Introduction: Blueprints for Growing Maturity
Titus is a book concerned with how a fledgling church grows up into the maturity of Christ. By listening to Paul’s instructions to Titus, we have the privilege of overhearing the blueprints for building a healthy, vibrant church that is a living witness of Jesus’ character and life-transforming power. It’s a perfect book for us to consider as we grow as a church, to make sure we keep in step with Spirit and build wisely according to His plans. This is especially true as we think about leadership development and choosing elders and deacons for the future. In the weeks to come, we will see that Titus is centrally concerned with fleshing out the “knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness” (1:1). Each of the three chapters concentrate on this connection in the three main spheres of Christian life: the church (chapter 1), the family (chapter 2), and the world (chapter 3).
Titus and His Task
“Titus is the most enigmatical figure in early Christian history” wrote William Ramsay. The reason for this is that, though he is clearly a significant person in Paul’s writings, we actually know very little about him. He was likely one of Paul’s traveling companions, yet Luke never mentions him in the book of Acts. We first meet Titus in Galatians, where he is at the center of Paul’s conflict with the Judiazers (Gal. 2:1-5). He is next mentioned 9 times in the book of 2 Corinthians, where he seems to have been Paul’s diplomatic envoy who was entrusted to deliver Paul’s letter of rebuke to the Corinthians and to report back their response (2 Cor. 7:6-7). Paul also entrusted Titus with the delicate responsibility of collecting the goodwill offering from the Corinthian church for the church in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8-9). He is mentioned there with great affection and confidence (2 Cor. 8:23-24).
The occasion for Paul’s writing the book of Titus is more difficult to place, but it is likely that it was following Paul’s Roman imprisonment recorded at the end of Acts. Christian tradition has it that Paul (and Timothy and Titus with him) traveled east after being released in Rome. It likely that they first visited Crete and after evangelizing there, Paul left Titus to “put what remained into order” (Titus 1:5) and then continued on to Ephesus with Timothy to discover that false teachers has arisen as he had predicted (Acts 20:29). Clearly, Titus is a proven, competent, wise, and courageous man.
The Elder and His Household
The first task Paul gives Titus is the appointment of elders for the fledgling churches they had established. It is striking that Paul’s first priority after their initial evangelization is the appointment of elders. Why is this? Elders are “overseers” of God’s household. In the Pastoral epistles the “overseer’s” twin responsibilities are to instruct and defend (vs. 9). To instruct by teaching, exhorting, rebuking and patiently persuading in sound doctrine and to defend by identifying and protecting God’s people from false teachers. Both of these responsibilities are deeply important to the health and growth of the Church. The appointment of elders is a missional activity.
Paul then gives us an essential, overarching quality of the elder/overseer: He must be above reproach. This does not denote perfection, but rather that the following qualities can be said to genuinely characterize his life. Because he is an “overseer” of God’s house, He must have the kind of character that represents the Master of the house. He must be like His Father so that he can be a father to God’s people. In what follows, it is significant that the focus isn’t on individual talents or abilities, but on lived out qualities of character forged in the presence others. How do you know if a man is above reproach? You pay attention to the way he lives with those gathered around him. You watch how he cares for those under his charge. Which is why the first test of being above reproach is the way a man stewards his own family. Notice how Paul says this explicitly in I Timothy 3:4:
“He (the overseer) must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?”
Clearly the home is the proving ground for church. Specifically, this is seen in two ways:
- Husband of one wife: Denotes both that he is faithful to her (not devoted to other women) and that she is the center of his affections (he actively pursues her).
- Faithful children who are not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination: A man’s children are the fruit of his shepherding. They are a manifestation of the way he exercises authority in his home. Significantly, the sins of debauchery and insubordination are often the fruit of two central abuses of authority: Passivity and tyranny.
The Portrait of a Faithful Steward
Finally, we are given two different clusters of vices and virtues that an elder “must not/must” possess. These bring into sharp focus the contrast between a life that is undisciplined and self-serving and one that exemplifies self-mastery for the purpose of serving others.
Self-Serving Qualities:
- Self-willed or arrogant (2 Pet. 2:10), inclined to anger or quick-tempered (James 1:19-20), a drunkard or pugnacious (Prov. 25:28), greedy for money (I Tim. 5:9-10; Mt. 6:24).
Self-Giving Qualities:
- Hospitable (literally a lover of strangers), lover of what is good (1 Tim. 4:4; Phil. 3:8), prudent or thoughtful (related to self-control), practices righteousness (just), pleasing to God/devout (holy), and disciplined (I Cor. 9:24-27).
“Paul has sketched out with these few well-chosen words the characteristics that must mark an ‘overseer’: He must love people and equally love virtue. He must be wise and prudent, must live in accordance with God’s law, must be devoted to God and seek to please Him, and must manifest genuine self-control. With this blend of characteristics, the Christian leader is equipped by God’s grace to exercise the kind of oversight that a steward in God’s house, the church should exercise.” – George W. Knight III
Paul knew that appointing shepherds who demonstrate the character of Jesus was of first importance for growth and health of the Church. All of us should honor these qualities and strive to embody them in our own lives, because godly elders are living pictures of the generosity of our heavenly Father who has given the substance of His house for us.