TITUS

Part One – Chapter One

The Responsibilities of Elders in the Church

 

By Michael K. Farrar

© God’s Breath Publications

 

Titus is a letter written by Paul to a man by the same name. Titus was facing the task of ministering to churches on the Island of Crete a Greek Island in the Mediterranean Sea. Titus was born of Greek parents and was probably a native of Antioch. He might have been a brother of Luke and he was converted under the early ministry of Paul. He had a strong personality and was able to achieve some degree of unity within the church at Corinth where others had failed. Titus accompanied Paul on some of his missionary journeys and was discipled by Paul personally. Tradition states that Titus lived to be 94 years old and was buried at Cortyna, Crete.

 

False teachers were influencing the churches in Crete and they were emphasizing the Jewish law and circumcision. They were also introducing false teachings that deceived people and tempted them to live impure lives. There were also attempts by these scrupulous individuals to take people’s money. Thus there was a great need for good, wise and stable leadership, which caused Paul to write this letter to Titus for encouragement and instruction.

 

The main theme of Titus is the relationship of good works to sound doctrine. Paul is attempting to help Titus understand the importance of believing sound Biblical doctrine as well as having a Christian life that reflects high moral conduct based on this truthful doctrine. Good works do not bring salvation, but they should result from a salvation commitment.

 

“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 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.”

 

In verses 1-5 Paul presents his credentials and what he considered to be his passion for ministry. He also lays forth some basic doctrine essential to Christian belief in his greeting. Biblical knowledge should lead a servant of God to lead a holy and blameless life and this belief rests on the eternal life granted by faith in Jesus Christ. God does not lie about this truth, which some false teachers apparently were implying in their teachings. He gives a friendly greeting to his friend and disciple Titus. Paul also shares a task that needed to be accomplished and is a very important point for us today in how the structure of the church should be laid down. Paul instructs Titus to finish the work of planting churches by appointing elders in every town as directed. This lays down the concept that leadership in churches should be established on a “multiple-leadership” foundation. This means churches should not be “one-man shows.” They function preferably as a group of wise and godly men who are dedicated to God and have a desire to shepherd the flock of God being leaders of the people of God. Many church fellowships who are overseen and led by a group of elders dedicate themselves to making decisions on a consensus basis. This means when important decisions must be made, all elders must be in agreement with the decision. While this may slow down decision actions at times, it also allows the Holy Spirit to work among the elders in their discussions and deliberations to seek complete agreement on issues. This can provide both a way to avoid rash decisions as well as depending on God to lead each man to work with others for God’s will. It also continues to remind the elders that they are servants of the Disciples of Christ they oversee.

 

In verses 6-9, Paul lays down the credentials of those who are to be selected or chosen for eldership. These guidelines will help Titus choose men who are qualified to lead the local churches in Crete where Titus is currently. The credentials of an elder are also discussed in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 as well.  

 

“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.”

 

In verse 6 Paul states that an elder must be blameless. Blameless means that no justifiable question can be brought to bear upon the character of the man chosen to be an elder. His conduct in life should reflect holiness and purity. While no one is without sin, an elder is held to a high standard and no question should be able to be made about his dedication to God and life as a Believer. Next in verse 6 Paul states an elder should be the husband of one wife and whose children believe in Christ as Savior. His children should not be wild and disobedient for this would reflect upon the character of the leadership of the husband and father. This verse does not imply that an elder must be married, only that if married he should only have one wife. During this period of history many men took multiple wives and this is not scriptural. This verse also does not imply that a man who is married must have children to serve as an elder. It simply means if he has children they should have become believers due to their father’s influence and be obedient to him and the Lord. As I mentioned, this verse does not imply a man must be married to be an elder and therefore a single man could serve in this leadership capacity. Although it is true a married man functions in a family unit as leader and this example can help in evaluating the leadership qualities of the man. This verse also does not indicate a divorced man cannot be in a leadership position as an elder, although this situation would require great amounts of delicate and detailed evaluation by those determining if he would be chosen as an elder. Questions would have to be asked such as: What were the circumstances of the divorce? Did it occur before or after the man was a Christian? Who initiated the divorce and for what reason? What amount of blame could be placed on the man for the divorce that occurred? A divorce in a man’s life could call into question his leadership skills and abilities and could affect his acceptance as an elder by a local body of believers. So this would be a delicate consideration for Titus in selecting elders for churches in Crete. It also would be an important consideration for an elder board in a local church as they considered men who might serve in this capacity.

 

“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.”

 

In verse 7 Paul lists several additional characteristics that must be present in a candidate for eldership. Paul again mentions being blameless and adds, “not overbearing.” An overbearing individual is someone who is bossy, and domineering. An elder must lead with wisdom, courage and determination but must not trample on people in his leadership. He should not assume an arrogant attitude of “lording over others” his leadership authority as an elder.  Paul also mentions that an elder should not be quick to get angry. There are many stresses in the ministry of serving others and numerous situations can arise where one could lose their temper. Lack of self-control in this area of anger would not reflect a godly servant-leadership heart. It is obvious drunkenness would not be an admirable behavior for an elder to demonstrate. It would be evidence that he was not disciplined and committed to pure living. It might also be implied here that drugs would be included in this category and possibly anything else that would be of an addictive nature. Even good hobbies or interests could be addictive in a destructive fashion if they greatly distracted a man from his relationship with the Lord, his marriage, family or work. Paul also mentions violence as a trait that would disqualify a man from eldership. In tense ministry situations a man who is violent can cause much harm not only physically and emotionally but also spiritually. Violent behavior or attitudes are another indication of lack of self-control in the life of a man. Finally in this verse Paul states that an elder should not pursue dishonest gain or seek to obtain income by dishonestly breaking laws or taking advantage of people through inappropriate means. Honesty is a godly trait and should be manifested in an elder in all areas of life.   

 

“Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.”

In verse 8 Paul shares desirable qualities an elder should possess. He should be hospitable in attitude. This implies friendliness and being willing to open his home to others as guests. He should love what is good in life and not sordid or worldly activities. An elder should be in control of himself. He should possess integrity, seek to be holy in thought and action and be disciplined in behavior.

 

“He 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 oppose it.”

 

Paul in verse 9 shares that an elder should desire to study the word and sit under the teaching of scripture as others preach it as well as obey all that the Bible teaches. This training in scriptural knowledge lays a foundation upon which the elder can encourage and disciple other Christians as well as confront false teachers who threaten the church.

 

Paul next moves from the qualifications of an elder to issues that are facing the local churches. Titus must minister to the churches in Crete and appoint qualified elders so that they could address these issues.

 

“For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach — and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”

 

There were people in the churches of Crete that were rebelling against the gospel and authority. They talked a good talk but their walk was dramatically different. They promoted Old Testament Jewish laws and the requirement that circumcision was necessary for true faith. These individuals were causing discord in the church and in families and often profited from their abusive and manipulative influence over others.

 

Paul is giving Titus, and the elders he would approve for leadership, permission to rebuke these people sternly. The influence of these individuals could be very destructive to the local fellowship of Christians. Paul knew that if the Christians in local churches were truly submissive to the Lord, they would respond appropriately and would reject the Jewish myths that were floating around in the area. The false teachers were so caught in Jewish “do’s and don’ts” that nothing was permissible or good to them. They were condemning good and innocent things and causing discouragement and discord within the church body. There was no way they could be pleased and their oppressive destructive beliefs and behavior was destroying the church fellowship. Paul states that they claimed to know God but in their actions there was no proof of this. He further goes on to describe their behavior as detestable and disobedient and that they were incapable of doing anything good. It is very understandable why Paul laid down guidelines for what kind of men should be chosen to lead church bodies of believers so that these people could be confronted and if possible saved from their false beliefs and unrighteous behavior.

 

We can see that Paul’s words to Titus are appropriate for us today. We need godly and wise men who are dedicated to the Lord and His Word to oversee churches so that false doctrine is not preached or allowed to influence believers. God’s qualifications must be high for these men because the need is so great to protect Christ’s church.

 

“A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others.”

John Maxwell