OPEN: Several years back, John Brodie, a former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, was used by his team to hold the ball for field goals and extra points after the touchdown.
A reporter once asked why a million-dollar player like him would have to do such a menial task.
"Well," said Brodie, "if I didn’t, it would fall over."
A successful team is one that pays attention to the basics.
And, if you watch much sports, you’ll often hear athletic comments like:
1. Keep your eye on the ball
2. Hang on to the ball
3. And – if you’re holding the ball for the kicker – don’t let the ball fall over.
In short – pay attention to the basics.
Don’t drop the ball
APPLY: This month, we’re focusing on what makes for a successful church.
Now, there’re all kinds of books on the market designed to tell us how to make our church successful. And many of them are very good and can help churches like ours do our job better. They all attempt to get us focused on some fundamental truth that we may have overlooked.
But of all the self-help books out in the stores, today we are reading from one of the few that is actually divinely inspired.
Titus is God’s self-help book for the church.
If we read this portion of Scripture and pay attention to what it says then we’ll know what God believes it takes to have truly successful congregation.
BACKGROUND: The book of Titus is written to a young preacher whose job is to lay the proper foundation for the churches on the isle of Crete. There are apparently several churches on Crete and they all need more structure than they presently have.
A few years before this letter was written - on the day of Pentecost – Peter preached to a crowd of Jews in Jerusalem. And on that day, 3000 repented and were baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. Among that large crowd of people - were believers from the Isle of Crete.
Acts 2 tells us there were people there from “Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); CRETANS and Arabs…” Acts 2:10-11
Apparently, many of these believers from Crete had made their way back home (perhaps as a result of fleeing from the persecution in Jerusalem) and had started new congregations there.
But these congregations were struggling.
They apparently had no structure and were in danger of being influenced by false teachers.
And so, Paul was telling Titus that it’s his job to go in and set things right. Titus’s job was to lay the proper foundation for these churches to be successful.
So, what does Paul tell us will make a church successful?
Well, read again with me from Titus 1:1-2
“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time”
What’s that mean?
It means that Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was the foundation of Paul’s ministry.
Jesus was the source of any/all authority Paul had.
Without Jesus – Paul had no value to God.
So, principle #1 – for our church to be successful - Jesus must be the foundation of our church.
Jesus must be the source of any authority within this congregation.
If Jesus is not the head of this church, we have no value to God.
If Jesus is not the head of this church, we will not be successful for God.
We can be filled to rafters with people in this building.
We can have millions of dollars in our bank account.
We can help the poor and the disadvantaged/ even do miracles in the streets, but if Jesus is not the head of this church – we will be worthless to God.
Jesus said: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:22-23
If Jesus is not the head of the church - if we are not obedient to Him - then we can be as successful in worldly measures as we could possible dream to be, and Jesus would still reject us on the day of judgment.
So, principle #1 – Jesus must be the head of our church.
Principle #2 is found in Titus 1:3.
“and at his appointed season he (Jesus) brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.”
What Paul is saying here is this:
Jesus gave Paul the words he was preaching.
Paul was divinely inspired.
Paul did not give us his personal opinions.
When he preached/ wrote, he was communicated the explicit instructions of his Savior.
Now I believe that - when I prepare my sermons - I am guided by the Holy Spirit. I spend a great deal of time in prayer and in the Word and I am convinced God helps me to put together sermons like the one you’re hearing today.
But MAKE NO MISTAKE - I am nowhere near to being divinely inspired like Paul was.
When I speak from this pulpit, I can make mistakes.
Have any of you ever heard me make mistakes from this pulpit? (my wife raised her hand)
Of course you have.
In the past I’ve sited the wrong scripture passages.
I’ve mispronounced Biblical names (although I find comfort in the fact that probably no one else would have gotten them right anyway).
I’ve even misstated a historical fact or two.
I make mistakes.
That’s the reason God wants you to examine the SCriptures daily in order to make sure what I’m telling you is true (Acts 17:11)
I make mistakes.
Paul didn’t.
When Paul wrote and taught what he wrote and taught about God, he made no mistakes.
Writing about Paul, the Apostle Peter warns us “…our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him…. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:15-16
In other words… Paul’s words were God’s words.
No preacher or teacher or church leader has the authority to say:
“I know that’s what Paul said… but I don’t agree with that!”
I’m sorry – only ignorant and unstable people are foolish enough to say that.
They distort and twist Paul’s writings to their own destruction.
And you do not want to listen to someone who is that foolish.
You don’t even want to be in the same room with those folks – lighting might strike!
Principle #2 – a successful church will base itself solely on God’s Word.
Whether it’s Peter, Paul or Jeremiah. If it’s in the pages of Scripture a successful church will put its faith in those words as having no errors and no mistakes.
The 3rd principle for a successful church is having it’s own house in order.
Titus’ job was to set the church in order.
Look at Titus 1:5
“The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.”
As we’ll discover in the coming weeks, there were several things Titus was to “straighten out”. But one of the very 1st things he was to do, was to appoint Elders/ Overseers in every town.
As we examine this part of Scripture, I want you to notice that these Elders don’t have to be great Bible scholars. They don’t have to be Bible College graduates. But they do have to have some very specific characteristics.
Look again at Titus 1:6-9
“An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless— not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”
An Elder has to be a good husband, a good father, and a man who others respect.
He doesn’t have to be a Bible College graduate… but he does have to know good doctrine from bad, so he can protect the church from false preachers and teachers.
An Elder is to be a walking billboard for what every other man in the congregation should want to become like.
· Every man in the church should want to become a husband like the Elders are.
ILLUS: A few years back we had a church gathering where we played a game we called “The Old-I-Wed Game”. (It was fashioned after the old TV game show “The Newlywed Game”). We asked questions of couples about their things they might know about one another.
We got the men by themselves, and one of the questions we asked was “if you were stranded on a desert isle, what is the one thing you couldn’t live without.”
Most of answered “the Bible” or some other worthy object.
But then Dave (one of our Elders) answered “my wife.”
The rest of men looked at Dave… and we hated him!
Then his wife made it worse. When she came out and was asked to guess his answer, she cheerfully replied “Well me, of course.”
The rest of men have never forgiven Dave.
In reality, we were all jealous of the fact that his wife recognized her importance to him. This was an Elder who embodied what being a good husband was all about. His wife knew he loved her and held her in high regard. Dave was an example for the rest of us men.
· Every father in the congregation should be wanting to know how his church’s eldership raised their kids.
· The character of our elders should be such that we all want to be like them.
· And when we observe the Elders defending the faith, and standing against false doctrine, the rest of us men should desire to be able to do the same.
Now what exactly is an Elder?
Picture it like this.
The Bible tells me that the church is the “Family of God” (Galatians 6:10; I Peter 4:17).
And in this family, the Elders serve as surrogate fathers.
Thus, when Paul writes Timothy about Eldership, he tells him that “(an Elder) must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?” 1 Timothy 3:4-5
What does an Elder do?
He does what any good father would do:
· he makes sure the family is taken care of
· he makes sure they have the food and shelter they need to survive
· he makes sure they’re protected from danger
· and if anybody threatens the family… he’ll do what’s necessary to defend it.
This is a very serious responsibility, because the church doesn’t belong to the Elders.
The church belongs to God.
And God entrusts His family – the church - to the care of the Elders.
ILLUS: Years ago, I heard about a congregation where the Christians elected their Elders by popular vote. As often happens in such votes, the church had elected a man who really wasn’t qualified. In fact, the man was not only NOT qualified - the only reason he wanted the job was for the prestige he felt he’d get from being in that position, and for the ability to control what went on in the church.
The preacher (who’d been unable to derail the process because the vote was considered unassailable by anyone including the preacher) realized that if this situation was allowed to stand the church would eventually end up with some serious problems. But he also realized that if he simply stripped the man of his Eldership there could be some serious consequences.
So, wisely, he asked another preacher to come in and teach the Elders about their responsibilities.
This 2nd preacher knew what the situation was, and so as made his presentation, he patiently drove home the consequences of taking Eldership lightly. He explained to the Eldership - included the man who’d taken the job for the wrong reasons - that being an Elder was a very critical responsibility, and that on the day of judgment God would hold each of them personally responsible for every person whose soul was lost because they had shirked their duties.
He summed up his presentation by quoting Ezekiel 33:8
“When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.”
At that point, the new Elder jumped to his feet and said:
“Wait a minute! Nobody told me about this when I signed up to be an Elder!
I don’t want this job! I quit!”
And he resigned that very night.
Eldership isn’t about prestige, it’s about taking responsibility for one of the most precious commodities God has placed at our disposal. Part of the reason Jesus came was to establish His church. It’s His bride. And thus, an Elder is made responsible for the care and protection of Jesus’ most intimate relationship.
Thus, anyone who wants the title, but doesn’t do the task, will be punished.
By contrast, a good Elder will be rewarded by God for his faithfulness.
If you remember from I Timothy, an Elder is to be selected because they know how to “manage his own family well” (I Timothy 3:4).
An Elder has proven – by how he manages his own family, that he is capable of managing God’s household. He’s shown himself responsible and dependable with the most basic of responsibilities.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a parable about a good manager.
And Jesus said: "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.” Luke 12:42-43
In other words – God will greatly reward those who take care of His church – because they have stepped up to provide for and protect one of the most precious possessions of God.
CLOSE: Years ago there was a young man named Paul Gerhardt. Because of the patronage of a Duke in his region he became a powerful influence on the church of his day. Gerhardt’s family was very poor. And he helped out by being a shepherd for a small flock of sheep and goats on the edge of the forest.
One day a hunter came out from among the trees and asked the lad how far it was to the nearest village.
"Six miles, sire," he replied, "but the road is only a sheep track and can easily be missed."
"I’ve lost my way and I am very tired," returned the hunter. "Leave your sheep and show me the way. I will pay you well."
"No, Sire" said Gerhardt. "I cannot do that for they would stray into the forest and be stolen or eaten by the wolves."
"Never mind; your master would never miss one or two, and I would pay you more than the price of one or two sheep."
"But, sire, my master trusts me with these sheep, and I have promised not to leave them."
"Well," said the hunter, "Let me take care of the sheep while you fetch me food from the village and a guide."
"The sheep do not know your voice and would not obey you, sir."
"Can you not trust me? Do I not look like an honest man?" asked the hunter with a frown.
"Sir," said the boy slowly, "You tried to make me false to my trust, and break my word to my master. How do I know that you will keep your word to me?"
The hunter could not help laughing.
"I see you are an honest lad, and I will not forget you," said the hunter. "Which is the path? I must find my way for myself."
But Gerhardt would not let the man depart hungry, so he gave him the humble contents of his scrip. Just at the moment several men came hurrying through the forest uttering shouts of delight as they caught sight of the two of them. Gerhardt had been talking to the Grand Duke and these were his attendants who had been much alarmed at his disappearance.
This was the beginning of Gerhardt’s future charter of honor and success. Pleased with the lad’s honesty, the Duke had him well educated and thus guided the path of his life so that he eventually was in a position to make a difference in the church.
That’s what God desires to do for Elders who take their responsibility seriously.
And Eldership is so critical to the on going strength and security of His church that He wants other men to desire, not only to be like these other men, but to one day step up and become Elders themselves.
