I don’t want to be a
leader?” If that’s you, I have to ask, “Why
not?” All Paul is outlining here for
elders is a life of Christian maturity to which every believer should aspire. In fact, the writer of Hebrews comes right
out against an immature Christianity when he says, in Hebrews 5:12, “For though
by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the
basic principles of the oracles of God.”
Men, we ought to aspire to be leaders in our church.
Our help wanted ad from Titus shows the qualifications for elders,
and in summary, we see that elders are men of commitment and character. They’ll need every bit of that character and
commitment to fulfill the duties required by the job, which we read about next,
in Titus 1:9.
Leaders Wanted: Must
teach sound doctrine and correct false teaching.
Look here in verse 9.
It’s the description of an elder’s duties and responsibilities. An elder “must hold firm to the trustworthy
word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine
and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” A pretty simple list of duties and responsibilities, really. Give instruction and sound doctrine, and
correct those who contradict it. The
elder is to teach. In 1 Timothy 3:2, Paul
writes that an elder ought to be able to teach—because that’s the lion’s share
of the elder’s job. An elder must “hold
firm” to the trustworthy word. He’s
constantly in the word, and his life and teaching reflect the devotion to which he has towards the word. He’s got to know
the word so well that his teaching just flows with ease, both in providing
sound doctrine and in correcting errors.
We’ll get more into some of the errors being taught in Crete in just a
bit. Just like today, there were many
errors out there.
A few years back, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on
Religion & Public Life published the results of a very interesting, if
discouraging survey on religious knowledge in America. The survey found that atheists, agnostics,
and Mormons all scored better in biblical knowledge than the average evangelical
Christian interviewed.[2] If Pew is right, that is a sad commentary on
the spiritual state of the church in America today. Pew is hardly alone in its findings. Biola University, a major Christian institute
of higher learning, says there is a crisis in biblical literacy today.[3] How can Christians counter someone who thinks
the Bible is untrue or, at best, unreliable when the Christians themselves do not
know their own book as well as the person with whom they are dialoguing?
If Pew is correct—and I fear they are—then what we see is a
failure among American Christians, and even more of a failure on the part of
the elders of the American church. If American
Christians are not knowledgeable in God’s word, it seems logical that this is
because their leaders themselves are not immersed in God’s Word. It’s quite possible that the leaders of
American churches today cannot teach sound doctrine and correct false doctrine
because they do not know it themselves.
They have neglected that firm hold to the trustworthy word. They are not proclaiming the truth of
salvation by grace through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone. They are not standing up to pluralistic
claims that many roads lead to heaven.
They are not defending God’s word from the Scripture twisters because
they don’t even know what is in the Bible.
If there is a crisis in biblical literacy, the fault begins with church
leaders.
Someone reading this blog may say that he is not interested
in church leadership, and again, I feel compelled to ask, “Why not?” A deep understanding of God’s trustworthy
word is not only the mark of a church leader but of a mature Christian. Men, when it comes to serving as the
spiritual leader of your families, you are under the same obligation to your
families as elders are to the church.
It’s your job to see that your children are brought up in the correct doctrine. It’s your job to keep the spiritual wolves
out of your home. So much of what Paul
says is the qualification for a church elder is a natural outgrowth of
consistent practice of the spiritual disciplines of study and prayer and
differs little from what it means to be a godly man and father.
The church needs and wants leaders. If we were to look at a hypothetical
help wanted ad for church leaders, we’d see that only godly men of impeccable
character need apply. The help wanted ad
would explain that the primary function of elders is to teach sound doctrine
and to correct bad teachings. Any help
wanted ad would talk about the challenges and difficulties associated with the
position. Paul tells Titus that the
challenges are plentiful. And third, the ad might say:
Leaders Wanted: Must confront
the insubordinate and the deceitful.
Paul explains to Titus that the ministry of an elder is, in
large part, a ministry of confrontation—and for good reason. Look at verses 10 and 11 again. Paul tells Titus that there are many who are
dangerous to the church. Dangerous
because they are divisive—failing to follow leaders, and stirring up whole
families. Dangerous because they teach
false doctrines. Dangerous because their
motives are impure—they are out to make a buck.
It appears that many of them might have been what Paul, in other places,
called “Judaizers.” These were folks who
said that all of the Jewish law applied to Gentile converts. Look at verse 12, “One of the Cretans, a
prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy
gluttons.’” Here, Paul quotes
Epiminides, a priest from Crete who six hundred years earlier characterized the
average inhabitant of Crete as a self-indulgent liar. In fact, Cretans were so notorious for their
dishonesty that “to Cretanize” had become synonymous with lying.
Paul tells Titus to deal with this problem in no uncertain
terms. “Rebuke them sharply,” he writes
in verse 13, “that they may be sound in the faith.” Titus needs to confront
these people because they are dangerous—they turn people away from the truth
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they devote themselves to myths. False teachers contaminate everything they
come in contact with. Look at verses 15
and 16. The false teachers are defiled and impure—more specifically, their
minds, and their consciences are defiled.
They are twisted. As Paul says in
verse 16, “they profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.”
It can be difficult
to spot a false teacher, and often, it’s too late when everyone recognizes a
false teacher for what he is.
I still remember the
images on the TV news back in 1978 in the wake of a mass suicide of over 900
Americans living in Guyana at a place called Jonestown. Jim Jones was a cult leader—perhaps
incidentally, he was born in an Indiana town named Crete. At first, he appeared somewhat orthodox and
gained a large following in Indiana. His
teachings quickly became mixed with his radical political views. After several
years, Jones moved his group, the “People’s Temple,” to California, then to
South America. His false teachings lured
in many followers, who became so loyal to Jones and so under his brainwashing
that the whole group committed mass suicide by swallowing a fruit punch laced
with cyanide. Sadly, that’s where we get
the phrase that someone has “drunk the Kool-Aid.” They’ve mindlessly come under the spell of
falsehood.
Jonestown may seem
like an extreme example, but people follow false beliefs all the time—beliefs
that deny Jesus is the only way to eternal life. Beliefs that demand some sort of works or
adherence to a religious system so that people can be assured of
salvation. Beliefs that say you can
never really be sure that you know you’re headed for heaven. Paul says that church leaders need to
confront those false teachings because even if the results aren’t something
like Jonestown, the eternal end result is the same: False teachers lead people away from Christ
and to an eternity separated from Christ in a very real place called Hell.
People naturally shy away from confrontation. It’s just not a pleasant part of life. But that’s what church leaders are supposed
to do. Today, it’s false religious
teachings that lure people away from Christ are still out there. But often, false teaching occurs in the form
of the prominent ideology of the culture.
In a pluralistic, politically correct society, such as what we have here
in the United States, we don’t want to offend anyone by telling them that their
beliefs are mistaken. We don’t want to
seem “bigoted” by sharing that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and
that “no one comes to the father but through” him. Rather than speaking the truth, and enduring an
unpleasant moment of conflict, we prefer to let people head off into a
Christ-less eternity. Church elders must
confront this societal false teaching because it sneaks into the church not in
the guise of religious teaching, but of societal attitude.
Today, just as in the first century, the church needs
leaders, and our text today remains a great template for a help-wanted ad. Only men of impeccable character, conduct,
and commitment need apply. The primary
job of the church’s elders is to teach sound doctrine and to correct false
doctrine. One of the greatest challenges
in the elder’s job is to confront those who cause division and spread
deception.
What would it look like if today, throughout the entire
church of Jesus Christ, biblically qualified elders boldly proclaimed the truth
and confronted both deception and divisiveness?
What kind of unity would we see in the church today? Better yet, what would it look like if all men
in the church strove to achieve the kind of Christian maturity that would allow
them to serve the church as an elder?
How many fewer church splits would we see? How much more effective in reaching their
neighborhoods with the gospel would our churches be?
Titus 1 remains a help-wanted ad for church leaders. While God calls for impeccable character,
elders are not supermen. In fact, almost
any man who truly surrenders his life in obedience to Christ could capably
serve as a biblically-qualified church elder.
What would the church look like today if every man in it saw biblical
eldership as something to be attained?
We ought to remain committed to leadership by biblically
qualified elders. Men, are you preparing
for leadership in the church? Why
not? After all, the qualifications for
an elder are, in many ways, simply the marks of a mature Christian. If you claim to be a Christian, I cannot
understand why that kind of maturity is not something you would want in your
life. Men, wouldn’t your families
benefit if you exercised the same kind of leadership in your homes as God
expects from elders in the church? What
would your Christian life and your homes look like if you knew the Bible well
enough to teach it?
The church in America is in a bad way—inward-focused,
unevangelistic, politically polarized, and desperately in need of leaders.
Where will we find them? Who will step into the gap? Will it be you?
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All comments are moderated. I welcome respectful disagreement with my posts. Such discussions can cause me to consider perspectives I hadn't examined before. However, I also reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason. Why? Simple enough, this is MY blog, with MY thoughts, and I want to have a civil conversation that is, at all times, God-honoring in nature.