While studying the book of
Titus, we have learned many of the qualifications for an elder which
is interchangeable with a “bishop”, “overseer”, “presbyter”
or pastor of a church. Today Paul the apostle adds to those
qualifications in chapter one and verse eight where he wrote:
But a lover of
hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
We
previously discussed the following traits of a good leader:
blameless, husband of one wife, faithful children, steward of God,
not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, and
not given to filthy lucre or money. Today Paul begins with, “a
lover of hospitality.” In other words, he is hospitable and
gracious to guests, and he loves to be so. The elder must be a person
who enjoys giving and providing for others. When there is an occasion
for greeting, he greets with open arms. When there are times of
eating with another or welcoming someone into their homes, he does so
with gladness of heart. We all have known people who seem to be
particularly gracious with their hospitality, and the elder must have
this trait within him if he is going to work well as an overseer.
In
addition to being hospitable, the bishop must be, “a lover of
good men.” The overseer must enjoy the company of good men to
be effective within the church. He should not be prone to join
himself with those who are promoting evil acts and such, but rather
have friendships and relationships among men who are doing and being
good. So often “bad company has corrupted good morals”, and if a
pastor, bishop or elder is constantly relating to “bad men” he
too is likely to be compromised.
Next
Paul adds that the overseer must be “sober.” This
means he must be “of a sound mind, sane, in one's senses”.
The elder must not be a person that is prone to unsound ideas that
are unreasonable or in contradiction to the Holy Scriptures. In
other words he must have his whits about him, and not be prone to
ridiculous ideas that do nothing for the kingdom of God.
Paul wrote that the bishop
must be, “just.” The
overseer must be righteous, virtuous, and keeping of the commands of
God and also distributing justice toward others whenever it is
required of him. Not only must the overseer be just within himself,
but he must also be just before others. He must live in manner that
is acceptable to God, and not only within his own standards.
The
elder must be “holy”
which means undefiled by sin and free from wickedness. In other words
he is to be pure, pious, and observant of every moral obligation.
Although perfection is impossible on this side of Heaven for us, the
standard must be “holy”
for without it the compromises will affect not only the elder
himself, but also the people he oversees.
Finally
the bishop must be “temperate.” In
other words he must be a person who has self-control. He must be
strong, robust, having power over and mastering any outside habits or
obstacles for being a good minister. He cannot be prone to addictions
that master over him, and he certainly cannot lash out in
uncontrolled anger at every condition that comes his way. He must be
able to restrain appetites, emotional outbursts and outlandish
reactions lest he be an ineffective leader. Let's face it, we have
all known those who were in leadership who did not maintain control
of themselves and both they and others were harmed by their actions.
What
about us? Once again, are these attributes found within our lives?
Are we hospitable? A lover of good men? Sober? Just? holy and
temperate? If we were examined by others, which we are, would they
label us with these traits? Perhaps today is a good day for another
self-examination, and quite possibly prayer for more of these traits
that were exhibited by Jesus very naturally will be on the top of our
“to do” list before we make another move.
Next
time we will continue to be challenged by the qualifications of an
elder, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites,
www.amazon.com
; www.barnesandnobles.com
; download
to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment