"...Urge them to have a solid faith..." Titus 2:2-5

What are the things that we are to be doing in the Church?  

It is a question that I hear a lot.  No matter what age group we are in, and no matter if we are male or female, we are to lead.  We cannot depend on Pastors and Teachers alone to be our leaders no matter how biblically literate they are especially when connected to a large church body because we typically do not have daily interaction with them and they have other responsibilities which take them away from basic leadership duties.

Titus was Paul’s protégé, a young man who had a heart for the Lord.  He speaks to him in chapter 1 about the need for people who are reputable and can work through conflict resolution with dignity and respect for other people.  The goal here is not to set standards, but for Titus to look into the lives of the young Church that he was pastoring and recognize what God is doing in his young flock and to accentuate and encourage those who are growing in grace and to recognize and encourage that grace to grow.

Paul writes to Titus what the responsibilities of an elder are, an elder is not a person who is holding an office or position in a Church, it is a person who is well established in the faith and has a firm understanding of sound doctrine and is full of God’s grace.  Paul doesn’t give Titus a formula or rules to follow, but instead gives an example (or model) of what should come out of a life lived for Christ.  Paul is using His life to demonstrate to Titus what the natural outflow of Christ in the life of a believer should look like.

Keep in mind that these early small Church gatherings were not held in large cathedrals or meeting halls, these meetings were held in homes where people would gather much like a family would gather for a meal and would share what Christ had spoken into their lives during their time apart.  The meeting was all about building up and encouraging each other with words of love and life.  The focus was always about the life of Christ working through them and personal growth.

As one develops a continued surrendered relationship with Jesus Christ and dialogue the local believers, the natural outflow is to develop maturity and familiarity with each other and with the things of the spirit.  A natural (as well as spiritual) transformation can take place to change each individual with the mind of Christ, the goal is accountability and commitment to one another as the body of Christ develops and grows.

There have been too many examples where leadership (or eldership) has become a platform for status and prestige in ministry which has left the Church without the proper direction it needed to grow in grace and has been left without its proper guidance. The days of individual ministries is over, it is now the time of Christ and the revelation of Himself to the corporate Church.

So what is eldership?  Eldership is just what the name implies, people who have developed a mature and abiding relationship with Jesus and have a firm understanding of who He is and what He is doing with His Church.  

It is about leadership by bringing others along that same path.  

Eldership is not about bible study, the early church did not even have a bible to be able to study, eldership is about living the life of Christ by example and letting that life shine through us so that others may emulate the grace that they see in us.

Paul was an example of this to Titus, and wanted him to demonstrate everything that Paul had spoken to and shown to Titus so that the small Church he was pastoring would grow and flourish in the love of Christ. 

We must not make false assumptions concerning this book of Titus that they had everything that we have because they actually had much less:  

• They did not have meeting halls to meet, the church was small gatherings in homes, 
• They did not have the scriptures like we have for reference, it was mostly oral communication of Christ. (although some had portions of Paul’s letters addressed to other gatherings in other cities).  
• They did not have a history of what a meeting like this would look like, they gathered as a family to share a meal and fellowship, and to pray together.

The early Church started out with a true deficit by the world's standard, but what they did have was a passion for Jesus Christ that excelled beyond anything lacking, and a hunger to know Him more. They held a deep desire to be the body (the arms and legs of Christ) in each and every city and province the Church would meet so that they would be an example of Christ’s love for the community at large, and care for those who were less fortunate than themselves that love might freely abound.

Titus is an amazing book demonstrating the grace of God living and active through the believer.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett