Slices
Prepare
Where has God given you opportunities to serve and influence? Thank him for these.
Bible passage
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour,
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.
Appointing elders who love what is good
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Rebuking those who fail to do good
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
Explore
Paul’s main theme in his letter to Titus, his child in the faith and trusted co‑worker, is that what we believe works itself out in how we behave. Where have you seen the truth of this in your life? In chapter 1, this ‘truth that leads to godliness’ (v 1) is the lens through which Paul views three different expressions of leadership. The heart of it is his description of the character of those Titus is to appoint to lead the young Cretan church. From both sides of the coin – desirable and undesirable qualities – we get the impression of a leader of love and integrity in all areas of life (vs 5–9). Which leader do you most admire for these reasons?
Two other references to leadership follow. Paul’s own understanding of his servant leadership as an apostle is that his purpose is to help God’s people to grow in a very holistic way – in faith, knowledge and godliness, for now, and eternity (vs 1–3). He is also aware of the false teachers causing havoc in Crete. They might ‘talk the talk’, he says, but their walk gives them away as unfit for influencing God’s people. We may not all have an official role in church leadership, but all of us have opportunities to serve and influence – family and friends, workplaces or communities, further afield or even simply ourselves. How is God inviting you further into gospel-shaped love and integrity in those places?
Respond
Use this passage to pray for your church leaders.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ecclesiastes 8,9; 1 Timothy 1
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for those Faith Guides who see little evidence locally of children and young people wanting to engage with faith and feel discouraged. Ask God to give them grace to persist, and to bless their faithfulness with encouragement. (This week's prayers relate to this article.)
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