Daily Bread Titus 1
Titus' Task on Crete
5The 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. 6An 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. 7Since 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. 8Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9He 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.
Observation:
Paul is again giving instruction to another one of his mentees, Titus, who apparently was an overseer (also the word for bishop) for many different churches. Paul specifically identifies several types of traits that should be present as Titus calls/appoints several different types of leaders including: bishops (overseers), elders, and deacons (ministers) and pastors (shepherds).
The New Testament model of church used a plurality of leaders to shepherd and guide the Church. These include: (bishops or overseers) which seemed to be an office of oversight, as well elders, who were mature in the faith and provided an example to the flock and often taught, pastors and teachers (who fed the flock with pure teaching and cared/nurtured believers as well), and deacons (who carried out many of the physical, menial aspects of ministry ie. feeding the widows).
The terms for elder, bishop and pastor are used fairly interchangeably. But one thing is clear; all of these leaders are expected to be mature in their own faith, as evidenced by strong marriages and living above reproach outside of the church in their every day life. Paul is clear that those who are lacking in those traits are not fit for spiritual leadership.
Application:
What is interesting is that Paul envisions many leaders providing for leadership and spiritual oversight in the church, not just one person. Yes there were those called to lead and provide oversight, even over groups of churches in regions like Paul, Timothy and Titus, but there were many layers of accountability.
Today, we often see more a business/CEO model of leadership, especially in many big churches. A common theme heard this type of church is, “where does the buck stop?” I don’t get the feeling from reading about early church, that there was ever intended to be one person where the “buck” stopped. Well maybe there was but that person was our “chief shepherd, our “chief overseer”, Jesus Christ!
I wonder what that would look like in our churches if we had more of a plurality of leadership based on the offices of deacons, elders and bishops (overseers). In my current denomination, local bishops are fairly removed from the ministry in the local congregation. The running joke is you only see the bishop if someone is in trouble. It seems in these descriptions that the bishops were more localized, and had a more active role in providing hands on spiritual oversight and teaching in the local church.
As we continue to see the church changing, returning to this model that we see in the early church might be a healthier model involving more ownership and developing of key leaders in the church. This might help people to look more to Jesus as the true Chief Shepherd, not a person/personality. We are also reminded that anyone who is called to be a leader in the church in any of these roles will ultimately be accountable to this Chief Shepherd. As the apostle Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 5, “Be a faithful shepherd over the flock God has entrusted to you and when the Lord returns you will receive a crown of glory that will never fade away.”
Prayer: God I pray for our churches, that you would raise up leaders who can fulfill the calling of deacons, elders, overseers and pastors and teachers. We know that many in the church are hungry to be fed and led by godly examples, who have been anointed and gifted by You and the Holy Spirit to lead the church into the 21st century. May you call more and more faithful leaders to lead and guide the bride of Christ! Amen.
5The 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. 6An 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. 7Since 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. 8Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9He 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.
Observation:
Paul is again giving instruction to another one of his mentees, Titus, who apparently was an overseer (also the word for bishop) for many different churches. Paul specifically identifies several types of traits that should be present as Titus calls/appoints several different types of leaders including: bishops (overseers), elders, and deacons (ministers) and pastors (shepherds).
The New Testament model of church used a plurality of leaders to shepherd and guide the Church. These include: (bishops or overseers) which seemed to be an office of oversight, as well elders, who were mature in the faith and provided an example to the flock and often taught, pastors and teachers (who fed the flock with pure teaching and cared/nurtured believers as well), and deacons (who carried out many of the physical, menial aspects of ministry ie. feeding the widows).
The terms for elder, bishop and pastor are used fairly interchangeably. But one thing is clear; all of these leaders are expected to be mature in their own faith, as evidenced by strong marriages and living above reproach outside of the church in their every day life. Paul is clear that those who are lacking in those traits are not fit for spiritual leadership.
Application:
What is interesting is that Paul envisions many leaders providing for leadership and spiritual oversight in the church, not just one person. Yes there were those called to lead and provide oversight, even over groups of churches in regions like Paul, Timothy and Titus, but there were many layers of accountability.
Today, we often see more a business/CEO model of leadership, especially in many big churches. A common theme heard this type of church is, “where does the buck stop?” I don’t get the feeling from reading about early church, that there was ever intended to be one person where the “buck” stopped. Well maybe there was but that person was our “chief shepherd, our “chief overseer”, Jesus Christ!
I wonder what that would look like in our churches if we had more of a plurality of leadership based on the offices of deacons, elders and bishops (overseers). In my current denomination, local bishops are fairly removed from the ministry in the local congregation. The running joke is you only see the bishop if someone is in trouble. It seems in these descriptions that the bishops were more localized, and had a more active role in providing hands on spiritual oversight and teaching in the local church.
As we continue to see the church changing, returning to this model that we see in the early church might be a healthier model involving more ownership and developing of key leaders in the church. This might help people to look more to Jesus as the true Chief Shepherd, not a person/personality. We are also reminded that anyone who is called to be a leader in the church in any of these roles will ultimately be accountable to this Chief Shepherd. As the apostle Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 5, “Be a faithful shepherd over the flock God has entrusted to you and when the Lord returns you will receive a crown of glory that will never fade away.”
Prayer: God I pray for our churches, that you would raise up leaders who can fulfill the calling of deacons, elders, overseers and pastors and teachers. We know that many in the church are hungry to be fed and led by godly examples, who have been anointed and gifted by You and the Holy Spirit to lead the church into the 21st century. May you call more and more faithful leaders to lead and guide the bride of Christ! Amen.
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