The world has progressively and continually moved away from God’s Word, and in doing so it has desensitizing the secular mind towards that which ought to be morally repugnant.
As Paul gets into the heart of his letter to Titus he affirms the requirement of appointing leadership in church that is founded upon integrity. This list makes certain to place character and faith at the forefront so that the believer will be recognized as a Christ-follower by more than their confession.
Titus 1:5-16 (NIV)
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 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. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 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.
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 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. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
- The Demand – Incorruptibility: The elder must be blameless
- vs 6-7 “must be blameless”
- The Discipline – The elder must be able to both teach and defend the truth
- vs 9 “so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it”
- The Danger – God takes His truth very seriously
- vs 11 “they must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households”
- The Demoralization – Corruption of the mind is the hallmark of the lost
- vs 15 “both their minds and consciences are corrupted”
- The Demonstration – Genuine faith is evidenced NOT by your confession buy in your character
- vs 16 “claim to know… but by their actions they deny him”
Where do you need to give attention (1=low / 9=best)?
- I have a blameless reputation
- I am a one-woman man
- I maintain discipline of my children
- I am not overbearing
- I am not quick-tempered
- I am not indulging in drunkenness
- I am not violent
- I am not dishonest in my finances
- I love what God loves
- I am hospitable
- I am self-controlled
- I am upright, holy, and disciplined
- I am able to hold to the truth of the gospel
- I am equipped to both encourage and rebuke by sound doctrine
The Church must appoint qualified leadership with intentional prioritization to a soundness of doctrine and faith because our world is saturated with opponents to the truth.