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Scripture Reading: Titus 1:1-11
Titus 1:1-11, which is quite similar to 1 Timothy 3:1-7, says,
Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God’s chosen ones and the full knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the times of the ages, but in its own times He manifested it as His word in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the command of our Savior God; to Titus, genuine child according to the common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. For this cause I left you in Crete, that you might set in order the things which I have begun that remain and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you: if anyone is unreprovable, the husband of one wife, having believing children not accused of dissoluteness or unruly. For the overseer must be unreprovable as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a striker, not greedy for base gain; but hospitable, a lover of good, of a sober mind, righteous, holy, self-controlled; holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles, that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose. For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who overthrow whole households, teaching things for the sake of base gain, which they ought not to do.
Paul’s Epistle to Titus concerns the maintaining of order in the churches. For this, the faith of God’s chosen ones, the truth according to godliness, and eternal life are indispensable. Hence, in the very opening word these three things are set forth. According to 1 Timothy 3:15-16, godliness is God manifested in the flesh, the divine life expressed in humanity. This is the truth of godliness. The hope of eternal life, which is the divine life, is altogether a matter of the expression of this life and is not only for the coming age and eternity future but also for this age. We have much to hope for in the eternal life, the life of God, because it is able to do many things that we are unable to do in ourselves. Without the eternal life we are wretched, hopeless people, but because we have the divine life, we are full of hope. God promised the eternal life before the world began. When the New Testament time came, this promise became the manifested word. God manifested the word of His promise by Christ’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and descension as the Spirit. These accomplishments of God’s manifested word were revealed through the apostles and prophets.
Historically, many Christians have treasured Genesis 3:15, which says that the seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent. This verse is a prophecy concerning Christ’s coming as the seed of the woman through incarnation to destroy Satan on the cross and rescue us from his usurpation. Hence, it is a wonderful promise of our objective salvation. However, the hope of God’s promise is not only Christ as the seed of the woman but also Christ as the seed of life, the eternal life, that is sown into the believers (Mark 4:26-28). We have hope because the seed of the woman destroyed the serpent on the cross and, even more, because the seed of life has entered into us to be our daily salvation. We live in a hopeful situation because we have the hope of eternal life.
Confucius taught that the highest learning of ethics is to cultivate, or develop, one’s inner “bright virtue,” which is actually the conscience. Humanly speaking, this is very good, but as Christians, we hope not in the bright virtue but in the eternal life. We do not need to develop our bright virtue, because we have Christ as the seed of the divine life in us. This is much better and higher. The divine seed with the divine life is our hope. We cannot meet the requirements of the elders described in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9 simply by cultivating our conscience. We can meet these requirements only because we have God Himself as the eternal life within us. Since the eternal life is within us, we can fulfill the highest requirements. For example, by this life we can be patient and temperate. In ourselves we are hopeless, but in this life we are full of hope. The truth of godliness, the hope of eternal life, and the manifestation of God’s word all denote God becoming our life. Since God is now our life, there is nothing that we cannot do. We should not be discouraged by the high standard of the requirements in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Instead, we should be hopeful in the realization that these requirements prove the capacity of the divine life in us.
The requirements of the elders in Titus 1 are nearly the same as those in 1 Timothy 3. However, in Titus 1:7 Paul adds that an overseer “must be unreprovable as a steward of God.” A steward is not only a servant but also one who dispenses. Therefore, an elder should be one who dispenses, or ministers, God to others. To serve God is not merely to do something for God but to minister God to others.
In Titus 1:8 Paul writes that an overseer must be “righteous, holy.” These words are not used in 1 Timothy 3, but they show that Paul’s concept is that the requirements of an overseer are based not on his ability but on his manner of life. An elder must be one who is righteous and holy. To be righteous is mainly toward man, and to be holy is mainly toward God.
Verse 9 begins, “Holding to the faithful word.” The faithful word is the full revelation of the New Testament. The elders must hold to the New Testament revelation. This implies that the elders have to study and learn, for we cannot hold to what we have not first received.
First Timothy 3:2 says that the overseers must be “apt to teach.” This kind of teaching is mainly on the positive side — to strengthen the members of the church. However, the elders’ holding to the faithful word is both to “exhort by the healthy teaching” and to deal with the opposers (Titus 1:9). This indicates that the overseers need to have two kinds of teaching — one kind to edify the saints and the other to fight the battle so that the mouths of the vain talkers and deceivers may be stopped (vv. 10-11). The elders must learn how to teach in order to stop the vain talkers and deceivers.
By “vain talkers and deceivers,” Paul means mainly the Judaizers, “those of the circumcision” (v. 10). The Judaizers were those who perverted and distorted the truth of the gospel in order to mislead the believers into going back to the law of Moses. Today different kinds of vain talkers and deceivers try to mislead believers. The elders must speak to stop the mouths of such ones. Like a mother’s cooking of food for her children, the elders’ teaching to convict the opposers is a matter not mainly of gift or ability but of duty. If a mother does not know how to cook, she must learn. Similarly, an elder cannot excuse himself from teaching because he is not a gift to the Body as a teacher. To be an elder is not easy. When deceivers are spreading lies, the elders in a local church should not need to call someone from another locality to come and help them. It is the burden of every elder to learn to teach.
All the elders have to study the Bible and the ministry books in order to be fully educated in the crucial aspects of the truth. The teaching of the apostles is fully contained in the Bible, but because the Bible is deep, we need the ministry books to help us in our study. We first need to spend time in the Bible directly, and then we need to spend time to study the ministry books. These books include all the positive Christian teachings throughout the centuries and sift out the wrong things. If we read them, we will receive a thorough education. When we are educated in the teaching of the apostles, we will be able to safeguard and protect the local church. To be an elder is not a matter merely of administration. More importantly, every elder must learn the truth thoroughly and be able to teach it to others.
If we know and experience the truth, our speaking will have impact, not because of eloquence but because of reality. We will be able to refute the lies of those who oppose just as the overseers stopped the mouths of the Judaizers in ancient times. When we have the knowledge and experience of the truth, our speaking is our testimony. This is the urgent need today because, as elders, we must not only safeguard ourselves against the deceivers but also expose and stop the deceiving mouths by speaking the truth with impact.
Verse 9 mentions the healthy teaching. When we have been nourished and healed by the healthy teaching, we can pass it on by exhorting others. Every elder must be able to do this. The elders need to dedicate themselves to study the Bible and the ministry books. If we are elders merely in name, we are like practicing doctors who have not studied medicine. The need for potential elders to apprehend the faithful word may have been the reason that Paul hesitated in the appointment of the elders in Crete (v. 5).
If we have adequate knowledge and experience of the spiritual truths, we will know what to speak not only in the meeting but also on any occasion, just as a carpenter knows which tool to use for different tasks. If we lack skill in speaking, it may be because we are not thoroughly educated in the spiritual truths or have not adequately experienced them. The elders should not rely on traveling co-workers. We all have to learn for ourselves. The practice of many in Christianity today is to donate their money to hire someone to do things for them. Brother Watchman Nee summarized the attitude of most Christians in this way: “For illness, call the doctor; for lawsuits, call the lawyer; for spiritual affairs, call the pastor. What about us? We can devote ourselves to secular work without distraction” (The Orthodoxy of the Church, p. 18). On the contrary, we all, especially the overseers, need to be trained in spiritual matters.
Apparently, to be an elder is difficult, but actually, it is an enjoyment. The more we study the Bible and the ministry books, the more enjoyment we receive. It is also a great enjoyment to help the others in the church, especially to minister Christ to the young ones and the weak ones. In God’s economy to be an elder is a great blessing. Thus, we should treasure the eldership.
The elders are crucial for the successful carrying out of God’s economy. If the elders fail, God will be defeated temporarily. The testimony of God today rests on the shoulders of the elders; they bear the Ark of the Testimony. Paul was the top apostle, but many of the churches under his ministry were in a poor condition because the elders were inadequate. The direct burden of God’s testimony is not upon the apostles or prophets but upon the elders.
If the elders function as they should, the local churches will not become an improper hierarchical organization under someone’s control. Every local church should be administrated locally, and no local church is higher than the other local churches. This is according to God’s administration in His economy, which is unlike any government or administration in human history. When every member of the Body of Christ functions properly, the headship and kingship are kept for the unique Lord. The church is not an organization but a universal organism. We all must learn these things and hold fast to them in order to stop the mouths of the vain talkers and deceivers.
