For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge;
if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly.
For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;
but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled;
holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers.
For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons.
This testimony is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.
To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
They profess that they know God; but by their works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Last night, we mentioned that Titus was a young man raised up by God to become a useful vessel in the hand of God. Most probably, he was a native of Antioch. He came to the Lord through the instrumentality of the Apostle Paul, and he received his spiritual education in the church there in Antioch.
Now, brothers and sisters, we find that not only Titus but also Timothy—these two young men who were raised up by God—were trained, in the beginning stages of their spiritual lives, in the local assemblies where they were.
It seems, according to the New Testament, that the local assembly where you are is the best training ground for you. God does not seem to be so much interested in mass production. Rather, He is interested in raising people up one by one in a most practical environment.
So, wherever God has put you, among the brothers and sisters where you are, this is the place where your training to be a vessel of God should begin.
You know, a lot of people try to look somewhere else to be trained. They forget that the place where God has put them is their training ground. How often you find people miss the training that God wants to give them.
So take every opportunity for the training that God gives to each of us in the place where we are.
Evidently, Titus was trained in this way. His character was built up and developed in the local assembly in Antioch. He made such progress, and it was so manifest that there was such good Christian character in this young man that Paul felt safe to bring him to Jerusalem as exhibit number one for the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, without the interference of the law.
We find how this young man served as a good specimen there. From that time onward, in the New Testament, we find how he began to be used by the Lord in his working together with the Apostle Paul. Paul sent him through various difficult situations to be almost like a spiritual troubleshooter, and God used him in a very real way.
When we analyze his life and try to find the secret of his usefulness before God, we find that it comes down to a good, solid Christian character. He was a young man with a very well-rounded character: diligent, faithful, sober-minded, and not afraid to work.
You know, some people are afraid of working. But here you find a young man who was not afraid to confront the most difficult situations—level-headed, but not foolish; patient, but firm.
With such good character, he was able to be used by God. So I do hope that, as we are before the Lord together, we may underline this matter of character as we should when we come to the matter of serving the Lord.
After Paul was released from the Roman prison, he began to travel and visit different places. He came to Crete, where there were a number of believers scattered in various cities. Paul began to work in their midst, trying to build them up in the Lord, but he was not able to finish that work. So he left Titus behind.
This is the setting in which we receive Paul’s letter to Titus. We mentioned last night that God has only one work to do, and this one work of God has been carried on from the very beginning of the history of mankind to the very end, which is the New Jerusalem.
In our time, this work is centered upon the building of the house of God. In building the house of God, God, being a most practical God, does the work mainly in the local assembly.
It is true that one day we will find the universal church fully manifested. But today, God’s work for the building of the house of God is centered upon the building of the local assemblies.
That is why, when we read the Book of Acts, we find that in the building of the house of God, God begins with the church in Jerusalem. Then He works through the churches in Judea, Samaria, Antioch, and Philippi.
God’s work is with these local assemblies. By building up these local assemblies, God is building the universal church, His house.
When we come to the Book of Revelation, we find the same thing. In Revelation 2 and 3, we find the seven churches in Asia. One like the Son of Man walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, and every lampstand represents a local assembly.
The seven churches in Asia were actual, real local assemblies. Our Lord walked in the midst of these seven churches. There He examined them, exhorted them, warned them, helped them, tried to restore them, and called them to repentance. He was doing everything He could with these seven assemblies.
Every lampstand represents a local assembly, and every one is responsible directly to Him, Who is the Head of the church.
But when you come to the end of the Book of Revelation, you do not find seven lampstands anymore. You find only one giant lampstand: the New Jerusalem. The city of New Jerusalem is a giant lampstand. The twelve foundations serve as its base; the city is the lampstand; the Lamb is the lamp; and God is the light.
In other words, all the practical work in the building of God’s house is done in the local assembly. When that work is completed, eventually the universal church is built—the city with foundations that God builds is finished.
So here we find the same thing. Paul left Titus behind in Crete to build up the local churches on the island of Crete. In doing this practical work, he was actually engaged in the building of the universal church. He was being used by God in building the city with foundations.
Wherever people are saved, they are gathered together for the name of the Lord. Out of every nation, every tribe, every tongue, and every people, God is gathering a people out and gathering them together unto Himself.
That is the meaning of ekklesia, the meaning of the church. It is not God’s will that we are merely saved and remain as individual believers. It is true that we must be saved individually and personally. Nobody can be saved for you or for me. A husband cannot be saved for his wife, nor a wife for her husband; parents cannot be saved for their children, nor children for their parents. They can be helped, but they cannot be substituted for.
But after we are saved, it is not God’s will that we should remain as individual believers. The life that we receive is a life together. We share the same life, even the life of our Lord, and we are to be gathered together as His body. He is our Head.
So wherever God’s people are saved, they are not supposed to remain isolated as individuals. They are supposed to be together.
What do they do when they are together? In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, we find 120 individual believers. They were there together—praying, waiting, preparing, and believing. Then the Holy Spirit came upon them.
That is the mystery of Pentecost. That is the real meaning of Pentecost. Oftentimes, when we think of Pentecost, we are attracted by the sound and the sight: the mighty rushing wind from heaven and tongues like fire falling upon the head of each believer.
Thank God those things did happen. But the real significance of Pentecost is deeper than the sight and the sound. There you find 120 individual believers baptized in one Spirit into one body—the body of Christ.
That is the marvel of Pentecost. How can 120 individuals become a body with 120 members? It is a great difference. It is no longer a congregation of 120 members; it becomes a body of interdependent members. There is a difference of heaven and earth.
In one Spirit they were baptized into one body. Then, on that same day, God added 3,000 to that body.
What did they do? In Acts 2:42, it says that those who believed continued steadfastly in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
We know that the teaching of the apostles is none other than the teaching of Christ, because they took what they received from Christ and communicated it to us. We know that the fellowship of the apostles is none other than the fellowship of Christ.
John said in 1 John 1:3:
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us:
yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
So the fellowship of the apostles is the fellowship of Christ. This teaching and fellowship of the apostles is expressed basically in two things: in the breaking of bread and in prayer.
The early disciples often came together. They broke bread every day, even at every meal. In the beginning of Acts, we find how they came together to pray. Whenever they had a problem, they came together to pray. They were a praying people.
In this way, they gradually grew and developed.
In the beginning, you do not find rules or regulations given to these churches. As a matter of fact, you find that God’s people came together very often—much more often than we do today. Modern life, actually, is not very conducive to spiritual growth.
In those early days, they met every day. They were together. While they were together, they prayed, exhorted one another, and strengthened one another.
Except in 1 Corinthians 14, which gives us a little hint of how they met in a particular kind of meeting, you do not find detailed regulations. They met in prayer and in the breaking of bread, but there was no rule, no program, and no set regulation given.
The Holy Spirit led them. While they were together, they were very free—free to grow, with no inhibition.
But as they began to grow, not only in number but also in life, a divine order began to evolve in their midst. In the beginning there was no rule and no regulation. The Holy Spirit was the One in full charge.
As life began to grow, divine order began to grow out of that organic body. It was not something imposed upon them. It was not something organized in the very beginning. It was not something regulated from the outset by laying down rules and regulations.
On the contrary, in the beginning it was simply life together, and life grows. But as life grows to a certain degree, a certain order begins to appear.
That is why, in this matter of elders, you do not find that wherever God’s people begin to come together, elders are immediately present. In the church in Jerusalem, the deacons seem to have come first because there was a need.
They were not called deacons at that time, of course, but the seven men chosen to take care of the tables were doing the work of deacons. Still, there were no elders appointed. It was only later that elders appeared in the church in Jerusalem.
Even when Barnabas and Paul were sent out to do the work to which the Holy Spirit had called them among the Gentiles, they traveled from city to city. People were saved, and people met together. Yet Paul and Barnabas did not leave behind rules and regulations telling them how to meet, what to do, what not to do, and who could do what.
They were simply left to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit developed them, and their life grew. Then, when Paul and Barnabas came back, they could see that divine order had begun to be manifested in their midst. They began to recognize some as leaders, as elders.
Not only in this matter of elders, but in the whole matter of order, you find that it comes in this way.
There must be order. That is why Paul left Titus in Crete: to set the house of God in order. There were believers, there were meetings, and they were together; but somehow there was no order. Everything was in disorder.
The apostle felt that the time had come for the house to be set in order.
You know, dear brothers and sisters, sometimes we are afraid to hear the word order. Maybe it is a reaction. We have been under human order for such a long time, even in our Christianity, that somehow, when we hear the word order, we rebel against it.
We tend to go to the other extreme and feel that the spiritual thing is to be without order. The more disorder there is, the more spiritual it is supposed to be. Somehow, we get to the other extreme, as if anything that speaks of order must be dead, not living, and unspiritual.
Now, it is a reaction. It is true that if order is imposed from outside, organized by man, and governed by rules and regulations, it tends to be legalistic and formal. It binds people, and it is deadly. That is true.
But it does not mean that to be spiritual is to be disordered. As a matter of fact, disorder is a sign of the flesh. Our God is a God of order. He is not a God of confusion.
The difference is that divine order is the result of the growth of life. As life begins to grow, there is an inherent order in that life.
If that order is not understood or followed, it will hinder the further growth of life. But if that order is recognized and followed, the whole body—the whole church—will grow normally and grow faster.
There comes a stage when the house of God has to be set in order. Otherwise, there is no building up.
When you build a house, there is bound to be order. You cannot simply throw a brick here and a piece of wood there, just throwing everything together in disorder. That will not make a building. A building has to do with order.
This includes our relationship with the Head, Christ; our relationship with one another; our place in the house of God; our responsibility; our privilege; the way we function; and how our gifts should function.
The matter of leadership is based on life. Therefore, you cannot hurry it. The best way to put things in order is to help develop the life in the brothers and sisters. As you help develop life in them, divine order becomes possible.
For this reason, Paul was not able to finish the work of putting the house in order in Crete. He left Titus behind, and even at the end of the letter to Titus, Paul had to send somebody else to continue the work. Evidently, it was not finished yet.
So I do hope, brothers and sisters, that we will not swing to the other extreme, thinking that to be in order is not spiritual or is less spiritual. Rather, we should see what divine order really is. It is the order of life, and life has to be ordered in order to fulfill its full growth.
Titus was left behind to set the house of God in order. In setting the house of God in order, there are four areas that seem to be essential. The first area is the area of leadership.
Sometimes we think the church is a democracy, a free-for-all gathering. Again, that is a reaction. Traditional Christianity may be so ordered by human organization that there is no freedom whatsoever. Everything is programmed. Everything is in the hand, perhaps, of the pastor, and what is expected of you is simply to be a good supporter.
When you come out of that kind of bondage, perhaps you go to the other extreme. You say, “Now I am meeting with brothers and sisters together. Now I have freedom. It is free for all. Everybody can do what he or she wants to do.”
If you want to sing a hymn you like very much, you can ask the brothers and sisters to sing it with you every time, no matter what meeting it is, because it is your favorite hymn. Or, if you have a favorite subject, you may weary the ears of the brothers and sisters every time with that favorite subject.
It becomes free-for-all democracy. There is no order, no leadership, no authority, and no submission. Everyone is a chief; there are no Indians. And we feel this is church.
Recently, I heard a brother say, “Now we are a real church.” By that he meant that it was not controlled or ruled by a pastor or a board of deacons, but that everybody could say what he wanted to say. Thank God, we are a real church. There is no such thing as a real church in that sense.
Being the house of God, there is order. The first thing Paul left Titus behind to set right was the matter of appointing elders.
Of course, as you read the letters of Paul, whether to Timothy or to Titus, I think it is clear that Paul’s emphasis is not really on the office of elders. His emphasis is on the functions of eldership.
I would like to enlarge that word. Instead of concentrating only on elders, let us broaden it and use another word: leaders. Elders are leaders.
There are leaders in the church who are not elders, nor even deacons. In Acts 15, after the council in Jerusalem, the apostles and elders wrote a letter to the churches in the Gentile world concerning the controversy over circumcision and the law.
When they sent the letter through Paul and Barnabas, two leaders from the church in Jerusalem went out with them. They were not elders, and they were not apostles at that time. They were leaders.
So leadership in the church includes more than elders. But, of course, elders represent the leadership of the local assembly. To set the house in order, one thing that is essential is the matter of leadership.
Why is it essential? As we have already mentioned, the church is not a democracy. It is true that the Lord Himself is the Head of the church, but He does delegate His authority to those whom He chooses as leaders.
Leadership is not everything in the church, but leadership has great influence on the progress of the church.
When you have good leadership—strong, spiritual, sacrificial leadership—in the church, that church is blessed and that church will grow. But when leadership is weak, or there is no leadership, the church tends to drift. It becomes vague and nebulous, and its growth is somehow hindered.
So leadership is essential. Even when you go back to the Old Testament, you find that with the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah, whenever God raised up a good king, the whole nation was blessed. But when they had a wicked king, the whole nation entered into a curse. Leadership has great influence.
Again, I want to emphasize that leadership is not everything. Some people go to the other extreme, as if leadership is the church. They let the leaders decide everything and do everything, while all the brothers and sisters sit back and enjoy.
No, that is another extreme. Every brother and sister must be a living, functioning member of the church. Every talent must be used.
Leadership in the church is always plural. The elders are always in the plural number. Why? Because the Lord Himself is the Leader. He does not allow one man to substitute for Him, to represent Him to the point that the man substitutes for Him.
There is always that danger. So you find collective leadership—the elders in the plural number. But leadership is important in the growth of the church.
Spiritual leadership is not something that man can make or appoint.
I want to read something written by J. Oswald Sanders. He was formerly the director of the China Inland Mission. This is what he said about leadership:
Spiritual leaders are not made by election or appointment, by any combination of men, nor by conferences or synods. Only God can make them.
Spiritual leadership is a thing of the Spirit and is conferred by God alone. When His searching eye lights on a man who has qualified, He anoints him with His Spirit and separates him to His distinguished ministry.
Leadership is not made by man. Leadership is chosen by God. God is sovereign. He sovereignly raises up leadership in the church.
I like that story very much. I will repeat it. Saint Francis of Assisi was a man raised up by God and used greatly by God.
One day, another brother asked him a question. I think his name was Masseo. He said to Saint Francis, “Why is it that, among all the people, God would use you? Why do people listen to you and follow you? Why is it?”
Saint Francis, as usual—sometimes he was so childlike—became full of joy and said, “Do you know why? Because God’s eyes are looking to and fro throughout the whole earth, trying to find among sinners and saints one who is more useless, more nothing.”
“He could not find anyone more useless than me. That is the reason why He uses me, so that no man can boast.”
Very true. We think that people born with leadership, bold leaders born with talents, will certainly become leaders. Not so.
In the world, it may be so. But when you come to the church, when you come to spiritual leadership, you find that this is not true.
By outward appearance, natural leadership and spiritual leadership may sometimes seem similar. Yet there are basic differences.
In natural leadership, leaders are self-confident. But in spiritual leadership, the leader is confident in God.
In natural leadership, leaders know men. They study human psychology. They know how to maneuver and make use of men. But spiritual leadership knows God.
Natural leadership makes its own decisions. Leaders are decisive; people who are always wavering cannot be good leaders. But spiritual leadership seeks to find God’s will.
Natural leadership is ambitious, but spiritual leadership is self-effacing. Natural leadership originates its own methods, but spiritual leadership finds and follows God’s method.
Natural leadership enjoys commanding others. Spiritual leadership delights to obey God. Natural leadership is motivated by personal considerations; spiritual leadership is motivated by love for God and man.
Natural leadership is independent. Spiritual leadership is God-dependent. Only God appoints leadership.
I like what A. W. Tozer wrote about spiritual leadership. I think it is among the best things I know on leadership.
A true and safe leader is likely to be one who has no desire to lead, but is thrust into a position of leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the press of the external situation.
That was where Moses and David and the Old Testament prophets stood. I think there was hardly a great leader from Paul to the present day but was drafted by the Holy Spirit for the task and commissioned by the Lord of the church to fill a position for which he had little heart.
I believe it might be accepted as a fairly reliable rule of thumb that a man who is ambitious to lead is disqualified as a leader.
The true leader will have no desire to lord it over God’s heritage, but will be humble, gentle, self-sacrificing, and altogether as ready to follow as to lead when the Spirit makes it clear that a wiser and more gifted man than himself has appeared.
I think that is beautiful, and that is true. There is the difference between spiritual leadership and natural leadership. Spiritual leadership is raised up by God.
Now, if that is the case, what should our reaction be? If spiritual leadership is sovereignly raised up by God, do we simply sit back and wait until God raises up spiritual leaders? In other words, can we be passive in this matter?
But the truth of God is very well balanced. On the one hand, it is true that nobody can make himself a leader or make others leaders. Even when the apostles appointed elders, they did not appoint them arbitrarily. They did not appoint them because they liked them.
They appointed them because they discerned that the Holy Spirit had manifested these men as leaders. They only recognized what the Holy Spirit had manifested. It was not arbitrary at all.
Nobody can make another person a leader or make himself a leader. It is God Who calls. It is God Who chooses. It is God Who raises up.
Yet this does not mean that we should adopt a passive attitude. On the contrary, we should pray that the Lord will raise up leaders among His people.
Have we really prayed that the Lord would raise up leaders? Suppose a group of believers is meeting together and finds that there are no leaders among them. Because of that, things do not move on as they should. What do you do?
Do you simply begin to appoint someone as a leader? Or, if you know that this should not be done, do you sit back and say, “Let us wait until the Lord raises up leaders,” and leave the church to drift?
No, we have a responsibility to work together with God. If we see that there is a need for leadership, we should definitely pray that the Lord of the house will raise up people as leaders.
Not only should we pray, but we should consider the direction Paul gave to Titus. He said, “Appoint elders in every city.” What kind of persons should you look for? He gave a list.
That is not an exhaustive list; it is illustrative. Yet even in that illustrative list there are fifteen different qualities or qualifications.
Why are these qualifications of an elder given in Scripture? On the one hand, they help us to look for people whom God has qualified so that they may be leaders.
But on the other hand, these qualifications were given to Titus and Timothy for more than merely recognizing people whom God had raised up as leaders. They were also given to enable these young workers to develop these qualities in the lives of the brethren.
Leadership is the prerogative of God. God decides whom He will choose and raise up as leaders. It is not something open for striving. God reserves that prerogative to Himself.
But God never does anything without reason. First, He works certain qualities in some people, and when these qualities are present, He chooses them as leaders.
So we are not to be passive. We are required to work together with God. God chooses, but we are to discern. If we are in a position to help, we have the responsibility to help develop these qualities in the lives of the brothers so that they will be qualified in God’s eyes to be leaders.
These two things work together.
I believe Titus was left there not merely to look among the brothers for those who already had these qualifications and then appoint them as elders. If that were all he did, what would happen if he could not find anyone?
I believe he was left behind not only to discern, but also to develop. If these qualities were already there, recognize them. But if they were not there, develop them.
This is a tremendous work. As a matter of fact, this is the way our Lord Jesus worked. In order to reach the masses, He concentrated on the twelve.
In order to build up the church, we need to concentrate on those who show the potential of leadership, because then they will be used by God to lead the people in the right way.
As you look into these qualifications—altogether fifteen of them—you will find that, aside from two which may speak of ability or gift, the rest are all related to character.
In the world, when you choose leaders, ability is the foremost quality. It is the most important element. But in the house of God, you find that it is not gift, nor ability, that is basic. It is spirituality.
We know that spirituality is not gift. Spirituality is character. Not because some people are very gifted should we think they are very spiritual.
Look at the church in Corinth. They were probably the most gifted among all the churches. Even Paul, in writing 1 Corinthians, said that they were rich in all utterance and knowledge and were not lacking in any gift.
Yet their disorder was not caused by a lack of gifts, but by an abundance of gifts.
Even in Romans 12, among the gifts, we find: “He that ruleth, with diligence.” Leadership is a gift according to grace. But when you come to this matter of spiritual leadership, gift is involved only in a much smaller measure than character.
If you go through the list, you will find that it describes a well-rounded character.
Perhaps I should say something more. As you go through the list, you may think that the whole list speaks of morality: husband of one wife, blameless, not self-willed, not a striker, not given to wine, and things like that. These seem to be moral qualities.
But we have to remember that there is a difference between morality and spirituality.
I use this word in context, so you understand what I am trying to say. Spirituality does not mean that one is immoral or beyond morality. Some people have a kind of super-spiritual thinking that, because they are spiritual, they are beyond morality and can be immoral. Not so.
As a matter of fact, spirituality must exceed what morality requires. But there is still a difference. A person who does not have Christ can develop himself into a moral being.
There are people who do not know the Lord who are husbands of one wife. They do not have many wives. But that does not qualify them as elders. Otherwise, you could take all the so-called good men in society and make them elders.
No. These qualifications are not natural morality. These qualifications are the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in incorporating Christ into their lives.
In other words, these are expressions of Christ—the character of Christ. They are not the product of an individual’s natural disposition. Rather, they come from the new life developed by the Holy Spirit through the working of the cross in their lives.
Out of that comes the character of Christ being expressed. So we call them spiritual elders.
It is different. It is not dead morality; it is living spirituality. These are not the expressions of the good side of Adam. These are manifestations of Christ in life.
We need real character—the character of Christ. When this character is developed in the lives of some people, and these characteristics begin to appear, then God will choose them as leaders, because leaders must serve as examples to the rest. They must lead by example.
Socially, they must be above reproach: “If any man is blameless.” “For the overseer must be blameless, as God’s steward.”
That does not mean they are perfect. No one is perfect. But leaders, socially speaking, must be above reproach. They must have a good name, a good reputation, and a good testimony in the eyes of the world.
Why? Because they are God’s stewards. They are stewards of the mysteries of God. It is a tremendous responsibility. If they have some blemish, something that people can hold against them, it will bring disgrace to the name of the Lord.
Therefore, socially, they must be above reproach.
Morally, they must be the husband of one wife. There was a background for this, because in those days many people had more than one wife. But here you find the standard: there must be moral purity in marital relationships.
They must not be given to wine, not strikers, and not seeking gain by base means. In other words, they must be people of self-control and self-discipline.
We know that self-discipline and self-control are actually Spirit-control. They cannot simply do whatever their flesh wants to do. The lusts and passions of the flesh are crucified with Christ.
Temperamentally, they must not be self-willed or soon angry. Mentally, they must be discreet and sound-minded.
Just, pious, and temperate: out of a sound mind comes sound conduct.
Domestically, they are to have believing children who are not accused of riot or unruliness. This probably has something to do with rule, gift, and talent.
Finally, doctrinally speaking, they must hold fast the faithful word according to the doctrine taught, so that they may be able both to exhort in sound teaching and to refute the gainsayers.
So, among all the qualifications, there may be one or two related to gift and ability, but the emphasis is still on character.
Those in whose lives the character of Christ has been developed are qualified and will be chosen by God as leaders in the church. We need to recognize them.
One problem with the church today is that our minds are so democratic. We think everyone is equal. In one sense, yes: as far as God’s grace and life are concerned, we are all equal.
But when you come to the matter of responsibility, there is order. God does set authority in the church. We need to know how to submit ourselves to one another and to those whom God has set among us.
That is divine order, and it is something we need to recognize. We need to recognize Christ, as it were, in the lives of certain brothers. When we recognize Christ in these brothers, we submit ourselves to Christ, not merely to the brothers.
It is important. Otherwise, the order of the house cannot be established.
Yet there is a need for development. As you read the Book of Titus, you find a great contrast. Paul said to Titus, “Look for these qualities. When you find these qualities, appoint them as elders, because they are leaders whom God has raised up.”
But when you read on, what do you find among the believers in Crete? In Titus 1:10, Paul says:
For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons.
From history, people trace that prophet to Epimenides. He was considered a prophet among the Cretans, and in his writings he described his own people as always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.
Not very good character. The national character of the Cretans was very poor. We even have the word “Cretanize,” which means “to lie.” They were known as natural liars.
They were evil and wicked. When they wanted to get something for themselves, they were ruthless. They did not care whether other people suffered, so long as they got what they wanted. They were lazy and greedy.
These were the natural characteristics of the Cretans. Added to this, many Jews had settled in Crete. These Judaizers, who were of the circumcision, taught things that ought not to be taught. They subverted whole houses and led minds into Jewish fables.
In Jewish circles, there were many fables about Moses, Elijah, and many other things. People got involved in all kinds of hair-splitting legalistic matters.
These two elements came together, and you can see the combination. Naturally, the Cretans were like this, and they were further confused by these Judaizers.
In 1 Timothy, you remember that Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to warn some who taught what they should not teach. But in Crete, it was not some; it was many—many unruly, vain speakers and deceivers of people’s minds.
They had a real problem. With such a background, thank God they were saved. But even after they were saved, their character had to be transformed. It was not easy.
One thing that shows the power and glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ is this: even with the Cretans as they were, God was looking for some who would have such sterling character.
Is that not marvelous? What the gospel can do! What the grace of God can do! It can transform these Cretans completely and qualify them to be leaders in the church.
Wonderful. God never lowers His standard and says, “Because these people have such poor qualities, look for something less.” No. He is looking for Christ in them, because they have Christ in them.
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
On the one hand, you find the power and glory of the gospel. On the other hand, you see the problem: it really took time. That is why Paul could not finish that work, and neither could Titus. It took time to develop such character.
But God can develop such character. He is able to do it if we are yielded to Him.
So, brothers and sisters, when we read these things, I hope they will not give us a kind of despair, causing us to think, “If that is the case, who can be a leader? Certainly I am not qualified.”
Yes, we are not qualified in ourselves, but God can qualify us by the working of the Holy Spirit through the cross, working Christ into us.
Actually, leadership is Christ—Christ’s character. Gifts and talents are helpful, but they are not the basic foundation for leadership.
May the Lord raise up leaders in every assembly: leaders whom the Lord has called, whom the Lord has equipped, and who are willing to give themselves sacrificially to the Lord and to His people.
When you have such leadership, you find that the house of God can be set in order.
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou art the One Who is the Leader in the church, and Thou dost equip and qualify some people to be leaders of Thy people.
Actually, it is Thou Thyself in them that leads. So we pray that, as we are here together seeking to know Thy mind and desiring to work together with Thee in Thy work of building the house of God, Thou wouldst raise up leaders for Thy people.
We pray that Thou wouldst work in the lives of Thy people in such a way that Christ may be manifested, recognized, and followed.
We want Thy church to be set in order. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.