Qualified Leadership

Titus Qualified Leadership - Titus 1:5-16 September 21, 2025 I once read the story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower." Well, let's be honest, not everyone wants to be a leader, and not everyone is called to be a leader. Paul, as we continue in his letter to Titus, addresses this very issue within the context of the church. And while this will be no surprise to anyone here, there is a right way to lead, and there is a wrong way to lead. That's exactly what we will be learning today, as we get into the rest of chapter 1 of Titus. Let's read Titus 1:5-16: 5 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- 6 IF ANYONE IS ABOVE REPROACH, THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE, AND HIS CHILDREN ARE BELIEVERS AND NOT OPEN TO THE CHARGE OF DEBAUCHERY OR INSUBORDINATION. 7 FOR AN OVERSEER, AS GOD'S STEWARD, MUST BE ABOVE REPROACH. HE MUST NOT BE ARROGANT OR QUICK-TEMPERED OR A DRUNKARD OR VIOLENT OR GREEDY FOR GAIN, 8 BUT HOSPITABLE, A LOVER OF GOOD, SELF-CONTROLLED, UPRIGHT, HOLY, AND DISCIPLINED. 9 HE MUST HOLD FIRM TO THE TRUSTWORTHY WORD AS TAUGHT, SO THAT HE MAY BE ABLE TO GIVE INSTRUCTION IN SOUND DOCTRINE AND ALSO TO REBUKE THOSE WHO CONTRADICT IT. 10 FOR THERE ARE MANY WHO ARE INSUBORDINATE, EMPTY TALKERS AND DECEIVERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF THE CIRCUMCISION PARTY. 11 THEY MUST BE SILENCED, SINCE THEY ARE UPSETTING WHOLE FAMILIES BY TEACHING FOR SHAMEFUL GAIN WHAT THEY OUGHT NOT TO TEACH. 12 ONE OF THE CRETANS, A PROPHET OF THEIR OWN, SAID, "CRETANS ARE ALWAYS LIARS, EVIL BEASTS, LAZY GLUTTONS." 13 THIS TESTIMONY IS TRUE. THEREFORE REBUKE THEM SHARPLY, THAT THEY MAY BE SOUND IN THE FAITH, 14 NOT DEVOTING THEMSELVES TO JEWISH MYTHS AND THE COMMANDS OF PEOPLE WHO TURN AWAY FROM THE TRUTH. 15 TO THE PURE, ALL THINGS ARE PURE, BUT TO THE DEFILED AND UNBELIEVING, NOTHING IS PURE; BUT BOTH THEIR MINDS AND THEIR CONSCIENCES ARE DEFILED. 16 THEY PROFESS TO KNOW GOD, BUT THEY DENY HIM BY THEIR WORKS. THEY ARE DETESTABLE, DISOBEDIENT, UNFIT FOR ANY GOOD WORK. Back in verses 1-4, we saw that the authority in which Paul brought forth the Gospel, which we determined was his calling. Titus, we noted, was a co-worker in the faith and his ministry. Right away, here in verse 5, we see that Paul left Titus in Crete. This may indicate that Paul left Titus behind to finish the work that he began. It may also indicate that Paul's plan all along was to assign Titus to plant churches in Crete. The "THIS" in verse 5 seems to refer to what is seen in verses 1-3, where Paul spoke to the purpose of his calling as a preacher of the Gospel - the Good News of Jesus Christ - which included growing in faith, knowledge, and in godliness. Paul, now, begins to get into the body of this letter to Titus, addressing a big problem. In this section, he gives us a solution in verses 5-9, ironically, before we are given the "problem" in verses 10-16. Before we dive into his further, let's identify the main idea through a summary statement of the problem-solution we see in our passage this morning. Here' the main idea: The Lord places qualified leaders in the Church to lead me to live righteously. I want to unfold this, first by looking at THE PROBLEM, found in verses 10-16. I'd like to summarize the problem in three ways, first: * The problem of false teachers (vv.10-11) o These false teachers are identified with three descriptive terms: * The ESV says that they are "INSUBORDINATE." This term means that they did not respect authority (assuming this refers to both Paul and Titus). * Here, it also refers to the authority given by God (see again verse 1) * Simply put, they would not submit. * Once we get back into verses 5-9, you will see why this characteristic of a leader is important. * Next, Paul calls them ... * EMPTY TALKERS. This refers to talk that lacks substance. * They may say a lot of words, but it is more babbling than useful. * They are not edifying in what they are teaching. * They are, instead, leading people astray, which is why he calls them ... * DECEIVERS. * This is a strong accusation. * Paul says here that they are pretenders (confirmed a bit later in verse 16). * They may sound "Christian," but their motivation is wrong - as we'll see next ... o Paul, then accuses them of "UPSETTING WHOLE FAMILIES" * How? * By teaching for shameful gain. * Peter warned about this too. In 2 Peter 2:3, he said this about the motivation of false teachers: AND IN THEIR GREED THEY WILL EXPLOIT YOU WITH FALSE WORDS. THEIR CONDEMNATION FROM LONG AGO IS NOT IDLE, AND THEIR DESTRUCTION IS NOT ASLEEP. * These false teachers are self-serving. They go after the vulnerable. * In Crete, the family was vulnerable. * This is no different than what we see today in our homes. o Then, Paul commands Titus to "SILENCE THEM" * Crudely, this means that they need to be shut up. * Now - this may sound like a call to "violence," it is far from that. * Remember, context is important. The context of this statement is verse 9 - sound doctrine. Knowing and understanding it, so that those who falsely teach are corrected with the goal of redemption. * If this problem was not enough, we see next, the ... * The problem of being deceived (vv.12-14) o Paul here expands on this idea of deceitfulness from verse 10. o He uses one of the well-known sayings from a well-known Creten to illustrate the state of the people there, namely that they were: * Liars, * Evil beasts, and * Lazy gluttons o Paul didn't say this, their own "PROPHET" did. Paul agreed, but he didn't say it. o These were, of course, strong accusations, all that really point to a lack of self-control. o The deceitfulness, oddly enough, seemed to come from the Jews in Crete (see verse 10 and verse 14). o However, it does not seem to be legalistic, rather stemming from the traditions of men. o He calls one of the sources of deceit "JEWISH MYTHS" * We're not completely sure what myths Paul is talking about, but whatever these stories were, they were contrary to the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. o Finally, there was ... * The problem of disbelief (vv.15-16) o Simply put, they rejected the truth. o They rejected God's standard of righteousness, o They rejected God Himself. o But they looked like Christians, even sounded like Christians, and that's where we need to be careful. So, what's one lesson we can pull from the problem in Crete? * Beware of false teachers. Here's the good news, every problem requires a solution. And Paul gives us THE SOLUTION in verses 5-9. The overarching solution is to appoint qualified leaders. He describes this to Titus in three ways. First: * Appoint leaders of high character (vv.5-6) o There are two terms used for the church leader. * Verse 5 uses ELDER, and verse 7 uses OVERSEER. * While both words are different, they are both elders in this context, although the OVERSEER may have an extended role. o Nevertheless, Paul qualifies these elders from verse 5 with the phrase "ABOVE REPROACH." o Some of your translations may read "blameless" o Either translation is fine, and it simply means that no one can bring a charge against the elder. o Paul, then lists some of the qualifications of the elder in verse 6. He begins with: * THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE. * This literally means "a one-woman man," which emphasizes two things: o First, the word choice of husband and wife are intentional. Elders are to be men, and if married, he is to be married to a woman. o Second, this emphasizes faithfulness to his wife. * He then states that the elder must have ... * HIS CHILDREN ARE BELIEVERS and well-behaved. * This does not mean that if a man who meets the qualifications of an elder does not have children, he cannot serve in this capacity. * It simply means that if the elder does have children, they are believers and well-behaved. * This is explained further in 1 Timothy 3:4-5 when giving Timothy the same charge: 4 HE MUST MANAGE HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD WELL, WITH ALL DIGNITY KEEPING HIS CHILDREN SUBMISSIVE, 5 FOR IF SOMEONE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO MANAGE HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD, HOW WILL HE CARE FOR GOD'S CHURCH? * So, the charge to Titus to select men of character begins in the home with his wife and children. * He is also to ... * Appoint self-controlled leaders (vv.7-8) o While we don't have time to go through each of these qualifications individually, notice how each of these share the theme of self-control, in both a negative application and a positive application. We see first ... * Elders who are self-serving miss the mark * Elders who are quick-tempered cannot lead with love and patience * Elders who are drunkards do not practice good judgement * Elders who are violent are not gentle or humble * Elders who greedy will lead with the wrong motives o Instead, they are to be hospitable, lovers of what is good, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. o These are marks of maturity, and of Christlikeness. o Finally, verse 9 reveals that Titus is to ... * Appoint Biblically sound leaders (v.9) o Notice what Paul says here o Holding firm to the trustworthy Word is critical. o This speaks to not wavering. o Not compromising the Word. o It speaks to defending the Word and standing firm on its promises. o He then emphasizes the purpose of having Biblically sound leaders is twofold, beginning with the purpose ... * To give instruction and then ... * To rebuke those who contradict the Word. o This is why Paul instructs Timothy - in 1 Timothy 3:2 - that the elder must be able to teach. * This doesn't mean that they have to be the pastor or a bible-study leader, but as seen here in Titus, they are able to use the Word to instruct and correct. You may be wondering at this point what any of this has to do with you. So, let's discuss IMPLICATIONS FOR ME, beginning with: * If Paul is instructing Titus to look within the church for these qualified leaders, shouldn't that mean we all should exhibit these characteristics? o I know, a bit long-winded, but the logic tracks, doesn't it? o Commentator Gordon Fee commented that the guidelines in verse 6 actually take the form of a question. So, it could read, "is anyone above reproach?" and so forth. o The implication, therefore, is that there should be spiritually mature people within the church, and they should be edifying others. o In fact, we'll see this next week in Titus chapter 2. o Another implication for us is that ... * If it's the character of man that God seeks, shouldn't we seek the same? o Think about the relationships that you have. o Are the people you surround yourself with of high character? o Are they people who edify you? o Are they people who correct you, with gentleness and love? o This could apply in your job, with the hobbies that you participate in, or even with the entertainment that you take in. o I couldn't help but think of 1 Corinthians 15:33, where Paul says: 33 DO NOT BE DECEIVED: "BAD COMPANY RUINS GOOD MORALS." o This is so important that the Psalms begin with this very principle, Psalm 1:1-2 reads: 1 BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO WALKS NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE WICKED, NOR STANDS IN THE WAY OF SINNERS NOR SITS IN THE SEAT OF SCOFFERS; 2 BUT HIS DELIGHT IS IN THE LAW OF THE LORD, AND ON HIS LAW HE MEDITATES DAY AND NIGHT. o This is what the church should be filled with. A church that not only has qualified leaders but a congregation that also delights in His Word so that they may learn to walk righteously. It's not often, like the example we saw earlier from the young woman in college, that there is an abundance of leaders. I suppose that's why the Lord is so selective in His qualifications. The Bible does teach us that not everyone should be teachers. But we have seen that there is a purpose for order and leadership, which is what we stated in our main idea earlier: the Lord places qualified leaders in the Church to lead me to live righteously. Every Christian should look at this list and seek to be obedient to the qualifications therein. When churches are filled with mature Christians, they go out and make disciples. So, let's seek righteousness, and let's make disciples. Let's pray. 2