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 Titus 1 - Leadership Priorities

Good leadership is marked by what we do - and don’t do.  We see that principle of Christian leadership throughout Scripture.

        The Holy Spirit-guided leader has God’s law written on his heart.  God never changes.  Jesus is God.  He is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8 and 22:13), the beginning and the end.  Before the world began God planned for and promised eternal life to all who would have faith in His Son (1:2).  God’s amazing message, His Good News.  All time, from the beginning to today, is but a moment to God.

To be a Christian leader requires that you know God’s message, trust His message, teach His message, and live to promote God’s message.

We can look at God’s standards and commands in the OT to illuminate His teaching in the NT.  For example, we see God’s message to the king of Judah in Jeremiah 22.  God directed the prophet Jeremiah to send a message containing a conditional covenant to the king.  This is my paraphrase of God's message to the king: (i) have your entire senior leadership team listen and obey God, (ii) be fair-minded and just (simple, elegant, yet comprehensive), (iii) help those who have been robbed (do it, don’t just pretend to do so - and yes, it requires an investigation into who was robbed, what was stolen, and who stole), (iv) rescue people from their oppressors (find out who the bad guys are and rescue people from them - it’s not that hard to do), (v) quit your evil deeds (stop worshiping money and worldly stuff - you know very well what God means), (vi) care for foreigners, orphans, and widows (why is this not a priority for God’s church?), and (vii) stop murdering the innocent (use Jesus’ standard of what constitutes murder).

For those of you stuck on chains of command and authority structures then Paul’s message to Titus here is for you.  You cannot get higher, or more authoritative, than a command of the one true God.  God’s command is direct powerful and meaningful - it comes with high stakes.  That is, there are consequences to what we do with the command of Jesus Christ - obedience or disobedience.  Blessing or calamity.  A godly life or an ungodly life.  

And here we see that Paul is operating under the command of God.  He is appointed teacher of the truth by a command of God our Saviour (1:3).  I believe that to be true.  We know that God is Good.  For we have experienced His love and goodness.  I believe that God wants us, and every generation  - for there is nothing new under the sun - to hear His promise of eternal life and the message taught in Titus.

You see, we are all equal in Christ.  God has no favorites.  He loves every person.  He died for every person, to take away the sins of the world.  God desires that no man or woman perish - but that every person should believe in the sacrifice that God made for us.  It was Jesus Christ’s painful death on a Roman cross - that is what pays our debt and brings us forgiveness for our sins - the sin that separates us from God the Father.  

Once you hear this salvation, once you know that Jesus conquered death and was raised to new life and new body, you know the way to eternal life with God.  Those who hear and accept God's message have more than a glimpse of the power of God.

No matter what your background this is the faith we share.  We have unity in faith in Christ.  We trust and are saved to eternity with God one way and only one way: through God our Savior.  This is the mindset of a servant leader.

Praise be to our Holy God.

We love each other because God loves us.  God cares for and loves us.  He expects us to live blameless lives because we know Him and represent Him to the world.  God calls us His family.  We are the sons and daughters of God.

Dear Jesus, thank you for your eternal plan.  And for your message revealed at just the right time.  Thank you for allowing us, your family, to participate in building your Kingdom just as you see fit.  And for your commands.  Please help us to trust, teach, and share the truth of your message by the way we live.  Please help your church today.  And please bring revival here and across the globe.  Amen.

Kari in the National Gallery, London, UK.

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