“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—” Titus 1:5 ESV
Reflection: who is your spiritual overseer?
Most people value their privacy. In fact, there are laws in place in many countries to protect individuals rights to privacy. In principle, what we do inside our own homes, is nobody’s business but our own. And, most of us are thankful it is this way. But, have you stopped to consider why that is? Why is privacy so important to us? I’m sure your thoughts will quickly go to concerns over the government. That some bureaucrat will tell you what you can and cannot do, even inside your home. But do we as followers of Christ allow other believers to hold us accountable in our walk with Christ? A brother or sister in Christ, perhaps? What about an elder from your church? The thing is that most of us don’t like to be held accountable by others, even in our beliefs and our walk with Christ. We want to have our opinion, do what we want, and that’s it. But is this correct, biblically speaking?
In our focus verse today, we learn about how the early church was structured, and dealt with oversight by appointing elders. Paul writes that “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” Titus 1:5, 9 ESV. There are so many things here to consider, because we no longer follow such directions as Paul set up for the early church.
The first is that, again, he wanted Titus to appoint an elder, which he later calls “an overseer”, in each city in Crete. Notice here that Paul didn’t instruct Titus to plant new churches, to erect a new building in each city, hire an educated priest or pastor for the congregation, and so on. He simply said to appoint an overseer. An elder, in each city. But he had very strict instructions and qualifications for this overseer, for this elder. Not by education, but by how he conducted his life, “if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.” Titus 1:6-8 ESV
Secondly, we see the overseer’s responsibilities “to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” It was both education and correction. Sounds a lot like what we expect from ans consider as a “pastoral” responsibilities today. But, is this happening? Are our pastors, or elders, truly overseers of the gospel, instructing in “sound doctrine” and “rebuking those who contradict it”? As we will see in this letter of instruction to Titus, that much of this has been removed from the instruction of the overseers in the church. Partially because we like our privacy, don’t like others to tell us what to believe. And, also because pastors and elders don’t want to bring up difficult, controversial doctrine that may rub people the wrong way, to even cause some to leave the church. So we need to hold our pastors and elders to a very high standard, as Paul did.
Do you need instruction? Do you need correction? Who is your spiritual overseer?
The truth is that we all need to be held accountable, to be instructed, and to be corrected at times. There is so much false and misleading doctrine in the world, and the devil is working actively to deceive as many believers as possible. We’re not always right (hard to admit). But one thing we must do, is to relentlessly seek the truth, understand where we are off track and make corrections.
