LEADERSHIP LIVING
TITUS 1:5
During the 1944 presidential elections Franklin Roosevelt had to work very hard to persuade Harry Truman to be his running mate. Truman’s desire was to go to the senate, not to be vice-president of the United States. The incumbent vice-president Henry Wallace was unpopular with many of the democratic leaders of the time. So Truman was approached and accepted the job with a great deal of reluctance. He and FDR were of course elected as president and vice president. On April 12, 1945 Truman was summoned to the White House. There he was shown into Eleanor Roosevelt’s sitting room. It was there that she told Truman that Franklin Roosevelt was dead. After a moment of stunned silence Truman asked her, "Is there anything I can do for you?" She shook here head. "Is there anything we can do for you?" She said, "For you’re the one in trouble now."
Truman went on to be a decent president, a job he did not want, yet he rose to the occasion. For the most part people are not leaders. Most of us like to be part of the crowd, we like to blend in, we like to follow rather then be out in front.
The Bible calls us sheep in different place. Sheep are followers, in fact when a shepherd has a sheep who likes to wander he must do whatever it takes to prevent that sheep from wandering because the other sheep will follow it where ever it goes, many time right into danger.
The same is true for many people. Just look around. Have you ever been to movie, or sporting event or something of that nature. There will be three doors available but people will crowd into the one that everyone else is trying to go through. We are sheep, we are generally speaking followers.
Today I want to talk about leadership living, a call that we will see we are all called to. Please turn with me to our passage for today, Titus chapter 1 verse 5. That would be page 1032 in your pew Bible this morning.
This morning I first want to look at this passage and what Paul is saying, then I want share some thoughts on leadership in general.
Remember that Paul is writing to Titus, one he calls his true son in the faith;
"For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you;"
From the first phrase in our passage it is apparent that Paul had at some point been in Crete. He had apparently established some churches there with his co-worker Titus. But from some reason Paul had to leave Titus behind leaving him at Crete.
During and earlier sermon we talked about Crete. Just to remind Crete was not a pleasant place to be. These people were known for their lack integrity, they were known for their dishonestly, they were known for there greed for material possession, which were to be gained at any cost. In fact even today to be called a "Cretan" is an insult.
So that was the atmosphere which Paul at left Titus. Paul goes on to say that "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking,. Here Paul tells the reason for his leaving Titus behind, that he should set in order the things that were lacking.
That phrase "set in order" is actually a medical phrase. Those of you who have had a broken bone know that you have to go to the doctors and he will set the bone before putting on the cast. That is the literal meaning of that phrase Paul uses here. It basically means to "properly arrange".
It is interesting that Paul uses that phrase here. The church of Christ is described as a body in the Scripture. As a body each part needs to be functioning properly. Paul is saying to Titus a left you there because there were some problems in the body, there were so things that were broken, and you need to fix those things. You need to address them, if you do not things will not get better.
What happened when you break a bone and do not have it set right. We know that can lead to problems later on, even after the bone heals. It heals but it does not heal right. So Titus needed to make sure that the body would heal right, he needed to "set in order" that which was lacking. That which was broken.
We can take a lesson from this. When something is wrong with the church what should be do, when something appears broken what do we do. Should we ignore and hope is goes away? No. Should we say just leave the church find a new one and say now it is their problem? I think not. Should we hide the problem and hope nobody notices? No.
We need to "set it in order". Because if we do any of the above mentioned things while the break may heal, it well not heal properly. Just like a broken bone. We need to face problems within the church honestly, prayerfully, and through the word of God. That is the way to go according to Paul.
Notice Paul states that Titus was to "set in order the things that are lacking, There were things that were lacking in the churches on Crete. They were faced with many problems. As we go along in our studying on Titus we will make note of some of those things. There was false teaching, backbiting, gossip, legalism, just to name a couple.
Else where in chapter one Paul uses some strong language concerning certain people. In verse 11 he states that there were some trouble makers whose "mouths must be stopped". He goes on to call them some pretty strong names.
There were certainly things in the church on Crete that were lacking, they were falling short in many areas.
So how was Titus to go about putting things in order. As we will see, through the teaching of the Scriptures. Through the preaching of the Word of God, not just by him, but by those whom he would appoint as elders.
The problem basically for the people on Crete was that they lacked the knowledge of Biblical principals and the application of those principals. They did not understand about grace, they did understand how to put on the armor of God, they did not know how to worship, and so on and so forth.
Titus would give them what they needed, and all that they needed came from the Word of God.
This should cause us to ask, "As a church, what we lacking?" And why are we lacking it?
I think it was Dave who shared this quote with me. It went something like this,
"If you find the perfect church, don’t join, because the minute you do it will know longer be perfect".
There are no perfect churches, but there are godly ones. There are no perfect churches, but there are healthy ones. There are no perfect churches, but there are faithful ones. We need to look at ourselves as a body, as see were we are lacking, and set it in order.
How? Through the Word of God, through prayer, through a desire for each one us to grow in the grace of God. Through a desire to know and obey the commandments and statues of God. Through a deep commitment to Jesus Christ.
Paul continues, "that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you;"
Titus was not only to set in order those things which were lacking, but ALSO appoint elders in every city to help with this task.
The word "appoint" there means to "ordain" to "put in charge", to "approve". In other words other words Titus was responsible to appoint leaders in the church. His task was to find godly men who would as Paul states later, "hold fast the faithful word as they have been taught."
The leaders Paul refers to as "elders" in the Greek this word is "PRES-BUT-ER-OS". They are also called "bishops" in verse 7. Now in our church we have deacons, but they function as "elders". Most modern day Pastors also function as "elders" in the sense that Paul uses it here.
The word literally means "old men", that is why we made Harley a deacon. It refers to maturity from the stand point of both experience and wisdom. In the next few verse we will see the type of person that Paul means.
In the New Testament this words is used of city officials, officers in the Jewish synagogues, certain members of the Sanhedrin are refereed to by this term.
Our English words, "presbyter", "Presbyterian", and "priest" all come from this Greek word.
Now while we could get into a discussion on church government, for our purposes we can say that in our church Harley and I would be considered the "elders" of the church as Paul uses the term here.
What I found somewhat interesting in this passage is that last phrase in the our passage, "and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you;"
In the first couple of centuries of Christianity the leadership rose up from the ranks of the church. Most churches in the New Testament times found their pastors within their own ranks.
It was Titus’ job to go from city to city and appoint pastors from each city. These men would be in charge of feeding the flock with the word of God.
Titus was not called to import pastors, but to appoint them, with the blessing of the local church of course.
Some how we have gotten far from that. I am not saying that it is bad, but I am saying that it says something about the way we are training our youth, and the commitment people have within their local church. Commitment to grow in Christ.
So there we have an introduction as to what Paul’s assignment to Titus is. Some here may thing well that is all well and good, but I am not a leader in the church, these things do not pertain to me.
Well all of us our leaders in some sense. Some our leaders at home. If you have children you are a leader. Every man here who is head of a house hold is a leader. If you are a supervisor at work or own your own business you are a leader.
I challenge you with this statement, each person here, who is washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, who proclaim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, is a leader!
As Christians we are all leaders, we have not been asked if we want to be, but it comes with the profession of faith in Christ. You are called to lead people to Christ. You are a light in this world.
When the lights go out and you are trying to see with a candle what do you do? You hold it out in front of you and follow behind it. As Christians we need to be out in from lighting this dark world, leading them to Christ.
As leaders, the principals we have seen and will look at in the future apply to us, many indirectly, but they apply to us never the less.
As Christians we are leaders, as Christians we must lead, if we do not then who will the people follow.
So I as we look at leadership and the qualifications over the next few weeks I don’t want any of you to think that you are not leaders, because as Christians we are all leaders.
With the Scriptures we have examples of many fine leaders and many not so fine leaders.
Look at Noah. He was leader. He did not have many followers, only 7, but he was still a great leaders. We should realize that the greatness of a leader does not depend on the amount of followers.
Noah was a builder, a builder for God. He did what God told him and lead his family to do the same.
I think of Moses. He was great leader. Also an unwilling leader. Through Moses God gave the Hebrew people the law. Moses lead the people out of the Egypt, through the desert and to the borders of the promise land.
Joshua another great leader of the Bible. Joshua lead the Hebrew people into the promises land. If you read about Joshua you will see that he was a faithful leader and taught that to the people. He called on the people to serve God.
Most are filmier with Josh. 24:15 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
When thing of leaders I think of Nehemiah, another builder for God. If you want to learn about leadership read the book of Nehemiah, a great book on leadership. Nehemiah was not only a leader who build but one who worked, he set goals, he showed concern, he showed he was ready to fight for what was right, Nehemiah also showed the a godly leader will succeed in the task God has given.
The New Testament also reveals great leaders. OF course there is Paul. Has a leader Paul delegated as we see in our passage for today. As a leader Paul was not afraid of confrontation for truths sake. As a leader Paul had great concern and love for those who were under his authority.
Of course the greatest leader was Jesus Christ, and He still his. The greatest way in which the Lord still leads today is by example. That is the greatest way a leader can lead, by example.
Now one thing that is common among all these great leaders of the Bible is that while they lead men they followed God. While they lead men they followed God.
Without God you cannot be a great leader. You cannot be a good leader. I would go so far as to say without God you are not a leader at all.
Without God were will you lead men, you will lead them into the depths of hell. Jesus spoke of those who try to lead without God in Matthew 23:15; "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one pro-sel-yte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."
Without God you cannot lead!
You see in our world what the Bible states a good leader is and what the world states a good leader is are often two different things.
The World tells us that a good leader should have higher education. But the Word of God tells us in 1 Cor. 1:19-20; "For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."
The World tells us a good leader should have superior oratorical skill, but the word of God states in 1 Cor. 2:1-2; "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
The world tells us the a good leader will need a dynamic personality. The Word of God tells us in 2 Cor. 10:10, where Paul is speaking of what some have said about him; "For his letters," they say, "are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible."
What does God want in a leader, beside those things which we will talk about in the future, God want humility He want humble leaders, leaders who will follow Him and call on others to do the same.
God wants courage, He wants leaders who are not afraid to stand up to wrong, to speak out for truth.
God want that leader to be a proper example just as His Son was. God wants leaders whom the people cane look at an imitate, as Paul writes in 1 Cor. "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ."
In closing many of you may not see yourselves as a leader. Because being a leader can be a scary thing. Because it means being different then the crowd. It means being in front of the crowd, it means stepping out from the crowd, and sometimes going a different place then the crowd.
We all like to fit in at times, be a part of the crown, unnoticed. Being out in front it not comfortable for us.
I am calling on each of you to be a leader. To break from the crowd. Accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, trust in Him to save you from you sin, believe that He died for you, that rose again for you, that He can and will give you eternal life when you place your faith in Him. Turn life over to Him, ask Him to come into your life. Never mind what the crown states, be a leader, follow God.
Sadly today’s crowd with it’s sexual immorality, with it’s me first attitude, with it’s drugs and alcohol abuse, with it’s disregard for God and His commandment, today’s crowd is on it’s way to hell plain and simple. And that is not a crowd that you want to be a part of.
IF you already know Jesus as Saviour and Lord then know this. You are a leader, called to lead people to Jesus Christ. Called to lead this world out of the darkness and into the light. Let each one of us pray that we would be the leader God would have us to be. "set in order the things that are lacking" In this church and in our own lives.
