The Purpose of Leadership (Titus 1:10-16)
Paul doesn’t just want qualified leaders in the churches he helped start. He wants the churches to survive and multiply; and they cannot do that without sound leadership and the vision and faith that come with that leadership. Because the biggest threat to a church is always from within; from those who claim to be a part of the faith but simply seek power and control for their own gain.
In this case Paul uses a bit of a generality to describe the nature of the threat that the Churches in Crete would face. It would be from amongst the Cretan believers. However, he quotes the words of one of their own, and it is not intended to be an across the board accusation. (After all, taken too literally the quote makes no sense at all.) The point is that the people the Cretan Churches lived amongst and ministered to were culturally corrupt and the churches would be susceptible to such corruption if it were to gain a foothold.
And that fact has not really changed. Churches everywhere are culturally predisposed to being misled by false teaching without sound leadership and sound teaching. Faith is belief in things one cannot see and that are not always easy to understand. However, it is not without a foundation. Good leadership stands on that foundation and does not play with speculations or “exciting” novelties.
The Biblical Text is the foundation and the Gospel Message its content.
In this case Paul uses a bit of a generality to describe the nature of the threat that the Churches in Crete would face. It would be from amongst the Cretan believers. However, he quotes the words of one of their own, and it is not intended to be an across the board accusation. (After all, taken too literally the quote makes no sense at all.) The point is that the people the Cretan Churches lived amongst and ministered to were culturally corrupt and the churches would be susceptible to such corruption if it were to gain a foothold.
And that fact has not really changed. Churches everywhere are culturally predisposed to being misled by false teaching without sound leadership and sound teaching. Faith is belief in things one cannot see and that are not always easy to understand. However, it is not without a foundation. Good leadership stands on that foundation and does not play with speculations or “exciting” novelties.
The Biblical Text is the foundation and the Gospel Message its content.
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