God's Looking For "A Few Good Men".
Titus 1:5-9
I. God is looking for good men to be leaders in His church.
A. vs.5 "appoint elders in every town as I directed you."
every town would refer to there being local church establishments.
B. II Tim. 2:2 "entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others"
C. I Tim. 1:3 "so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine"
D. Acts 14:23 "And when they had appointed elders for them in every church"
God has called certain people to leadership in their communities. These leaders can be preachers, elders, deacons, or simply influential people in the community around them. As having been gifted with a position of leadership there comes several character traits that are required. These are in the home, church, and local community
II. What defines a "good man" at
A. Home
1. "Above reproach"- to not easily find anything to criticize about him. No suspect behavior,
above disgrace or shame.
2. "Husband of one wife"- I don't believe that this is referring to divorce, but rather to an attitude.
The idea of being so "in love" with your wife divorce doesn't even enter the mind. Being a
"one woman man", being blinded by the love you have for your wife so much that you don't
notice other women.
3."children are believers" why is this important in being a leader? Our children are the one group
of people that we have influence over from the time they are born. If during there life, they
haven't seen our faith in us enough to become believers themselves, then we're not doing a
good job leading our own household.
4." not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination"- I think these are the extremes that
could happen. Obviously if our children are involved in drunkenness and sexual immorality,
then we've done something wrong. Same goes for insubordination. If your child blatantly
disregards your role as a parent in their life, then your not a very strong leader. It is because
of our love for our children that we discipline them.
B. Church
1."above reproach" - repeated, therefore, must be of some importance.
2. "must NOT be,"
a. arrogant- several times thru out scripture we see God calling to the most humble of people and using them for great things. Noah was the only righteous man God could find on the earth at the time. I'm sure that made him really popular among his contemporaries. Especially when he told them that it was going to rain and the earth would be flooded. Yet God used His humble servant to save mankind. Abraham was an old childless man at a time in history where children were considered part of your wealth. God used him to be the "father of many nations" David was a mere shepherd boy, and Moses had a speech problem, and they both led Israel. All these men and many more had reasons to be embarrassed and even humiliated, but God used them to transform history. To lead Gods church one must be humble.
b. quick tempered- This is not saying that we must not get angry. It's saying that we shouldn't have a short fuse if we are to lead God's people. Short fuses = rash decisions and God hates those. They never turn out for our own betterment. Moses breaking the tablets, David and Bathsheba, Peter and the Temple Guard. God can use a reaction, but he prefers to use a thought out action.
c. a drunkard- drunkenness is not a useful character trait for anything. When a person is drunk they tend to lose all inhibitions and frequently ignore their conscience/ Gods voice. While "a little wine" may be good for the body, alot of alcohol is good for nothing.
d. violent- How easy is it to attract someone to yourself when your punching them in the face? Violence is rarely a good quality and always brings more violence.
e. Greedy for gain- this doesn't say what kind of gain, just gain. So as a leader, we should not be looking to make a name for ourselves, or to make a fortune for ourselves. That should not be our driving force.
C. Community
1. Hospitable- The definition of hospitable is favorable to life and growth. A leader must be favorable to the life and growth of their community. What are you doing in your community? How are you leading your community to growth? To life? what kind of growth? Cancerous growth? I think of the "slum lords" of the big cities. Sure, you get a place to live for next to nothing, but it's not in the slightest bit habitable. The furnace doesn't work and you get more water from the hole in the roof than from the plumbing. What kind of life does that encourage? What kind of growth is that? we should be hospitable in our dealings with our community so we may reflect the love of Christ.
2. a lover of good- not just a person who likes good or wants to do good. A LOVER of good. Well, what is good? I had to go back to the dictionary for this one. Even tho I know what good is, I couldn't describe it. This is what my dictionary says: That which is beneficial, admirable, pleasing, valuable, or useful. Wow! Do those words describe the things that you "love"? I think Philippians 4:8 says it nicely. " Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
3. self controlled- When we think of self control many different things can come to mind. Control of the tongue, the body, the mind. How often do we lose control of these things? How often do we let a curse word slip? How many times while reading this has your mind slipped? It doesn't have to be evil to be bad. We should have control over these things more often than not.
4. upright- When I think of this word I think of my piano teacher always trying to get me to correct my posture. "Sit upright Chuckie" she would say. Now as an adult I try to keep my posture in check because of back problems. One thing I've realized in this is that when my posture is correct I look more confident. I feel more confident. Are we confident in what we say we believe? Do we have faith in our faith?
5. holy- We are to present ourselves a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable according to Rom. 12:2. Holy things are things that are set apart for the purpose of use by God. The holy of Holies was where God could manifest Himself in old testament times. We are to be the temple of God thru Christ. Are you a "holy" temple. Are you set apart from the world for God? Would other people know that?
6. disciplined- much like self control but not the same. Discipline is the act of chastising ourselves when we fail. It is the recognition and decision to change what we were doing. It is the committing of ourselves to a standard higher than ourselves. Are you committed to the standard set by Christ? Do you even know that standard?
III. Conclusion.
vs.9 "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."
We are to keep the trustworthy word. what is more trustworthy than the word of God? We are to know that word so that we can teach others, and rebuke those that preach against it. Do you know your trustworthy word? Do you know how to teach that word? Do you know how to defend it? This is what we as leaders in our homes, churches, and communities are charged to do. How can we teach that which we do not know? How can we defend the testimonies of the saints if we're not familiar with them? We need to take charge in these arena's and be the "few good men" that God charged us with. Can you handle the truth?
-Chuck
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