Is your minister fit for ministry? Titus 1:1-9

As you are aware, I am not at all afraid to use the people in my life as sermon fodder, that is, I am not afraid to tell stories about people to get my point across.  Much to the chagrin of my family, I have freely shared private moments from my public pulpit.  There was a time in my ministry that I told so many stories about my father-n-law, that people started to wonder if he was a fictional character I invented to be used for comedic relief... he is not, by the way.  Hogey is a real person and at least 72% of the stuff I say about him is true. 

I am not afraid to focus attention on my family if I think it will help make my point.  I am also not afraid to focus attention on you.  Last week I told stories about Lillian and Will to illustrate what it means to have the love of Jesus rooted and established in your hearts, but they were not the first members to make an appearance in one of my sermons, nor will they be the last.  As I think about it, I have probably told stories about a person from almost every family here at Messiah, though admittedly there are some characters in our congregation who lend themselves to storytelling more than others.  With that in mind, for those of you who worship with us online I can assure you that Andy Brown is a real person and at least 72% of the stuff I say about him is true.

I am not afraid to use my family and friends to help illustrate a point in a sermon.  I am, however, less willing to use myself.  I don’t mind playfully putting the spotlight on any of you, but I find it personally uncomfortable to have it put on me.  But that is exactly what is happening this morning. In our lesson from Titus 1:1-9 The Holy Spirit is putting me in the spotlight; The Holy Spirit is focusing attention on your minister and all who hold positions of accountability within the church and inviting you to stand beside saint Titus as he determines whether or not your minister is fit for ministry.   

This, by the way, was not the plan, at least not my plan.  When I was working through our worship plan, I noticed that this Sunday, January 26th is the feast of Saint Titus.  The feast of saint Titus is one of 30-some minor festivals that we observe throughout the year, such as St Michael and All Angels or All Saints Day.  A minor festival is an opportunity to give praise to God for a specific event in which or a specific person through whom He worked.  Most, minor festivals honestly get overlooked because they occur during the week.  However, occasional a minor festival will fall on a Sunday a provide us with an opportunity to observe the festival.  That is what is happening today with the minor festival of Saint Titus, Pastor and Confessor.  When I planned this service, I thought I would have the opportunity to learn a little about saint Titus and shine a spotlight on the work God accomplished through him.  However, I quickly discovered how very little there is to learn about saint Titus and that the spotlight on his festival was not focused on Titus but rather on the men who serve as “elders” and “overseers” in God’s church.

There is a great deal of legend that has grown up around saint Titus but all that we can know for certain is what has been recorded in biblical text.  There we learn Titus was an uncircumcised Greek who came to faith, possibly converted by Paul in Antioch (Paul refers to Titus as “4 my true son in our common faith”).  Titus was a student or what we might call a vicar of saint Paul and was a companion on several missionary journeys.  Titus successfully resolved some conflicts in the church in Corinth proving himself a capable minister of the gospel.  Paul had so much confidence in Titus’ abilities that Paul left Titus on the Island of Crete to “5… straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town”.

Here is where the spotlight uncomfortably shifts to shine on your minister.  The men to be appointed positions of accountability within the church needed to have specific qualifications.  As I see it, these qualifications can be grouped into the following three categories: private, public, and personal. 

The first category of qualifications concerns your minister’s private life.  In verse 6 saint Paul instructs Titus to appoint a minister who is “6… blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.” In his private life your minister is to be “blameless” in his dealings with his wife and children.  That is not to say that he must be sinless, but that his wife and children do not have an unrepentant transgression, offense, or sin that they can hold against him. 

Paul literally instructs that the minister be a “one woman man”.  It was illegal in the Roman Empire to have more than one wife, but on the island of Crete, adultery was clearly permissible.  The island of Crete was full of sailors and soldiers.  Sexual immorality was as common then and there as it is here today.  In contrast to what was (and is) common the minister must be faithful to his wife.  After all, if he cannot remain faithful to his bride, how can he be faithful to Christ’s bride, the church?

Further, the minister is to have believing and obedient children.  That is not to say that he is to be an order barking, finger snapping, tyrant.  No, the minister is to be skilled at guiding, directing, and influencing his children.  He is to be engaged, active, and involved in the lives of his children.  There was a time when we thought of the minister’s family as a secondary responsibility.  But they have never been secondary to God.  You are not to be impressed by a minister who pulls all-nighters and is quick to sacrifice his family time for the needs of the ministry.  He is to be a man who wants to go home and be with his wife and children where he can best influence their beliefs and behaviors.  After all, if he cannot train his own children in the way they should go, how can he encourage and equip others to train their children in the way they should go?

The second category of qualifications concerns your minister’s public life.  In verses 7-8 saint Paul instructs Titus to appoint a minister who is “7… 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.”  We are now observing the minister outside the privacy of his own home to see how he interacts with other people.  In his public life Paul instructs Titus there are 5 things the minister is NOT to be and 6 things he must be.

A minister must not be “overbearing”; he must not so sure of himself that is unwilling to listen to any opinion other than his own.  A minister must not be “quick-tempered”; he must not be subject to violent mood swings and erratic behavior.  A minister must not be “given to drunkenness”; he is often called upon to make serious decisions and is often trusted with sensitive information therefore he mustn’t allow his drink to impair his judgement or loosen his lips.  A minister must not be “violent”; You task him with the responsibility of correcting you when you are wrong and guiding you to do what is right.  You do not want to entrust that kind of power and authority to a bully.  A minister must not pursue “dishonest gain”; He is entitled to fair compensation and respect, but he must not be greedy for riches and praise.  If I were to sum up the list of 5 things a minister must not be, I would simply say he must not be a jerk. 

Instead of a jerk, a minister must be “hospitable”; he should like people, make them feel comfortable in his presence, and part of the group.  A minister must “love what is good”; he seeks to find the good in all things and all people.  A minister must be “self-controlled”; He is to be a rational man who makes levelheaded decisions and can offer sensible advice.  A minister must be “upright”; he is to be a man of integrity who who practices what he preaches.  A minister must be “holy”; he is to be filled with humble awe before his God and seek to do the LORD God’s will.  A minister must be “disciplined”; he is to be calm, cool, and collected in thought, word, and deed.  If I were to sum up the 6 things a minister must be I would simply say he must be a gentleman.   

The third category of qualifications concerns your minister’s personal life.  In verse 9 saint Paul instructs Titus to appoint a minister who “9… hold(s) 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.”  The best place to observe this final category of qualification is in the classroom.  In the classroom the minister must be able to rightly divide law and gospel so that he can refute and encourage.  However, encouraging with the gospel and refuting with the law is not something we just naturally know how to do.  Encouraging with the gospel and refuting with the law is something that must be learned before it can be taught.  The Bible is the textbook that teaches the minister these lessons.  Therefore, a minister must be a student of God’s Word before he can be a teacher of that Word.  But these lesson must be more than academic exercises.  The minister must learn the righteous requirements of God’s Holy Law, examine himself in the mirror of that Holy Law, and feel the pain of his own condemnation.  But the minister must not allow himself to give in to despair.  He must learn from personal experience the love of God that is found only in the unconditional gospel; He must know Jesus who carried the burden of the minister’s guilt to the cross and declared that the debt of the minster’s sin has been paid in full.  Only a minister who has felt the pain of the law and experienced the love of the gospel can properly teach others. 

Paul instructed Titus to appoint elders in every town who personally, publicly, and privately met these qualifications.  I know several ministers who in varying degrees have many of these qualities, but I have never met a minister who has met them all.  I have certainly not found such a minister in the mirror.  I have, however, read of one minister who did meet these qualifications.  His name is Jesus.  Personal, publicly, and privately Jesus was perfectly fit for ministry.  He is the only one that is.  Yet He sends out men, who honestly on their own are unfit for ministry, He sends out men to minister in His place.  He sends them out cloaked in His qualifications and made fit for ministry by His mercy and grace.  With the exception of Jesus, you will never find a man who is perfectly fit for ministry, but, because of Jesus, the minister who stands before you seeks to be man who, under the grace of God, strives to be what Titus was looking for.

This spotlight that the Holy Spirit has placed upon me this morning is uncomfortable.  I almost changed the worship plan so that I could avoid it.  But then it dawned on me that the Holy Spirit was using me to illustrate a point.   And the point ironically has nothing to do with me but everything to do with you.  This section of scripture is more about the ministry than it is the minister; it is more about you than it is about me.  The point of this entire section of scripture is this, God loves you.    When He knit you together in your mother’s womb, He did so with the express intent that you would eventually spend eternity in heaven.  God knows the path to paradise is long and difficult, He knows how easy and enticing it is to stray from the path, He knows there are people along the way who want to lead you down the wrong path, He knows the devil is doing everything he can to block your path to paradise.  Your God loves you so much that He sends you ministers who hold up a lamp for your feet and a light for your path so that you won’t get lost on your way to paradise.  Your God loves you, that is the point the Holy Spirit is making this morning.  The qualifications for ministers are privately, publicly, and personally, demanding because your soul is too valuable to entrust to the care of a minister who is not fit for ministry.  I don’t enjoy the spotlight that has been placed upon me this morning, but I will gladly bear it if illustrates just how much your God loves you.  Amen.