{"id":3496,"date":"2019-06-14T20:00:38","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T03:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=3496"},"modified":"2019-06-04T02:13:18","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T09:13:18","slug":"titus_1_1-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/titus_1_1-9\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Look for in a Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

Titus 1:1-9 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today we begin the book of Titus, a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to one of his closest disciples and teammates Titus shortly after 64 AD.\u00a0 Titus did not come from a Jewish background.\u00a0 He was Greek.\u00a0 Titus traveled with Paul on his mission trips (Galatians 2:1-3) and was a trusted assistant of Paul\u2019s.\u00a0 Afterwards, Paul left Titus to pastor the church they started in Crete.\u00a0 The book of Titus is a follow up letter from Paul to Titus where Paul instructs Titus on how to lead and teach the church in Crete.\u00a0 In it are some valuable truths and life lessons for us.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Titus 1:1-9.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Titus 1:1 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Paul, 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–<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0 God\u2019s truth is not just something God wants you to know for the sake of gaining more knowledge or for mere academic reasons.\u00a0 Rather, knowing God\u2019s truth is meant to lead to godliness.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s truth is not just informational; it\u2019s transformational.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0It is there not just to inform you, but to transform your heart, your mind and ultimately your behavior, to make you more godly, more like Christ.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Titus 1:2 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 2:\u00a0 God\u2019s intention has always been that we His creation would experience the hope of eternal life.\u00a0 So before the beginning of time, Paul says, God made a promise to make eternal life available to humankind.\u00a0 Also in this verse Paul affirms that God does not lie; in other words, you can count on God to tell the truth and to keep His promises.<\/p>\n

Titus 1:3 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 3:\u00a0 Paul clearly and confidently believes that God entrusted him with an important ministry to preach God\u2019s Word and to make it known.\u00a0 Notice that he calls God \u201cour Saviour\u201d.\u00a0 Our God is a saving God; He\u2019s not out there to condemn us, but to save us.<\/p>\n

Titus 1:4 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0To Titus, my true son in our common faith:\u00a0Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 4:\u00a0\u00a0 One of the great blessings of trusting in Jesus is that you become part of a bigger body of believers, some of whom \u2013 by virtue of their leadership role in our lives \u2013 become like parents to us in the faith.\u00a0 Such was the relationship between Paul and Titus, as Paul calls Titus \u201cmy true son in our common faith\u201d.\u00a0 Paul and Titus are experiencing the truth of Jesus\u2019 promise in Luke 18:29-30 that \u201cno one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God\u00a0will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Thank God for those who are like spiritual parents to us, for God has used them to lead us to Himself.\u00a0 Also, God wants to use you to lead others to Jesus, to have your own children in the faith who discover Jesus by watching you and learning from you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Titus 1:5 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 5:\u00a0 One of the big assignments Paul gave Titus was to appoint church leaders for every town in Crete.\u00a0 From this verse and the verses that follow we can see that Paul places a huge emphasis on picking good quality leaders, and rightly so, for nothing affects the health, growth, and direction of a church more than the quality of its leadership.\u00a0\u00a0Picking the right leaders is a hugely important task and should never be done carelessly.<\/strong>\u00a0Notice also that Paul\u2019s model for picking leaders was for those leaders to be appointed by a more senior leader after prayerful and thoughtful consideration, not voted into office by the members.\u00a0\u00a0 This model for choosing leaders for God\u2019s people is found throughout Scripture.<\/p>\n

Titus 1:6 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0An 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 6:\u00a0 Paul now begins to list characteristics that a person must have in order to be considered for church leadership.\u00a0 Paul begins by saying that an elder (i.e. a senior leader in the church) must \u201cbe blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient\u201d.\u00a0 In other words,\u00a0a church leader\u2019s ministry begins at home<\/strong>.\u00a0 If a Christian does not lead their home and family well, that Christian is not fit to lead God\u2019s family, the church.\u00a0 This is consistent with Paul\u2019s instructions to Timothy when Paul says \u201cIf anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?\u201d (1 Timothy 3:5)\u00a0 Since you are called to serve and to lead in your own way in God\u2019s kingdom,\u00a0always remember that your ministry begins at home. When you love, lead and serve those in your home with excellence, it is training for learning to love, lead and serve others outside your home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Titus 1:7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Since 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 7:\u00a0 This is the second time that Paul uses the word \u201cblameless\u201d to describe what a senior church leader should be like.\u00a0\u00a0 By \u201cblameless\u201d Paul in particular means that a senior church leader must not be overbearing, quick-tempered, given to drunkenness, violent or pursuing dishonest gain.\u00a0 Do you struggle with any of these 5 areas?\u00a0 Are you overbearing, quick-tempered, prone to drunkenness or violence, or pursuing dishonest gain?\u00a0 Since\u00a0we are all called to serve God, may we seek to be blameless and self-controlled in all these 5 areas.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Titus 1:8 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 8:\u00a0 After identifying 5 traits a church leader must NOT have (not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain), Paul goes on to identify 7 traits a church leader must have. Do these 7 traits describe you?\u00a0 Would those who deal with you describe you as hospitable, a lover of what is good, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined?\u00a0\u00a0No matter how talented, experienced, or knowledgeable a person is, it is their character \u2013 not their talent, experience or knowledge \u2013 that will ultimately determine the quality of their leadership.\u00a0 So when looking for a leader, focus more on character than on talent, experience or knowledge.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Titus 1:9 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 9:\u00a0 Paul adds that a church leader must also hold firmly to the Gospel message.\u00a0 In other words, what they believe \u2013 their doctrine — must be in line with God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 If a person\u2019s beliefs are not in line with God\u2019s Word, then no matter how strong they are in other areas, the direction they are heading in is not the direction God wants His church to be heading in, and there is no point considering that person any further for leadership in the church.\u00a0 For there will be disunity and division at a foundational level from the very beginning of that relationship.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our character \u2013 how we behave \u2013 determines the quality of our leadership.\u00a0 Our doctrine \u2013 what we believe \u2013 determines the direction of our leadership.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for showing us in Your Word what You expect to see from those who lead in Your church.\u00a0 Thank You for teaching me today that my ministry begins at home.\u00a0 May I be one who displays all the traits that a church leader must have, so that whether at home or outside the home, I can serve Your people well, be an encouraging example for others and please You with my life.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today we begin the book of Titus, a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to one of his closest disciples and teammates Titus shortly after 64 AD.\u00a0 Titus did not come from a Jewish background.\u00a0 He was Greek.\u00a0 Titus traveled with Paul on his mission trips (Galatians 2:1-3) and was a trusted assistant of Paul\u2019s.\u00a0 Afterwards, Paul left Titus to pastor the church they started in Crete.\u00a0 The book of Titus is a follow up letter from Paul to Titus where Paul instructs Titus on how to lead and teach the church in Crete.\u00a0 In it are some valuable truths and life lessons for us.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Titus 1:1-9.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Titus 1:1 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Paul, 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–<\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0 God\u2019s truth is not just something God wants you to know for the sake of gaining more knowledge or for mere academic reasons.\u00a0 Rather, knowing God\u2019s truth is meant to lead to godliness.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s truth is not just informational; it\u2019s transformational.\u00a0\u00a0It is there not just to inform you, but to transform your heart, your mind and ultimately your behavior, to make you more godly, more like Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3496"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3498,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3496\/revisions\/3498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}