There’s a video that circulates the Internet that shows a horse trainer putting an imaginary bridle on their horse and then leading it around for a few seconds. Suddenly the horse realizes that there is no rope leading them and they run away. The horse had been conditioned to follow the trainer when a bridle was put on it, and the mere action of putting on the bridle was enough to trigger that obedience.
There’s a fable about a massive elephant who was tied up by a small rope. One day a passerby was amazed that the elephant didn’t simply break loose. So the passerby asked the trainer, why the elephant didn’t break the small rope and get free. The trainer told the person that, when the elephant was young he was tied up by the rope and tried to break free, but the young elephant wasn’t strong enough. So now that the elephant is older, it doesn’t believe it can break the rope.
Both of these stories remind me of many Christians that I’ve met. Sin has been in so much control of their actions for so long, that even when they understand that Jesus’ finish work has overcome sin, they still believe it’s holding them back. They see other believers, pastors and other ministers, and think that they could never be as spiritual as someone else.
But God has redeemed us to not only live one day without sin, but to live everyday in the power of the Holy Spirit to move away from our sinful desires and closer to the image of Christ. Because of that we, are to strive to be mature in our faith.
And it’s that striving that brings us to our second letter of our summer, the letter to Titus, starting in chapter 1 verse 1. Let’s read together Titus 1:1-5 and talk about it.
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—
The opening to the letter gives us a lot of background information on the what, where, and why of the writing.
Like 2nd Corinthians that we’ve gone through this summer, Titus is written by Paul, except this time it’s not written to a specific church, but rather to a specific person. This is one of four letters that Paul wrote to individuals, the others being Philemon, which we will also cover this summer, and 1st and 2nd Timothy. Titus, combined with the letters to Timothy, is three letter referred to as the pastoral letters. The reason why their called that, is because they are written to individuals about how to lead the local church. So the three letters are basically crash courses in local church management and leadership.
Looking at Paul’s opening, we can see this pastoral focus.
When giving his credentials, the first things Paul tells us is he’s a servant. If you’ve been with us in our 2nd Corinthians study, this should bring back what a leader is. Paul told the Corinthians that false leaders are those who demand from their people what they will not do. They want service from others, but will not serve. So Paul’s first description of himself is a servant. But not just any servant, Paul uses the words doulos (doo’-los), which is the one-to-one word for a bonded-slave. Right out of the gate, Paul is telling Titus what kind of servant of the church every leader is called to be. We are bonded-slave servants of Jesus.
After that description, then Paul references his title, an apostle of Jesus Christ. This is Paul’s role in the Body of Christ. Paul isn’t a deacon, though he does deacon work; Paul isn’t an pastor who does weekly calling and preaching, though he does those things too. No Paul is an apostle of Jesus and in this case, that means he’s a missionary and church planter who’s primary work, is sharing the Gospel with non-Jewish, or Gentile people. This informs Titus that he also has a role to fulfill.
These two roles, slave-servant and apostle of Jesus lead into purpose. This purpose is for the sake of faith, knowledge of truth which accords with godliness, and hope of eternal life. Paul’s purpose has this three part ministry. Through Paul’s work, he is helping the Church build it’s faith: that means to help the Church know, trust, and do what God has said. Paul’s work helps the Church connect their knowledge of God’s truth with acts of godliness. Both of these are underlined with the hope of eternal life. In other words, Paul’s purpose is to get the Church to walk as faithful followers of Jesus. This purpose is also Titus’ purpose, though fulfilling it in a different capacity.
However, all of this is done through God who never lies. Paul recognizes that he is under the Father and the Son as he does the ministry. He is the son’s slave-servant, and he is the minster of the Father’s truth. A truth that is not new, but has been shared throughout the centuries. This puts Paul’s and Titus’ ministries into perceptive. They’re not doing anything new, but rather are a part of a long line of proclaimers.
This leads into how Paul fulfills his slave-servant apostolic purpose by the preaching of God’s word. Paul’s primary work is through preaching. This preaching can be better understood as proclamation, or heralding. Paul is a heralder of the Gospel. This is why he doesn’t stay long in any one town. He’s closer to the role of a modern evangelist, than a modern pastor. This goes back to his role as an apostle.
After that introduction, we might be wondering, why is Paul introducing himself to someone we know that he knows so well. The letter is written to Titus, a close companion of Paul, that Paul mentions at least thirteen times in the New Testament. Nine of those are in the 2nd Corinthians letter. Hence why we are following 2nd Corinthians with Titus. Paul even calls Titus “my true child.” There is a parent-child relationship here, that one would think Paul wouldn’t need such a long drawn out introduction of himself.
Yet, there’s two things to remember about Paul’s opening. First, the letter is addressed to Titus. Paul’s opening sets up all that he’s going to talk about. It puts it in the mind of Titus, that if Paul is this servant-slave apostle, who has a purpose that’s both from God and under God, and a way by which to herald that purpose, then so does Titus.
But the other part is that this letter will most likely be read to the Church. There’s a reason why we include Titus among the New Testament writings. It contains valuable information about how to conduct leadership in the overall Church, and what believers should strive to do.
So Paul’s opening is for both Titus and the Church. The letter to Titus in what he should be doing, and to the Church for what they should be striving for. The opening reminds Titus of who Paul is and who Titus should be, and also reminds the Church that this letter comes from Paul the apostle, who has authority to write the things they should strive for.
Paul then gives a standard blessings: “Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” Paul’s desire is that the Church would experience God’s grace, that comes by way of the Father sending the Son to save all those who would trust in his work. Through that work, Paul wants the Church to experience God’s peace. Peace within the Church, and as far as Christians can, be at peace as they live out their lives in front of the unbeliever.
Everything that follows, is to help the Church experience that grace and peace. So Paul tells Titus, Paul’s purpose in leaving him in Crete was to appoint elders and by doing so to have order in the Church. Titus is a pastor, but not a stay in one place pastor. Instead he is a pastor to pastors. He is there to evaluate the spiritual condition of a local church and to install overseers who will be best for the local congregation. In this way, order can be done, because through good leadership, peace happens. When an overseer is not fulfilling their job of leading well, the local church suffers. Titus’ job is to minimize suffering and maximize peace.
So as we read through the letter to Titus, we have to understand that the goal here is the health of the local church. Everything that has to do with leadership, has an underlying call to the congregation to strive to be worthy of the call of leadership. Not that everyone wants to be a leader, or that everyone should be a leader, but everyone should be striving for the qualifications of leadership. This is because in those qualifications, are a mature faith. A faith that is strong, steady, and looking for the good of the Church.
This is what God is calling us to. We are all called to the health of the Church. We are called to know our role, and purpose to help bring about a greater experience of God’s grace and peace within the local body of believers. When we all strive for the qualifications of godly leadership, all of our goals will be for the betterment of our brothers and sisters. When we’re improving and they’re improving, all of us are lifted up. That’s God’s goal, and it’s Paul’s goal as well.
So my challenge for you this week, is to prepare. First, are you striving for the qualifications of leadership? Not the position of a leader, but the maturity that God wants in his people? Second, are you improving in your walk with God? That means are you visibly growing in faith and love of God and people. Finally, are you desiring the improvement of your fellow believers? Meaning, you are actively loving and encouraging them. This week I want to challenge you to evaluate yourself, and where you are lacking, seek the Lord to move in building you up in that area, and to encourage a brother or sisters in their walk.
God is calling us to love his Church as he loves it. That means no matter our role, our purpose is the same, we are to be a person who helps in the betterment of God’s people.
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