This sermon on Titus was given in a series at Kew Baptist Church, London.
You walk into the classroom to see something scrawled across the board: A2 + B2 = C2. The teacher tells you, today you will be learning Pythagoras’ theorem. They inform you that the formula on the board means that the longest side of a right-angled triangle squared is of an equal length to the other two sides squared and added together. It seems a little strange at first, but you start to understand what the teacher means, and your confidence rises with each triangle she draws to demonstrate this on the board. She tells you that this formula allows you to work out the length of any side in a triangle as long as you know the length of the other two sides. That makes sense you suppose. And then you hear those dreaded words: turn in your textbooks to page 376 and complete exercises 1-10. The first exercise isn’t too bad. A triangle has two sides of 7cm, the remaining side is the longest. What length is it? You plug the numbers straight into the formula and check the answer at the back of the book. One right, nine to go. However, you soon find that the exercises get much more difficult. By the tenth exercise you find yourself trying to work out the distance of a kite from the sun at noon day assuming you are on top of the north pole. You haven’t actually been told how long the kite’s string is, but you have been given the wind speed and told how long the kite has been flying for. OK I admit, that last exercise is unlikely to be found in a second-year maths textbook. But you get the idea. Sometimes what we understand in principle, is difficult to put into practice. Applying a formula is easy if you just have to plug in some numbers, but less so when circumstances are complex.
Last week we began a 8 week series in Titus. We plunged into Paul’s phrases in 1:1-3, where he describes the motive and method behind his mission as an apostle and servant. As explained last week, Paul begins his letter in this way for a reason. This is not a normal introduction for Paul: Titus is the second shortest Pauline epistle, but has the second longest introduction. There is a reason Paul decides to describe his ministry in detail to Titus, a longstanding partner in it. As we go through the rest of the letter, I believe we will see Paul did to Titus what your maths teacher did to you. In 1:1-3 Paul provides Titus, all of us, with a Model for Ministry. This is his formula. Not Pythagoras’ theorem, but Paul’s theorem. A formula for ministry: defining our mission, motive and method. Showing us what a mature ministry, healthy Christian service, looks like. We are servants who are sent for the salvation of the saints through the sharing of the scriptures. Just like the teacher in our illustration, Paul explains his formula to Titus, and then tells him to turn to the exercise in front of him: not in a textbook, but in the churches on Crete. For that is where Titus is to apply Paul’s model. If 1:1-3 contain the principles, 1:4-5 tells us where they are to be put into practice, the context on Crete. As we seen with Pythagoras, it is one thing slotting numbers into a formula, it is another applying it to a complex set of circumstances. I believe it takes Paul the whole letter to show Titus how to do this. The rest of the book is Paul applying the model taught in 1:1-3 to the context described in 1:4-5. Therefore, before going through Paul’s calculation, let us carefully read the exercise this week. In 1:4-5 we learn who Titus is and what he is being told to do. Paul writes: Introducing Titus (1:4) and Instructing Titus (1:5).
1. Introducing Titus (1:4)
It seems you don’t need to be people person in order to achieve great things. Charles Darwin, the famous biologist, was known for being fiercely independent, unwilling to shares ideas with others. Ironically, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, isn’t known for being particularly friendly. In fact, he allegedly double crossed a number of his friends in order to seize control of the company. Less sinister is the story of Theodore Geisel, better known as the children’s author called ‘Dr Seuss’. Alongside ‘The Cat in the Hat’, his most famous book is ‘How the Grinch stole Christmas’. Both it and the later movie tell the story of a reclusive creature called the Grinch, who lives in isolation at the top of a mountain, trying to ignore the jolly people who live in the town below. However, the Grinch is actually an autobiographical character, with author Dr Seuss himself known for avoiding crowds and being antisocial. Whether in science, business or literature, it seems you can more than make your way in this world without working well with those around you.
However, this is not true in the church. The only way to build up the church of Jesus Christ, is by building up people. This is hardly surprising, given that the church is a group of people. Church buildings will not last: only a church’s members are eternal. Of all the things on earth, only people will make it to eternity. If you want to invest in eternity, you must invest in people. Paul is a great example of this. Last week we seen how people were his priority. He was a servant and apostle, ‘for the sake…of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth…’ (1:1). However, Paul not only served for people, but alongside them. Read any of his epistles and either at the start or the end there is a list of Paul’s companions in ministry. Sometimes he disagreed with them, like he did with Barnabas. Sometimes he was disappointed by them, as he was with John Mark. Sometimes he was completely deserted by them, as he was with Demas. And yet, Paul persisted with people. Paul descended deeper into theological truths than Darwin ever did biological ones. Paul was foundational in an organisation that is larger and will last longer than Facebook. Paul wrote passages of prose far more moving than those of Dr Seuss. And he did it all while mentoring, investing in, befriending and building up those around him.
A. What are we told about Titus in the New Testament?
Titus was one of these companions. In fact, from what we are told in the New Testament, Titus was Paul’s longest running companion. We first hear of him in Galatians 2, when Paul recounts a trip he took to see the apostles in Jerusalem. It probably happened right at the start of his ministry. There we see Paul accompanied on that journey by two colleagues: Barnabas and Titus (2:1). Fast forward to 2 Timothy, the last letter we have from Paul, and right at the end of his ministry we again find Titus, whom it seems was ministering in Dalmatia, modern day Croatia. Titus was Paul’s companion throughout his ministry: from start to finish. In between the journey to Jerusalem and mission to Dalmatia, we know Titus had at least two other assignments. The first shows just how much Paul trusted Titus. In 2 Corinthians, Paul has to deal with perhaps the most challenging church he cared for. He has to write in order to encourage contribution to a collection for those facing famine in Judea, but the situation was incredibly delicate, for at that very moment Corinth was questioning his apostolic authority and toying with following false apostles. Who is it that Paul sends to sort out this situation? It is Titus: who Paul describes as ‘my partner and fellow worker for your benefit’ (8:23). However, Titus was not only valuable to the churches, but to Paul himself. Earlier in 2 Corinthians Paul describes a particular low point his ministry team had, when ‘our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus…’ (7:5–6). Titus was Paul’s time-tested, truly trusted, ministry partner.
Paul not only sent Titus on a charge to Corinth, but also brought him as a companion to Crete: the largest of the Greek islands in the Mediterranean. We learn this from 1:5, ‘This is why I left you in Crete…’. We don’t know when this took place, but it seems Paul and Titus were at one point both on Crete together. It was unlikely to be the first time that the gospel had gone to Crete. In Acts 2:11 we see that there were Cretans there on the day of Pentecost. However, it is unclear if any Cretans had already been converted or churches planted on the island. We have been thinking about how God seeks out his sheep. It is likely that this is what Paul and Titus were doing on Crete, sharing the gospel and seeing God’s elect come to faith. However, it seems that after the sheep started to gather together into flocks, forming churches in each locality, Paul decides moves on. We see him do this throughout Acts: Paul breaks new ground, sharing the gospel and gathering Christians as churches, before going on to other unreached locations. Often, he will write letters to the churches he has planted, revisiting them when he is in the area or sending a companion to see how they are. On this occasion, when Paul leaves Crete, he asks Titus to stay behind in order to ensure that the churches continue to develop. ‘This is why I left you in Crete so that you might put what remained into order…’. We will soon turn to what Paul is talking about there (1:5). However, first notice the language he uses to introduce Titus in 1:4: he writes ‘my true child in a common faith….’
B. What are we told about Titus here?
It seems that Paul never had a family. In 1 Corinthians 7:8 he describes himself as single. However, despite this, throughout the New Testament we see that Paul has an almost endless number of children. In 1 Corinthians 4:14–15 he says, ‘I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.’ Again, he describes the Galatians as ‘my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!’ (4:19) From this we see that when Paul planted churches, sought God’s scattered sheep and formed them into flocks, they were not only added to God’s family, but to Paul’s as well. This is particularly true of those he was mentoring in ministry: he calls Onesimus, Timothy and Titus his children. Here Titus is described, like Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:1, as ‘my true child’. It as if Paul is saying, Titus you are even more of a son to me than if you have been born my physical child. Even though Paul’s is a spiritual fatherhood, it is nevertheless a true one. We have seen Paul is a people person: he surrounds himself with partners and serves for the sake of the saints. However, do you see the intimacy of these relationships? The churches he plants are not projects, they are family. The companions he has are not work colleagues, they are children. This too should be level of intimacy that we seek to foster in our Christian relationships: not just fellow church members, but fellow family members. Not just friends in the faith, but brothers and sisters in Christ. From our time with you so far at Kew, we can see that many of these kinds of relationships already exist: you have been caring for Dorothy as if she was your own mother. Let us thank God for this and press on in pursuing devoted, intimate, family relationships with one another. Let us see this as an opportunity to be brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, regardless whether we have any physical siblings or children. By evangelism and discipling, we invite and adds others to our family. Such children are not second-rate, make-believe: Paul tells us spiritual family connections are true ones.
For a first century Jew, this would have been a shocking statement. Paul describes himself as ‘a Hebrew of Hebrews’ (Philippians 3:5). And this is who is father to the gentile Titus: one who we see from Galatians 2 is never circumcised after his conversion. What is it that brings together a Jew and gentile into the one family? What is it that allows for a Jew to be father to a gentile? It is ‘a common faith’. It is our common faith that makes us such close family. And we see they not only share a faith, but also share a saviour. ‘Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.’ (1:4) This title Saviour is such a prominent one in Titus. 3 times it is used for God our Saviour, 3 times it is used of the Son in particular. Each time it comes in perfect pairs in the three paragraphs of truth we have in the letter (1:3,4; 2:10,13; 3:4,6). It peaks right in the middle of the book in 2:13 in what is perhaps the clearest declaration of Christ’s divinity in the Bible: ‘the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.’
2. Instructing Titus (1:5)
I’m sure at some point, you have all started something you failed to finish. Perhaps a DIY project that at first seemed easy enough, but turned out to be harder than initially thought. I’m confident many of you have shelves full of books you never finished! Sometimes, finishing doesn’t really matter: if you don’t eat all your dinner, it is usually because you have got all the nutrients and enjoyment you need. However, other things by their very nature require you to finish them: you don’t get a prize for pulling out halfway through a race. Then there are things that fall in between those two categories, it would be better to finish them but if you don’t, they are of some value. If you set out to knit a jumper to keep you warm and stop halfway through, you might be able to use it as a scarf instead. If you don’t finish a book, you may get the jist of the story.
Sometimes Christians get confused over which category this task entrusted to Titus falls into: is it completely optional, absolutely necessary or something in between? Just as we seen last week that Paul was a man with a mission, so too is Titus. He is left in Crete in order to complete something in the church. ‘This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order…’ (1:5) Paul may have been an apostle: empowered by the Spirit to perform signs and wonders, to speak out the infallible word of God and be the foundation upon which Jesus Christ would build his church. However, even Paul could not build a church entirely overnight. We don’t know how long he stayed in Crete, whether it was weeks or months. However, we know he at one time spent three years in Ephesus, and even there was much still to do there after he left, for he sent Timothy along to finish the work. John Calvin comments, ‘The building of the Church is not a work so easy that it can be brought all at once to perfection.’ Here in Crete, there was still much to do. I’m sure there were many things that Paul could have instructed Titus about: in this letter he teachs Titus about false doctrine and teachers, church members needing to live godly lives, the attitude they should have in their family and work relationships, tactics on how to evangelise the lost, the approach to take to civil authorities, how to discipline those who caused division. However, before getting to all of those tasks, Paul seen one thing in particular as a priority. There was one task that Titus was to put at the very top of his list: ‘appoint elders in every town as I directed you…’ (1:5). I’m sure you all recognise that this is an important step for a church. However, out of all the issues included in this letter, do you see it as the most important? I think Paul does, for he considers this to be the first step Titus had to take in order to be able to take the others.
A. Why is this task important?
Last week we seen that right at the heart of this letter lies the principle that ‘truth leads to godliness’. Paul highlights this to Titus in 1:1, ‘knowledge of the truth, which accords with [leads to, produces] godliness’. And we seen that this governed what Paul says in Titus 2-3. In both chapters Paul first gives a paragraph of instruction on godliness (2:1-10; 3:1-2) and follows it by a paragraph of gospel truth which will lead to such godliness (2:11-15; 3:3-7). Titus 2-3 teach that truth produces godliness. However, how does Titus 1 connect to this? Why does Paul spend the opening chapter talking about elders? This week we have the nomination of elders (1:5), next week it will be the nature of elders (1:6-9) and after that need for elders (1:10-16). What do elders have to do with the truth that leads to godliness? Well, as we again seen last week, Paul’s method in ministry was the proclamation of God’s promises, the sharing of the scriptures, the teaching of the truth. We see this too in Titus 2-3. At the end of both those paragraphs of truth, Paul tells Titus he must teach these things (2:15; 3:8). However, when we reach the end of the letter in 3:12, we find that Titus will not always be around to do so. He is soon to leave Crete and meet Paul at Nic-op-olis for winter. Titus will not there to teach them truth forever. Therefore, before he leaves, he must raise up others to take on the task. God’s people must be taught God’s truth if they are to be godly. So Titus, as a temporary evangelist, must ensure elders are appointed, men who are able teach the truth both from their mouths and by their godly lives.
The priority Paul gives to this task helps us to determine whether it is absolutely necessary, completely optional or something in between. Here we see that there seems to have been Christians meeting as churches on Crete without any elders. This was certainly the case in Acts 14. It is there we are told about Paul’s first missionary journey: when Paul preaches the gospel and plants a church in Iconium, then in Lystra and then in Derbe. However, it is clear that each time Paul leaves a newly planted church, he does so without them having any elders. For we are told that at the end of the chapter on his way back through each city a short time later he then appoints elders in each of them. It is clear that a local church does not need to have elders to exist as a church: as Matthew 18:20 states that two believers gathering together to exercise authority in Jesus’ name are a church. Elders are not absolutely necessary for a church to exist, it is members, not elders, that make a church.
However, we must be careful not to let this reality lead us into thinking that having elders is completely optional. Having elders in a church is not like deciding whether you have a piano play or not. Whether you have a second service or not. Whether you have a building to meet in or not. Those things are complete optional, having elders is not. As one commentator puts it ‘While elders are not essential for the being of a church, they are essential to its wellbeing.’ Friends, a church does not need elders in the same way a child does not need parents. Whether through death or desertion, many children in our world are not cared for by parents. Children often survive without them: for centuries orphans lived rough on the streets of our cities. And yet, which of us would suggest that such circumstances are to be chosen instead of a child being brought up by parents, whether their own or through adoption? A church can survive, but let us not think it can thrive without elders. As another writer puts it: ‘A church must have elders if it is to be properly structured and strengthened.’ Paul would not have told Titus to prioritise this task above all others, if it was optional. More than that: God would not have given the church shepherds if his sheep did not need shepherding. Father, Son and Spirit all have worked together to do this for us. In a few weeks, we will see that the Father not only promises he will send his Son as a chief shepherd in Ezekiel 34, but in Jeremiah 24:4 we will see he promises to send under shepherds to care for his flock as well. In Ephesians 4:11, we are told that when the Son ascended on high, he not only provided his church with apostles like Paul, evangelists like Titus, but shepherd-teachers as well. In Acts 20:28 we see that it is the Spirit who comes and produces overseers to care for the church of God. Friends, if the Father promises elders, the Son provides elders and the Spirit produces elders: can we really doubt the importance of elders? Perhaps this is why John Owen concludes: 'the first duty of a church without officers is to obtain them’. Leaving a flock of sheep alone without shepherds is a dangerous decision. They might be fine for a night or two, but you can be sure that eventually either wolves will come and snap up those sheep or those sheep will never grow as healthy and strong as they should. In Acts 14, Paul leaves the absolute minimum amount of time before he appoints elders in the churches. Here he is even willing to part with his highly trusted and helpful companion Titus, leaving him behind in order to make sure the task is completed on Crete.
B. What does this task involve?
Finally, before we close, I just want to make a brief observation on not just why Titus is given this task, but what this task involved. I do so, because I am conscious that tonight you will be discussing doing what Titus had to do. While preparing this sermon all week, I have been conscious of that fact. And I want to make sure as we end I tell you that nothing I have said here today, or indeed will teach through in the next few weeks, should be interpreted as commentary on the discussion you are to have. I am happy to serve you for this time in whatever capacity you as a church desire. This text has not been deliberately chosen for today. I decided to preach through Titus when you first asked me to come back in the summer and planned out the preaching schedule then. It simply seems to be God’s providence that we have come to this passage now.
And I can see the wisdom in it, for it provides us with the opportunity to highlight what it means to nominate an elder, or rather what it meant that Titus was to appoint elders. For some people, based on this text, conclude that the appointment of leaders is a matter solely for the existing leaders of a church. They argue that it is elders who elect new elders and church members have no formal role to play in this. However, as with every doctrine, we need to keep the whole of Scripture in mind, bring not just one verse, but all the various verses together to arrive at a full understanding. For if we do that, we will find two kinds of unity must exist for the nomination of an elder.
First, there is unity between the work of God and the work of man. Between heaven and earth. We have already seen that the Father promises elders, the Son provides elders and the Spirit produces elders. This is what happens in the heavenly realm, behind the scenes as it were. And that work in heaven overlaps with what happens here on earth. When we are told in Acts 20:28 that the Holy Spirit produces or makes elders, that word could easily be translated ‘appoints’, and both the CSB and NLT will translate it this way. O Titus may appoint elders on earth, but if this is to mean anything the Holy Spirit must do so in heaven as well. How are we to know if what is done on earth matches what is done in heaven? We must only appoint elders in accordance with what God has said: the Holy Spirit has told us through the pen of Paul in Titus 1 and in 1 Timothy 3 who he appoints as elders. We must only appoint those who meet those qualifications.
Secondly, we see there is unity between the existing elders, the church members and the individual himself. All three have a part to play in this process. In 1 Timothy 3:1, Paul suggests that the individual himself must desire this task. Therefore, the individual must aspire to be an elder. Secondly, the congregation must agree t them being an elder. In Galatians 1, Paul gives the whole of the church the responsibility to decide whether teachers are teaching the truth and to remove them if they are not. It is for church members to decide who should teach them. Yes, shepherds lead them through this decision, but ultimately the job belongs to everybody. We see this pattern set in the first few appointments in the New Testament: in both Acts 1 for a new apostle and Acts 6 for the first deacons the whole church is involved. Finally, as we see here and in Acts 14, it is the existing elders, or in a church with no elders like here in Crete, the evangelist, church planter or de facto leaders, who appoints a new elder. However, this word ‘appoint’ is far less authoritative in meaning than we first think. It was often used to refer to somebody being official placed in an office following a vote or election. It is means elders are appointed in the same way that our Prime Minister is appointed. Yes the Queen appoints him, but she does so with the agreement of her people. Similarly, yes elders are appointed by the existing leaders, it seems likely but only with the agreement of the members. Just as the Father promises, Son provides and Spirit produces in the heavenly realm. We see that here on earth the individual must aspire, the congregation must agree, and the leaders must appoint. Indeed, this matches the very process set out in your constitution: for it is the existing elder that is to look out for godly and gifted men, and after confirming the individual himself desires eldership, can nominate him to the church members for them to indicate their agreement or not.
The nomination of an elder is a significant event. Here in Titus, Paul places it as a priority above all others. We have seen that both heaven and earth must come together to in order to do it.
ALEXANDER ARRELL