Full Transcript

Hi and welcome to Share the Word podcast, the best way to learn your way through the New Testament one chapter at a time. Now we know that there are a lot of programs, Bible studies, devotional online, but our goal is to systematically present the big idea of each chapter of the entire New Testament. So let’s get started and dig a little deeper. Today we focus on Titus chapter one. Titus chapter one. Pass it on.

By now you no doubt are pretty familiar with the Apostle Paul, unless this is your first time you’ve clicked on our podcast and have little previous familiarity with the New Testament. If this is your first time looking into the Bible and you’re trying to figure out biblical Christianity, welcome. But most of us who hear this, I think, will know who Paul is, probably know the names of and a little about a handful of other early Christian leaders like Simon Peter, the Apostle John, maybe Jesus’ half-brother James, and one or two others. But before the Apostle Paul’s life work was done, sometime between 65 and 68 A.D., there were many more prepared and dedicated leaders and influencers advancing the Christian faith, most of whose names we’ll never know until we meet them in heaven one day.

But some do appear in the Book of Acts, the history of earliest Christianity, and in the letters to churches that have been preserved in our New Testament, names like Barnabas, Silas, Mark, Priscilla, Timothy, Epaphras, Aristarchus, Phoebe, Tychicus, Philemon, and of course, Titus, the man the pastoral epistle we’re focused on for the next few lessons was addressed to. Titus was a Greek man, probably led to faith in Christ by the apostle Paul early in his ministry career, possibly during the first year he spent at Antioch in Syria, or perhaps it was just after that on his first missionary journey west. Paul refers to Titus in chapter 1, verse 4, as my true son in the faith, not his biological son, but a son born into God’s family through Paul’s own efforts. Elsewhere, Titus is called by Paul his brother and elsewhere his fellow worker.

So Titus was someone the apostle Paul felt close to, had spent considerable time working in ministry alongside of, and a man he trusted. We know that Titus was a Greek from a reference in Galatians chapter 2, where Paul wrote about a visit he took to Jerusalem with Barnabas after they had completed their first missionary journey. This was for the famous Jerusalem Council to deal with the Judaizer problem, and he specifically mentions that Titus was along with them, and he was, I think, exhibit A, a living proof that yes, Gentiles could in fact become followers of Christ too. This was about 15 years before this epistle to Titus was written.

So we know Titus had history with the apostle Paul for at least 15 years, probably a little longer, and that is why Paul felt comfortable entrusting the organization and oversight of the young churches on the island of Crete to him, which was the occasion for this letter. It’s almost certain there had been Christians on that island, Crete, for a few decades. Crete is an island south of Greece, right in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The reason I say that is because, way back at the outset, when the first church in Jerusalem was born, some of the people that heard the gospel there were Jewish pilgrims from abroad who were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. Acts chapter 2 mentions that among them were people from the island of Crete, some from Crete who heard the apostles preaching then, believed the gospel message, afterwards returned to their island as believers.

So far as we know, none of the apostles, though, or early Christian leaders traveled there to evangelize and plant churches on the island. It was a long way from Israel, and also had no major cities that would have caused them to initially target it. The only time we know for sure Paul was there was almost 30 years later, when he was being transported to Rome as a prisoner. That was around 61 A.D. It’s mentioned in Acts chapter 27 only because the ship he was traveling on stopped at a port on the south side of Crete during bad weather, and it says he stayed there for a few weeks, the captain waiting for better conditions to sail on. It’s likely that this is when Paul discovered there are quite a few Christians on this island, and that no one had ever taught or been there organizing churches.

This is why he left Titus there, or perhaps sent him back there later. Paul was always intent on establishing local churches so Christians would have the environment they needed to grow strong in their faith. Crete had a rough reputation in the ancient world. After telling Titus about men he knew were there with wrong motives and causing problems, he quoted a Greek philosopher, Epimenides was his name, who once had lived on that island. He described his own people as Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. To this day, the term Cretan refers to crude people like that.

I’m sure it wasn’t true of everyone, but Paul felt it did fit the false teachers he heard about who were active on the island. With that background information in mind, listen now to the opening lines of Paul’s letter to his lieutenant Titus. He begins with one of the amazing run-on sentences Paul is famous for. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, in the hope of eternal life which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time and which now, at this appointed time, he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me. To Titus, my true son in our common faith: grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. That’s all one sentence.

Amazing. Hard to get through there with even two or three breaths. Paul often self-describes, as he does here, as a slave sent by his master on a mission, his master being God, and as one called by Jesus Christ to be an apostle, that is, one of Jesus’ official representatives authorized to lay the foundation of the Christian church. The terms he used to describe his mission here are to further the faith of God’s people and their knowledge of the truth, with the hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, has promised. His mission was about not only changing people’s lives, but changing people’s eternal destinies. That’s the power in the gospel message, and that’s also the Christian’s hope he refers to.

I’ve defined that New Testament key term hope before as something yet in the future, but which is absolutely certain to happen. How do we know that life after this life, eternal life for believers, is certain to happen? Paul says because it’s been promised us by God, who cannot lie. Proclaiming this good news, Paul says, was entrusted to him. It’s been entrusted to all Christians, actually. It’s the Great Commission.

Paul is just underscoring in his opening lines to Titus, who was engaged in this great mission with him, that they were about the most important business imaginable, God’s business, eternal business. First up on Titus’ agenda, the reason I left you in Crete, Paul goes on, was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town as I’ve directed you. Sounds like during that brief time Paul was on the island, he had tried to start organizing the believers into churches, but that was far from completed. So the first and most important organizational directive to Titus was to appoint qualified church leaders for each congregation.

As we’ve discussed before, these men, whether they are called pastors or elders or overseers or simply leaders, had the important responsibility to provide direction, teach God’s word, protect against false teachers, and provide discipline, encouragement to believers in these local churches who needed it. Just as he had to Timothy, who had the same supervisory role in Ephesus, Paul again stresses to Titus that anyone appointed to this office must be an exemplary Christian. The characteristics Titus was to look for are pretty similar to those stated in 1 Timothy chapter 2, but they are not identical, which tells me that Paul did not really have a list of qualifications he kept in a notebook or a syllabus, but had in mind the kinds of important qualities Timothy and Titus should be on the lookout for. In both lists, though, he begins with the descriptive term above reproach.

A man must be above reproach. Some translations use the word blameless there. Above reproach is better, though. Blameless sounds too much like Mr. Perfect, doesn’t it? And nobody would qualify then.

The idea behind this qualification is that there should be no obvious problems in a man’s life that people can easily point to, or enemies of the faith could readily use to attack and discredit him. It’s an overarching descriptive term of which the following are components. Listen, and I’m reading now from the New International Version. An elder must be blameless, above reproach, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain, but rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, one who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it’s been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. Faithful to his wife. We mentioned this in 1 Timothy, but let’s think a little deeper about this one. I suggested then the phrase could well be translated a one-woman man, because the word husband and man are the same in Greek. The word wife and woman are the same in Greek. But word for word, rather than idea for idea translations usually use the husband of one wife.

Some have taught that this was either prohibiting polygamists from serving as church leaders, or was a prohibition against anyone who had ever been divorced, or even against appointing a man who was still single. But if we take the words to mean the husband of one wife, that would, I’m afraid, not really convey the idea Paul was after. A husband of one wife could still be a man who has only been married to one woman, yet who is not faithful to that woman in his actions or in his attitudes. While at the same time, the husband of one wife would preclude a single man, or even a man whose wife has died, who is an exemplary person, his character is great. Further, if you press the husband of one wife translation, you would preclude Paul himself, and probably Timothy too from being church leaders because neither were married. So I don’t think that’s it.

These lists of things to look for in potential church leaders, I’m certain, are character related or have to do with specific abilities. The New International’s translation of faithful to his wife, now that gets at it a little bit, but it still makes it sound like a single man would not qualify to serve as a church leader. I feel sure Paul’s intent is better expressed by the one-woman man. A pastor or elder of your church can’t be someone who is seen as a player, we would say, a guy who likes flirting with women or worse, crossing boundaries, even more problematic. Whether he is single or married, he has to be morally upright, and he’s not going to be a person who embarrasses the church or harms the ministry because he cannot control his sexual urges. Someone who is single should not be precluded from being a church leader if he meets that standard.

Someone who was divorced, well, in the past especially, if he’s not the one who broke up the marriage, especially, should not be precluded either if he is recognized now as upright in this area of his life. Who should be precluded by this qualification is the man who people see as too friendly with women who are not his wife, someone they wouldn’t trust alone with their daughter. That’s the character quality Paul is concerned about, not whether on a job application a man has to check single, divorced, widowed, or married.

In the same way, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient, since an overseer manages God’s household, Paul says, that’s pretty similar to what he wrote to Timothy where he said, He must be leading his own household well, having his children in submission with all dignity, because if a man does not know how to lead his own household, how will he take care of the church of God? Again, I’m close to sure Paul was not precluding an unmarried man or a man who didn’t have children, since he and Timothy were unmarried and had no children. Rather, he’s saying if a man does have children, he must be showing himself to be a good spiritual leader and manager of his family. If not, it’s a pretty safe bet he will not do any better trying to lead a church family.

And by children, Paul meant children, young enough to be at home still under their parents’ care. It’s impossible for parents to control their adult children. Would Paul be saying, Hey Titus, be sure to check the man’s adult children and see if they are living exemplary Christian lives. Now you might have to hire some private investigators to see if his 30-year-old son living over on Cyprus is a model Christian and if his daughter in university in Tarsus is going to church every Sunday. I don’t think that’s what he’s after. That’s not even a realistic thing for Titus to be able to find out.

So again, I am sure he’s talking about minor children still in his household. Does he lead them well? Do they respect him? Are they showing signs of following the Lord themselves because that’s what they see from him at home? I’m suggesting we take realistic interpretations of these things as indicators of a godly man’s character, rather than extreme legalistic interpretations that are unrealistic and which enemies could use to damage a good church leader. I’ve experienced the damage that can be caused by that.

My dad, who was a genuinely godly man, man sold out to serve Christ all his life, was a pastor in three churches over about forty-some years of ministry. In the last one, I remember a fellow who got his nose out of joint, ironically enough because he himself was passed over as a church leader. He was passed over precisely because he was headstrong and hard to get along with. But being proud and feeling cheated, he began a campaign to have my father dismissed as lead pastor of that church. And his main charge as he went house to house trying to enlist people to join him in his crusade, it was based on this verse in Titus. He had stories about an older sister of mine who at the time was in her mid to late twenties, stories that may well have been true for all I know.

But the majority of people in the church did not hold my parents responsible for everything their adult children may have been doing, and I think that was the right call. In fact, the fellow who led the rebellion of sorts and a few others who challenged the church’s leadership wouldn’t let this go and had to be disciplined by the existing elders and asked to leave that church. That was a traumatic time for that church family, and for me too as a 12-year-old watching it play out. Getting back to Paul’s qualifications here, he states next negatively, a potential leader must not be overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Those are pretty self-explanatory. If you’re going to be an effective leader at a church, you can’t be someone who demands their own way all the time and tries to bully others.

And if you’re going to work on a leadership team at a church, you can’t be a hothead who, when there’s a difference of opinion, says, Do you want to step outside and settle this man to man? Of course not. But I’ve known some guys I’ve really liked in churches where I’ve served. I would never put into a leadership role for exactly that reason. They get angry too easily. And you can’t be in a position calling for you to be an example to others if you show up for church hungover and have a reputation for drinking too much or some other similar, you know, vice in your life, obviously.

And you can’t be in a position of requiring people’s trust and be yourself dishonest, untrustworthy around other people’s money. By the way, a church’s funds should never be in the hands of just one person, or even two closely related people. There must always be carefully built-in safeguards so no one ever questions money’s management. Remember Mrs. Bertine? On the positive side of the ledger, Paul says, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

Outside of hospitable, the rest of those are just the opposite of what he has said earlier an elder must not be. Hospitable literally means a lover of strangers. A church leader has to be light people and be generous and ready to use what he has to build up the people God entrusts to his spiritual care, including using his home. And finally, as to Timothy, Paul stresses that a church leader must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who would oppose it. I prefer how the very literal New American Standard Bible translates that. He must be holding firmly the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict it.

The faithful word, the teaching, sound doctrine—I can never stress enough—the body of core Christian beliefs was already established by that time, even though some of the New Testament scripture wasn’t even completed yet or circulated yet. But since pastors, elders, church leaders have the principal responsibility to preach and teach the congregation, as well as to call out those who are teaching things contrary to the core tenets of Christianity, Paul is stressing they have to have a good grip on Christian doctrine. They have to be rooted in God’s Word. It’s absolutely essential. So, although in slightly different words, as to Timothy, Paul says, Titus, your first task is to appoint qualified leaders for the congregations on the island of Crete.

They must be men of the highest character so they can be examples to their flocks, and they need to have a solid grasp of doctrine and practices of the Christian faith, and also demonstrate the ability to lead others. Why have this spelled out in detail in both of these writings, Titus and 1 Timothy? Because it’s critical. Potential leaders must be carefully vetted. Church leaders are God’s stewards, as Paul puts it at verse 7. They oversee God’s own household.

A steward in that world was a slave so trusted by his master he was given full control of his estate or of his business. A church leader is acting as God’s steward. He must be able to shepherd God’s people well, be an example to them of godliness, be accurately and faithfully instructing them in God’s Word, and protecting them against false teachers. And he must be an encourager to those who need it. It’s a position of great trust and importance, and it’s vital to any church’s health and success. These are not only qualifications for church leaders, by the way.

They should be goals, character goals for every Christian man, and most of them apply to women as well. Why settle for being an average Christian? Strive for excellence in your character. Strive to become grounded in everything the New Testament has to say. Finding the right leaders to keep the Christian movement growing forward, doctrinally on track, is critically important, just as much now as it was for Paul, Titus, and Timothy. And you may well be part of God’s plan for that in the days ahead.

Who knows? As Paul put it to Timothy, These things you have heard from me and I have said in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach them to others also. All the things you’ve heard from me, Timothy, all the things you’ve observed in me, Titus, pass these on to the next generation of leaders who can pass them on faithfully as well. We hope Share the Word is a part of that very process in your life. Pass it on. This is Paul for Share the Word.

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