SERMON: “Understanding Elders, Part 4” (Titus 1:8–9)
“Understanding
Elders, Part 4” (Titus 1:8–9)
Series: “Titus: Godly People, Godly Church” Text: Titus 1:8–9
By: Shaun Marksbury Date: May 26, 2024
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion: PM Service
I.
Introduction
There is always much talk about the problems
with public schools, and it seems like the issues grow worse. I came across this quote on the subject,
given many years ago. It reads,
The importance of competence on the part of
each teacher is emphasized by the fact that the average elementary teacher who
retires this year will probably have taught approximately 1000 American
citizens, and the average high school teacher about 5000 persons. Let us examine the educational ill effects of
only 100 ineffectual high school teachers who retire. Fifty thousand American citizens would not
have received adequate instruction in the high schools.[1]
God has given us a word on how to determine
the qualifications for elders, and that’s what we’ve been studying for the past
few weeks. We’ve seen aspects of a
potential elder’s life, both positive and negative, which indicate whether he
is up to the task of leading and teaching a congregation. Today, we’re concluding that study as we
continue our trek through the Book of Titus, and we’ll note two more
overarching points about elder qualifications.
First, elders must model positive traits (v. 8), and elders must model
powerful teaching (v. 9). Let’s consider
the first of these.
II.
First, Elders Must Model Positive Traits (v. 8)
but
hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,
When we were looking at v. 7, we noted
negative traits which would disqualify an elder. We read there that he must not be “self-willed,
not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid
gain.” We just began to touch on some of
the issues with these. For instance, we
considered that the text condemns drunkenness, but we could apply that to other
addictions, such as substance addictions.
Here in Colorado especially, where so many substances are legal, we would
have if the potential elder uses marijuana or something like that. We should confront any of these traits in
church members if they are marked by them, so we couldn’t bring a man for
ordination who is bound by the same issues.
Now, in this verse, Paul begins with the
word “but,” distinguishing this verse from v. 7. The difference here is he begins to list positive
traits a man of God can and should model. These six virtues should be present at
some level in a potential elder’s life.
We’ll briefly consider each before moving on to the next verse.
A.
An Elder Should be Hospitable
As one study notes, this is the opposite of
“self-willed” in v. 7.[2] That implies other applications of this. If he preaches a sermon, only to disappear
for a week, he’s a hireling who isn’t there for the people. He should be willing to talk to people before
and after the service. He should have an
open office door for visitors, answering phone calls and returning mail in the
interim. He should be willing to visit
hospitals, and meet with struggling church members for counseling. This is also part of hospitality. Of course, there are always some people who
think their pastor should do this more, but as long as he demonstrates
hospitality, that is the important point.
Hospitality arises from love for
people. Such an attitude marks the next
virtue:
B.
An Elder Should be Loving Good
As the ESV renders this, a potential elder
is to be “a lover of good.” There is a direct contrast to this in
Scripture; there are those who love themselves in the last days, called
“haters of good” (2 Tim. 3:3). Here,
though, a man cultivates his conscience to begin loving what the Lord loves,
and he experiences true joy in that.
When he sees good in God’s people, he should rejoice in that!
Keep in mind that he is to be a model of
sorts. There is a sense, then, in which
he demonstrates what it’s like to live out Philippians 4:8 — “Finally,
brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any
excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” There should be some blessed optimism elders. It’s not that one doesn’t ever get down, or notices
the rotten things of this world, but he ultimately loves and seeks the good things
of God.
This comes down to an ability to control his
thinking, not allowing himself to be controlled by either his emotions or the
emotions of others. That brings us to
the next point:
C.
An Elder Should be Sensible
This trait has been translated several
ways. For instance, the KJV has “sober,”
and the NKJV has “sober-minded.” So,
this would be the opposite of someone addicted to wine or a drunkard.
Yet, it means more than that — someone of a
sound mind. The Lexham English Bible
has “prudent.” The MSB says, “Serious,
with the right priorities, sensible.”[3] The sensibleness of a man is a learned trait
that doesn’t automatically come from the absence of alcohol; he has to
cultivate it.
This is a man, then, that thinks through
issues. He isn’t rash or
reactionary. He ponders what the answer
to a problem might be, prayerfully seeking the answer. This is essential at the counseling table as
well as at the congregational meeting. People
might be seeking the easy solutions, but he demonstrates a biblically-informed self-control.
If he does that, then he will make the right
decisions, bringing us to the next point:
D.
An Elder Should be Just
We all have our own ideas about justice. Sometimes, folks get caught up in concepts of social justice, that we should be about tearing down power structures and redistributing wealth. However, our ideas about justice should come from Scripture, not Marx and Foucault, and that’s not the idea here.
This term means “righteous.” There is both a vertical and a horizontal
dimension to this. This may refer to
one’s standing before God, justified not only from sin but also in conduct
before God. An elder should be justified,
declared righteous, before God in Jesus Christ and seek to live accordingly.
That brings us to the horizontal reality — an elder should be just in his dealings with
his neighbors. Paul modeled this in 1
Thessalonians 2:10, where he said, “You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved
toward you believers.” While Paul does
not repeat this requirement in 1 Timothy 3, this is certainly a needed trait
with elders.
One’s devotion to God leads him to deal with
people without partiality. That brings
us to the next point:
E.
An Elder Should be Devout
Pastors should have a devotional life. They are themselves seeking to rise above sin
by the power of the Holy Spirit. They
shouldn’t just be praying for others, but they should be praying for themselves
and their own struggles. A good test of
this is how a young man responds to the pressures of seminary — does he stop
praying and reading the Bible on his own?
This is again a requirement Paul doesn’t repeat in 1 Timothy 3, but it
seems pretty obvious.
This aspect of the Christian life is sadly lacking
in many pastors. It speaks, in part, to
their self-control, which is the next point:
F.
An Elder Should be Self-Controlled
This final virtue demonstrates how an
individual is to control himself. This
can apply to so many areas of his life.
He will encounter people who will tempt him to lose his temper. He might have a young lady come to him
requesting counseling. He will have
opportunities near money. Does he have
self-control?
That concludes Paul’s list of positive traits
here. As one commentary summarizes,
Paul has sketched out with these few
well-chosen words the characteristics that must mark an “overseer”: He must
love people and equally love virtue. He
must be wise and prudent, must live in accordance with God’s law, must be
devoted to God and seek to please him, and must manifest genuine self-control. With this blend of characteristics, the
Christian leader is equipped by God’s grace to exercise the kind of oversight
that a steward in God’s house, the church, should exercise.[4]
While that concludes the traits which should
mark an elder’s life, there is one more qualification for us to consider this
evening. This qualification specifically
addresses the theology and teaching of any potential elder. That brings us to our other point today:
III.
Elders Must Model Powerful Teaching (v. 9)
holding
fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he
will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who
contradict.
In 1 Timothy 3, there is one characteristic
about elders that Paul does not repeat for deacons. That is in v. 2 there — he must be “able to
teach.” While Paul doesn’t use those
words here, he is clearly repeating the requirement. As one commentary notes, “Not only must an
overseer meet moral and spiritual standards in his personal life, but he must
also be a reliable man of the Word.”[5] He should model powerful teaching.
There are two aspects of his holding fast. He should hold both to the faithful word
(Scripture) and doing so in accordance “with the teaching.” As Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 — “So
then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught,
whether by word of mouth or by letter
from us.” His claim to hold fast to
Scripture should be supported by an orthodox view of Scripture. If he is reading Bible verses and preaching
his own ideas, he isn’t fulfilling this requirement.
Note how cults often claim support from
Scripture. They will sometimes even
claim that the truth is divisive, and indeed, the conflict might drive people
away. However, make no mistake — false
teaching sows the seeds of division long before people complain about the
weeding process. Truth purifies, error
divides.
To put this in practical terms, an elder should
know the truth of the Word. This means
he’s settled and doesn’t waffle. It’s
not that he won’t have questions about a theological issue or two (curious
minds will), but he knows what he knows.
A church shouldn’t have to fear whether a pastor will begin to wonder if
the Bible is true or will reinvent himself doctrinally every few years. They should be looking for a man settled in
his convictions.
Note this is for the edification of
others. As Paul says in 2 Timothy
2:24–26, “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all,
able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are
in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the
knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by
him to do his will.” For the love of
others, and not the love of self, this man labors.
It's for the edification of the church that
our Lord gives us pastors. Ephesians
4:11–13 says, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as
evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints
for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all
attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a
mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of
Christ.” God calls our leaders to a high
task, which is why they are held to a stricter judgment (James 3:1). Our Lord gave us leaders to help instruct and
guide the church.
Thus, an elder should be able “to exhort in
sound doctrine.” The phrase, “sound
doctrine,” means “healthy teaching. Paul
tells Titus to teach according to sound doctrine (2:1). There are those in the vice lists are those
who live contrary to “sound teaching” (1 Timothy 1:10), so they need the truth. Many churches, unfortunately, are seeing the
teaching function of pastors as less important, encouraging their pastors to
avoid long hours in study for other ministry opportunities. Teaching should be one of the primary
ministries of elders.
This is a difficult
and unpopular aspect of the pastor’s job.
(At least, it should be difficult, since they are not supposed to be
pugnacious.) Yet, it is necessary, and the
original text even adds the adverb “sharply” here.[6] This
means that a pastor should, as one commentary explains, “rebuke in such a way
as to produce repentance and confession of sin (see John 16:8). A rebuke can have the positive results of
producing change in a person’s life.”[7] A
pastor must be willing to stand and speak against false doctrine and notions in
the church, even if that means naming names and addressing issues in beloved
institutions. It’s not pleasant, and
sometimes, Christians will even leave churches because their offended, though
they shouldn’t.
A shepherd must
have two implements in his hand — a staff to guide the sheep and a rod for the
wolves. To use a slightly different
illustration, John Calvin once said he should have two voices, one for the
sheep, and the other for the wolves.
Sadly, some of the sheep unwittingly guard the wolves today, so a pastor
must be able to practice control and use discernment with how he addresses
situations.
IV.
Conclusion
This concludes our
examination of elders. We’ve seen why
it’s so important to find qualified men — Elders are in a position of authority
within churches. It’s important that we
find the right ones to lead us.
God has given us
clear guidelines here. These
divinely-inspired qualifications look at everything, such as his homelife (v.
6), which will tell us how he will lead.
His qualifications should be free of the stains of v. 7. Here, we’ve seen positive traits which should
mark the man, as well as an ability to teach.
These should all be aspects present in the elder.
[1] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times, (Garland,
TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1426.
[2] George W. Knight, The
Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek
Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans;
Paternoster Press, 1992), 292.
[3] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word
Pub., 1997), 1886.
[4] Knight, 293.
[5] A. Duane Litfin, The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2,
762–763.
[6] Knight, 294.
[7] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King
James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Tt 1:7–9.
