A Church in Order

Titus 1:5-9 “A Church in Order”

Have you ever been in one of those awkward situations? Like the one I am in today, speaking on the qualifications for pastors? That is the beauty of preaching straight through books of the Bible. You preach what God has written in the order that God has placed it. There are sermons that are enjoyable…some serious…and some awkward. Love and wrath, grace and judgment, heaven and hell, and the politically incorrect all come up one time or another. As we have studied Psalms together on Sunday evening, speaking on grief in Psalm was hard but good. This evening, I am excited about Psalm 8, our first psalm of praise.

This is a topic that must be tackled. Selecting biblically-qualified church leaders has always been vital for the health of the church. Even though it is the pastor speaking about being a pastor, we all need to know and to obey what is written here. I would like to mention 2 things before we read the passage: 1. This is an information heavy sermon…but so is the text. A whole bunch of qualifications for pastors. 2. I will raise some questions that we do not have time to answer. There are some roads we just don’t have the time to travel this morning.

Read Titus 1:5-9

I want to present these verses under 3 parts. First, the title of the pastor, second, the traits of a pastor, and third, the teaching of the pastor.

1. Title
Just to give you an overview of where we are in Titus. In verse 5 Paul gives Titus 2 tasks: to set things in order and to appoint elders. Appointing elders in vs 6-9 is a part of setting things in order. Paul then speaks about more setting in order in vs 10-16.

Have you ever wondered why our church has a pastor and deacons, and why we don’t have leaders called elders, trustees, priests, bishops, or a pope? All this can be quite confusing, as we look at other churches that have other types of leadership. Much of the confusion stems from different interpretations of biblical texts, including this one. The question is: how many kinds of leaders does the church have and what are they called? Baptists and many other evangelical Christians believe that there are two kinds of leaders in the church: pastors and deacons. Another way to say that is: we believe that there are two offices: pastor and deacon. I want to show you in our passage and a few other passages that this is the case.

In verse 5 Paul instructs Titus to appoint elders in every town. He then gives some qualifications for the elder’s family life. In verse 7 he calls these same men overseers, which is also translated bishop. In the parallel passage to this- I Timothy 3, gives similar qualifications for an overseer. Look at I Peter 5 with me. Peter writes to elders. In vs 2 he gives them instructions: feed or shepherd the flock of God. Shepherd is the verb form of “pastor.” Next, he instructs them to take oversight. This is the verb form of overseer or bishop. Elders pastor and overseer.

(2 legal flips) Look also at Acts 20:28: Paul is speaking to the Ephesians elders (vs 17). They are called overseers who to feed or care for the flock. Again, the word for feed or care is the word to pastor. The three terms: pastor, elder, overseer all refer to the same office. Yes, the terms have a different cultural background. Yes, they refer to different facets of pastoral ministry. But they all refer to one position of leadership. So you can call me Rev. Overseer Bishop, Elder, Pastor Jonathan Colby. I’m pretty sure that would not fit on the church sign.

The second office in the church is that of deacon, which is spoken of in I Timothy 3. The qualifications for pastors and deacons are similar, especially in regard to their character and family life. The main difference is that a pastor must be able to teach sound doctrine, while deacons do not have that qualification. But we won’t talk about deacons today. I want to survive my next board meeting.

Back to Titus 1. In verse 5, Paul instructs Titus to appoint elders in every city. Debates have raged to whether Titus was to appoint one elder per church or multiple elders per church. Why does this matter? The question today is should a church have one elder/pastor like ours? If a church got larger it could add paid pastors. Or should a church have a group of pastors including a paid pastor and lay pastors. Both have been done in Baptist history. The text does not answer that question, but I believe that both models are faithful to the text.

All that to say: I want you to know why we have pastors and deacons in our church. I want you to know that we follow the Scriptures when it comes to ordering our church.

2. Traits
In vs 6 Paul gives the qualifications for a pastor’s family life, then in vs 7-8 qualifications for his personal life.

A. Male
It was obvious to Paul, but not to many Christians today, that the office of elder/pastor is for men. In I Timothy 2:12 Paul writes that “he does not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man.” I believe that he is referring to the office of elder when he gives those instructions. Men and woman were created with equal value and dignity. In the church and in the home God has given them different roles. In the church, the office of pastor is for men.

B. Blameless
Paul uses the word “blameless or “above reproach” 2 times in this section. It does not mean sinless. It is speaking about a good reputation. Really, the rest of vs 6, 7, and 8 are filling out what it means to be blameless.

C. Family life
In his family life, a pastor must first be faithful to his wife. This text doesn’t necessarily answer questions about single or divorced people taking the office as pastor. That is an important question, but we aren’t going there today. The question to ask: is the pastor above reproach in his marriage?
Secondly, the pastor’s children are to be faithful. In ancient times, this would be children at home, as a part of the household. The translation “faithful” is more accurate in this context then “believing.” Especially because of what is after that: not accused of riot or unruly. Basically, not living wildly and not in rebellion against their parents. In other words, not a party animal. A pastor must be able to lead his family well if he going to lead the church well.

Perhaps you have seen pastors disqualified by adultery or by other issues in their family. My family saw this up close a couple times when we were on the mission field. It is sad and painful for everyone involved. A church can forgive these sins or support a pastor who children are rebellious. But, they should not be allowed to serve if they are not above reproach in the church and community.

D. Personal life
Verses 7-8 contain a long list of personal characteristics a pastor should NOT have and then should have. It is not is checklist, but it is a model of what it means to be blameless.

Power Point: point out negative and positive; read list in KJV and ESV

These are similar to the list in 1 Timothy 3, but they are especially formulated for the culture in Crete. If you are living among people described as liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons, then you got to have your church leaders model mature godliness in contrast to that.

3. Teaching
The last major qualification for a pastor is that he hold fast the faithful word. Today that is the Word of God…the Bible. Back then it referred to a body of teaching given by the apostles (see the term “as taught”). They are to hold it fast, but also teach it. The KJV may not be clear here, but there are 2 things the pastor is to do with this word.
1. Instruct with sound doctrine
2. Rebuke those who oppose

Positively, he is to build up the congregation with healthy doctrine. Negatively, is to rebuke those opposed to sound doctrine. I was at a crusade (a revival meeting) this week at an area church. The guest speaker was a good communicator and a story teller. He had some good things to say from the Bible. But he did not preach the gospel. He actually spoke words contrary to sound doctrine. He said that salvation is found in remembering God’s commands and obeying them. That, folks, is called heresy, salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. You can’t work for it. People that night were deceived. They were led astray from the truth. They went away without the opportunity to repent of their sins and believe in Christ. Holding to false doctrine and letting it spread is deadly to the church. A pastor must guard the truth.

Did you see the two themes of Titus running through these verses today? Sound doctrine and sound living. Paul fills out this idea in 2:7-8. These are instructions to Titus, who was in some ways a pastor.
A pastor is to have a life above reproach to adorn the gospel which he guards and proclaims. The pastor leads his church in believing sound doctrine and living a godly life. This believing and living should characterize both the pastor and the church.

Application

1. Follow God’s Word in ordering the church
There is a lot of craziness that passes a church these days. A church that is healthy will be organized biblically. It’s a part of following sound doctrine. It is a part of adoring the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must not organize the church and pick its leaders according to the world’s standards. No. We must use God’s standards. If the church is going to be a witness to the world, it must insist on guarding the gospel and it must insist on godly character for its members. Then it must select leaders the will insist on these things too.

2. Select biblically-qualified pastors
In our church, it is up to the church to select its leaders. We call in congregational government…and it is biblical. You as the congregation must insist of picking pastors and deacons that meet the biblical qualifications. This is will keep the church on a course of biblical faithfulness.

3. Hold your pastor accountable
It does not serve the health or the testimony of the church if the church has a pastor who is off-track biblically. Hold your pastor accountable in his family life, character, and teaching. No, I don’t want you have me live in a glass house. No, I don’t want to be the church dart board either. There are bad ways and good ways to hold your pastor accountable in these areas. I want you to know that both the pastor and congregation alike submit to God’s Word and are accountable to him.

4. Pray for your pastor
I am blessed by all of you who pray for me and my family. Pray that I would be above reproach in my family life, my character, and in my teaching. You could even use this passage as a prayer guide.

Perhaps this passage and sermon have raised more questions than it answered for you. Let’s talk about it. I want to answer your questions to the best of my ability. I want us all to go back to the Scripture for answers. I love talking about the church…so if you have questions let’s talk.