Evaluating Leadership

Read Titus 1.

Titus had been a devoted colleague of the Apostle Paul and a faithful man.  Here, Paul referred to him as "my true child in a common faith", which may indicate that Paul led him to Christ.  Titus was sent to Crete to oversee and develop the ministry "in every town".  To say the assignment was difficult may be an understatement.  However, the challenges Titus faced are not unlike what most every godly pastor of a local church faces while serving the people and preaching the truth of God's word.

Two internal items needed immediate attention.
1. To organize the ministry by appointing qualified leaders. (vv.6-9)
Too often, people are asked to serve for reasons other than these godly characteristics. The world wants to separate one's private life from their public life.  Yet, it is the person's character that qualifies, or disqualifies, them as a leader.  When a person separates conduct from character, their leadership will be corrupt 100% of the time.

The instruction from Paul is simple.  There are no organization charts or job descriptions.  Leaders are to be the number one servers.  Instead, in far too many churches, leaders have followed a secular model of trying to be board members, decision makers, and regulators.  The word elder by definition means older.  These leaders were recognized and to be appointed because of their experience and maturity in the faith.

2. To defend against false teachers. (vv.10-16)
Rather than tolerate them or hold a vote on whether to accept them, the Holy Spirit of God had Paul instruct otherwise.
"They must be silenced." (v.11)
"Rebuke them sharply." (v.13)
The failure of pastors and denominations in obeying the Scriptures by taking this action always results in liberalism and down fall.  They no longer truly represent Jesus and the word of God.

False teachers are characterized in four ways.
A. They teach myths.  Their rituals and made up traditions are taught to the people by routine, instead of the truth.
B. They value popular opinion.  Their cues for belief and behavior come from "the commands of people", rather than the written word of God.
C. They have defiled their thinking.  As these false teachers have rejected the truth, their "minds and consciences" have become desensitized.  Sin, in themselves and others, no longer bothers them.
D. They are hypocrites.  They say certain vocabulary words to sound Christian, but their lives broadcast an opposite message.
E. They are unfit to represent Christ.  Paul called them "detestable, disobedient".
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We must know the truth of the God's word in order to evaluate leadership and to be discerning.  We must be sure that we are daily conforming ourselves to God's expectations.  Godliness is not a position in the church but a reflection of our relationship with Christ.