Paul’s introduction of himself in Titus is a bit unusual and worth noting. Paul begins by saying, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness, in the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began-- in due time he revealed his word through the proclamation with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior,” Titus 1:1-3 NRSV. Paul, a servant, an apostle for the sake of faith and knowledge of truth and godliness as entrusted by the command of God. WOW.
This epistle is written to another on of Paul’s children in the faith - Titus. Titus was left behind in Crete by Paul, “that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you:” Titus 1:5b.
An Elder was an over seer that had specific duties and qualifications. They are as follows, “someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. For a bishop, as God's steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it." Titus 1:6-9 NRSV. Quite a list of requirements for a job that will lead to poverty and persecution, don’t you think?
Paul speaks very harshly about those from Crete or the Cretans as he calls them. Paul quotes a Philosopher from Crete named Epimenides when he says, "Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons." Titus 1:12b. I do not believe this blanket statement to be true, but it shows the heart of Paul when he coaches Titus to impose harsh discipline in the church to make sure the lesser nature of the people was straightened out.
From this first chapter it seems Titus is caught in a tough ministry field, surrounded by Cretans and opposed by Judaisers. Makes me glad I am in Boonville surrounded by the folks I call my neighbors!
About Me
- Pastor Bill
- I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ, a happy husband, father and grandfather!
4 comments:
I haven't checked in recently because of technical difficulties. I am glad everything is now up and running. As I read the Epistles I wonder why God didn't send his Son in the 21st century. Just think how fast word would have spread. Paul could have kept in touch with the new church through email. But , I guess one person telling another person face to face is the real heart of God's plan.
Hi Darlynne,
It is good to be back on line here!
There is a story about the advantages of each one reaching one as the evangelism plan.
If one person met and shared the gospel with one person, and discipled that person for a year, then the two of them repeated the process for another year. If this process continued for less than 40 years over 6 billion people, the earths population, would be saved and discipled!
Thanks for checking back in!
Bill
I find the 'job requirement' list interesting too. It is interesting to see how the church 'hierarchy' emerges in the early years, the sorting out of ministry.
Wow, quite the introduction for Paul. Bold, but true, and honest. It's great.
Funny how you put the whole job requirements into perspective. What's good though, is that there are pretty tough requirements for ordination and stuff. It's not a job of great glamour for most of the world though is it? It's definitely not the one where you make the most money, right? :-p. Have you ever heard the story where three boys are arguing about how much money their dads make? The one boy says, "my dad is an executive of a big company and he makes six figures in a year." The second boy says "That's nothing, my dad is a surgeon and makes $5,000 when he's in surgery for just a few hours." The third boy says "Well I can beat that! My father's a pastor - he talks for 15 minutes and it takes four people to collect all the money!" haha
Gets me every time.
Paul does put a tough list of requirements for elders - but we are certainly held to a high standard as Christians, especially teachers of Christianity. People are watching you all the time, and notice your every move. You are representing something that Christ died for to create - so it's no wonder the requirements would be tough. Interesting history.
It's also pretty awesome that we have such a great situation to speak the gospel in now - so many great and supportive people around.
It is the 21st centurty, but we still have so much trouble speaking the gospel, because the world is full of doubting Thomas's. It's not easy!
Talk to you soon!
Marsh
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