Titus' Mission: Titus 1:4-8

Titus’ Mission

Titus 1.4-9

Last week we focused on Paul’s self-introduction in his letter to Titus, in which he clarified the purpose of his calling; an apostle, one sent forth to encourage the faith of the faithful and to spread the knowledge of the Truth, the Gospel, which leads to godliness.

Paul sent his friend Titus to Crete to accomplish this mission. As we read in Galatians 2, Titus was a Gentile Christian who had been with Paul as early as the time when Barnabas went to Tarsus to bring Paul back to Antioch. Paul had previously called on Titus to be his representative in Corinth, especially in the matter of the collection for poor believers in Jerusalem. It is important to note that Titus was a Gentile, because it solidifies Paul’s commitment to be the apostle to the Gentiles, the one God sent to the Gentiles, not just to “convert” them, but to fully include them in God’s people. One problem that Christian groups often have is that they want to minister to certain people, especially when “those people” are different from the ones who are going, but there is no plan to minister with them. Paul will have none of that, as he has ordained Titus to lead.

Paul calls Titus “my true son in our common faith.” Not only is this an affirmation of how Paul cares for Titus, but it’s also an opportunity for Paul to stress that Titus, and not others, truly represents him in Crete. Furthermore, however, the father/son language places Titus in a position where he is obligated to serve Paul as a faithful son. Paul is both affirming Titus to the church in Crete as the one who will share his words faithfully as well as reminding Titus of his obligation to do so.

So now we get to Paul’s words for the church in Crete. Titus’ assignment is to be Paul’s representative there in every sense of the word. He is to appoint leaders, rebuke rebellion, teach, remind, disciple, and lead Cretan Christians to break from the current Cretan value system. Paul tells Titus: The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. (Titus 1:5)

In the current church, there is some confusion about what an elder is. In the United Methodist Church, an elder is simply an Ordained Pastor. There are pastors who are not elders, because some are local pastors, who have not gone through the ordination process. Other denominations appoint leadership from within the church. Within a local congregation, multiple godly elders make leadership decisions for the church. Apparently, in Crete the process of appointing elders had not been finished.

Paul lays it out who is to be appointed elder. An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. (Titus 1:6)

An elder must be blameless. As humans, we are all sinners, and how can any sinner be called blameless? The answer is Jesus. If we have repented of our sins and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are blameless. He has removed the guilt and punishment of our sin from us. This doesn’t mean that Jesus is some kind of “fire insurance policy” where we just accept him and then go on behaving like we always did. Accepting Jesus means repenting, turning 180° from our sin. When Jesus saves us, it doesn’t mean we are perfect, but we are moving in the direction of perfection. This is sanctification: an initial real cleansing and a gradual, total cleansing. This means that those who would lead in the church must be repentant of our sins, whatever those sins may be. In 1Timothy 5, Paul instructs Timothy: Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses (in other words, make sure that the accusation is credible). Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others might take warning. (1 Timothy 5:19-20)

Being a leader in a church means taking responsibility, and the first of our responsibilities is blamelessness.  If you’re unrepentant, you should not be a leader.

In his list of qualifications for elder, Paul listed “blameless” first because it calls upon our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is the most important relationship in any of our lives, and if it’s not most important, then you shouldn’t be a leader in the church.

Next, Paul calls an elder to be the husband of but one wife. Did you notice that Paul puts family second? It’s not first. I know a lot of Christians who have mixed these up; their family takes precedence over God. This is simply wrong. Family comes after God. Your spouse is probably pretty awesome, but he or she can never save you from your sins.

When Paul references “husband of but one wife” he is directly refuting Cretan culture. The people of Crete worshiped Zeus, a womanizer who even resorted to trickery and deceit in his attempt to seduce another man’s wife. The culture in Crete even prized such deception, but Paul is saying that there is no room in Christian leadership for this type of behavior. An elder is called to sexual purity. No matter what the current culture says is OK, an elder in the church is called to a higher standard. The United Methodist Church says it this way: fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness. Marriage is an institution created by God. There are some who want to undermine marriage by pointing out that it hasn’t worked for many people, that the divorce rate is through the roof. Just because some people’s marriages haven’t lasted is no reason to throw out the entire institution of marriage. That would be akin to me going out and finding a bad tomato on one of my plants in the garden and ripping up all the tomato plants. For a Christian, marriage isn’t simply marriage. It is also one of the main metaphors through which God describes his relationship with his church. This is reason enough to keep marriage pure.

The next qualification for an elder is a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. I know the stereotype is that American PKs are the antithesis of this command, but this derives from unhealthy expectations of American pastors: that our churches come first in our lives, that we’re always on call, that it is the pastor who does ministry to the congregation, that we work 80 hours a week, that our children are on a pedestal and expected to behave better than everyone else’s children. I will never apologize for the fact that my children come before you in my life. If they don’t, I have confused God’s calling on my life, which is always for me to be first: God’s child; second: Tara’s husband; Jonathan and Andrew’s dad; and fourth: your pastor. If you are a parent, spending time with your children is important. You’re never going to lie on your deathbed lamenting, “I wish I’d just spent one more hour at work.” And if you miss out on spending time with your children, you won’t have any standing when it comes to discipline. Your children are bound to be wild and disobedient – just to try to get your attention.

Parents are still the #1 influencers of their children’s behavior. We have largely given that responsibility to the schools, daycare providers, and peers while we chase the almighty dollar and the ever-elusive American Dream, or even the ministry to which God has called us. I know parents whose children resent them fully because they spend all their time and energy at the church and don’t have anything left over for the kids. Ministry was never meant to be something done by a few. It was meant for the entire church!

Let’s continue. Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. (Titus 1:7-8)

Paul repeats the qualification of blamelessness. This is important because blamelessness is not something we get on our own. It requires God’s transformation! So Paul lists some of the ways a leader is supposed to be blameless. What does this mean? It means that all leaders must be all about God’s transformative power in our lives. Does this come all at once? No. So instead of taking a brand new Christian and shoving them into a leadership position, we have a duty to discipline that Christian in blamelessness, to walk with them in the journey of sanctification and then we can consider them for leadership.

It can be easy to focus on the negatives, what a leader is not supposed to do, and these are rather obvious (but remember that this is not an exhaustive list – Paul is specifically pointing out characteristics that are present in Crete), but let’s focus on the positive attributes of a Christian leader.

A leader must be hospitable. I didn’t really understand hospitality until I went to Russia. If you were invited into someone’s home, they would truly go the extra mile to serve you. Not only would you expect to eat heartily, but they might even end up going hungry so as to make sure to feed a guest that heartily. In contrast, I have clergy friends who make sure to be the one to pray before fellowship dinners so they can be the first in line.

Hospitality is having a giving heart, and to be an effective leader in a church, whether paid or unpaid, is having that giving heart. We are called to be servant leaders. The key to hospitality is being filled with the Holy Spirit. Not just knowing of  him, not just experiencing him every once in a while, but having a filling, vibrant relationship with him, being filled to overflowing. Then generosity will flow from you, and giving will not seem like a burden. It’s not an attitude of “what more will they take from me?” but “I have so much to give – how can I give more?”

A leader must be a lover of the good. God made us with all sorts of tastes and preferences, but it’s helpful to understand that the true measure of good is God’s goodness. All good things, whether good deeds or good art or good music or anything else good is meant to point us toward God. Part of the fall is that we have perverted good things and have used them selfishly, and they have thus lost their goodness. Food, instead of eliciting praise for the creator, has been used for gluttony. Music, instead of being used to praise God, has been used to advance perverse ideas, often unbeknownst to people who “don’t listen to the lyrics – I just like the music” (which is the second oldest lie in the book).

In his final instructions to the church in Philippi, Paul writes: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) Why is this? Because we can train our minds to love what is good, and when we do so, we are able to rejoice in adverse circumstances.

Have you seen those dog collars that, instead of going around the neck, go around the snout? The idea is that wherever the snout goes, the dog will follow. The same is true for our minds and our behaviors. Wherever our minds go, our behavior will follow. We will act upon what we care about. This is why loving good is important; if we do so, we will live it out. Paul tells Titus that a leader must live an upright and holy life. God makes us holy, but we have our part to play. If you want to live an upright and holy life, you’re going to have to work at it.

A leader must be self-controlled. Why is self-control so important? 1 Peter 4:7 says: The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Did you catch that? Peter links self-control with our ability to pray. It only makes sense; if we have no self-control, we will be controlled by self. Selfishness is, at its root, setting ourselves up as little gods, and if we’re serving ourselves as little gods, how could we also claim any standing with the God of the universe? Self-control, on the other hand, is a recognition that we have some control over what we do. We are not mere animals, driven by instinct. I get really sick of hearing people excuse sinful behavior with the comment, “I was born this way” Of course you were. We were all born sinful. But God calls us to holiness, and that’s hard work! Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

No, it’s not easy. That’s why Paul uses the analogy of an athlete who beats his body to make it do exactly what he tells it to do. I was talking with a fellow long-distance runner about running fast. He’s pretty fast, but he was saying the fastest he can run is how fast he was running in the 5K race we ran. He can’t run any faster. The reason is because his legs aren’t used to the quick turn-over. If he wanted to be a sprinter, he would have to work differently.

As we strive wholeheartedly to live holy and upright lives, it’s usually a lot easier to not live that way. You know how it is: there are certain people and situations that push your buttons and strain every last nerve. It would be a whole lot easier to blow up than to love them. Or there are other people who just invite gossip, and besides, you have some really juicy “concerned information” that you just need to tell them so they can pray about it... Or there are those things that nobody will know about or that “don’t hurt anyone.”

When you are tempted to go astray, speak Truth into the situation. I mean it, speak it out loud. Try saying out loud, “Because I am a beloved child of God, I have been set apart for holiness. Therefore I do not need to…” and fill in the blank with whatever your temptation is.

We must be disciplined every moment. I’ve found that having someone with whom I can share mutual accountability is of utmost importance, someone who loves me no matter what and is willing to speak truth even when it hurts. In New Knoxville, I was a part of a group of five pastors who met every Wednesday morning for accountability. One morning one of the guys said, “We’ve been meeting for so long, and nobody’s doing anything about these ‘pet’ sins. We keep confessing the same things, and while nobody’s happy about them, we’re not doing anything about them either. It’s time to do something.”

That was a turning point in that group. There are a whole lot of superficial friendships in this culture – superficial meaning “on the surface.” Proverbs 27:17 says: As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.  People don’t want to offend, so instead of iron sharpening iron, we just dull one another with superficialities. It’s time that we love one another enough to tell the truth, and to walk together toward healing and wholeness.

Next week we will continue as we hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that we can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.