0:08

Whether you're looking for a young person

0:10

to lead your youth program or you're

0:12

searching for a pastor to preach every

0:14

Sunday, there's one major factor that sets

0:16

contenders apart. By virtue

0:19

of experience, training and gifting, is

0:21

that person qualified to lead? Well,

0:24

today on Insight for Living, Chuck

0:26

Swindoll expounds on this dynamic in

0:28

our continuing study through the New

0:30

Testament book of Titus. In

0:33

this message, we'll come to understand

0:35

that good spiritual leadership requires being

0:37

qualified. Chuck titled his

0:40

message, Looking for a Few Good Men.

0:50

We'll be continuing in our

0:52

study of the letter to Titus.

0:56

If you have not yet found that letter

0:59

in your New Testament, please turn and follow

1:02

along as I read for you from the

1:04

first chapter beginning

1:06

in verse 5. For

1:12

this reason I left you in Crete, that

1:15

you would set in order what remains

1:17

and appoint elders in every

1:19

city as I directed you. Namely,

1:23

if any man is above

1:25

reproach, the husband of one wife,

1:28

having children who believe, not

1:31

accused of dissipation or rebellion.

1:34

For the overseer must be

1:36

above reproach as God's steward,

1:39

not self-willed, not quick-tempered,

1:43

not addicted to wine, not pugnacious,

1:46

not fond of

1:48

sordid gain, but

1:50

hospitable, loving what

1:52

is good, sensible, just,

1:55

devout, self-controlled.

2:00

faithful word, which

2:02

is in accordance with the teaching, so

2:05

that he will be able both to exhort

2:08

in sound doctrine and

2:11

to refute those who

2:13

contradict. You're

2:21

listening to Insight For Living. Did

2:23

you know about the spiral-bound workbooks for

2:25

our Searching the Scriptures Bible Studies? To

2:28

dig deeper into the New Testament

2:30

letter of Titus, you can purchase

2:33

a printed Bible study workbook by

2:35

going to insight.org/workbooks. And

2:37

now, the message from Chuck called, Looking for

2:40

a Few Good Men. The

2:42

worst moment was when we

2:44

realized the pilot had

2:46

no idea what to do next.

2:51

So writes British author and

2:53

pastor Tom Wright, as

2:56

he with passengers were flying over South

2:58

Africa. His true

3:01

and frightening story continues. We

3:04

were traveling in a light aircraft

3:06

going north from Pretoria in South

3:08

Africa into Zimbabwe. There

3:11

were five of us in the plane, the

3:14

pilot, our two

3:16

hosts, my wife, and myself.

3:19

There had been some mechanical problems earlier on,

3:21

but they had been fixed,

3:23

or so we thought, before

3:26

we left Pretoria. Now we were flying

3:28

north. We

3:30

crossed the Limpopo and found

3:33

ourselves over open bushland, on

3:36

and on for

3:38

miles. But the

3:40

plane's electrical systems had started to fail.

3:43

We lost radio contact. The

3:47

automatic direction finder stopped working. Even

3:50

the petrol gauge packed up. All

3:54

that was working was the engine itself, without

3:57

any landmarks anywhere.

4:01

We were lost. Only

4:04

the sun told us roughly which direction we

4:07

were going in, not

4:09

how far we'd come. With

4:11

side winds strong, we couldn't tell

4:13

whether we were drifting east or

4:17

overcorrecting. Either way, we

4:19

might miss our destination Salisbury by

4:22

a long way. We

4:25

might not have realized how serious the

4:27

situation was if the pilot had not

4:30

turned round to talk to us. He

4:32

was biting his nails, a bad sign.

4:36

He explained the position, or rather

4:39

the lack of it. He had

4:41

no idea where

4:43

we were. And

4:45

in any case, there weren't any airports in the

4:47

region where we could come down and get the

4:50

plane fixed or even stay

4:52

the night. He handed the map back

4:54

to us with an air of desperation.

4:57

Well, he said, you see,

4:59

if you can figure out where we are, we

5:03

couldn't. We

5:05

reached Salisbury more by Providence than

5:08

skill. After

5:10

several hours, we crossed a road and

5:13

flew down to read the road signs.

5:18

Fortunately, it was still daylight. I

5:22

learned an important lesson that day. When

5:26

the pilot can't figure out what's going on,

5:30

the whole plane is in trouble. A

5:33

person not technically qualified to

5:36

pilot an airplane has no

5:38

business risking the lives of

5:40

others. Unfortunately,

5:43

if you've

5:45

ever been in a situation similar to that,

5:48

you realize you don't find

5:50

out until it's too late, and

5:53

then you're helpless to do anything about it. What

5:57

happens in an airplane can happen.

6:00

happen in a church. A

6:03

person not spiritually qualified has

6:05

no business hurting the lives

6:07

of others. Tragedy

6:10

is, you often find out too late that

6:13

he's not qualified, and

6:16

you're at that moment virtually helpless to

6:18

do anything about it. All

6:22

of this brings me to a principle of only

6:26

six words, but I hope for the rest

6:28

of your life, you'll never forget them. Good

6:32

spiritual leadership requires

6:37

being qualified. Again,

6:40

good spiritual leadership requires

6:44

being qualified. It

6:46

isn't enough just to be sincere. It

6:50

isn't enough just to be zealous or

6:52

concerned for the lost. It

6:56

isn't enough just to have some gifts

6:59

or training or

7:02

education. There

7:04

must be character

7:06

qualities in

7:09

place blended with

7:11

a measure of maturity, or you

7:14

have no business leading a church.

7:18

Good spiritual leadership requires

7:20

being qualified. That

7:23

six-word principle is woven through the fabric of

7:26

the five verses we're looking at today here

7:28

in the core of the first chapter of the

7:32

letter to Titus. The

7:35

background is easy to remember. Some

7:39

of the Cretans, those

7:41

who were natives of the island, were

7:44

in Jerusalem when Peter preached his great

7:46

sermon the day of Pentecost. Some

7:49

of them were born again, and they

7:52

returned to their island of birth where

7:55

they would establish churches, some of them not

7:57

qualified to do that. I'm

8:00

sure all of them sincere, wanting the

8:02

best, but not

8:04

able to really lead a flock. Not

8:08

long after that, the apostle himself, along

8:10

with Titus as a companion, visits

8:13

the island and they're involved in

8:15

evangelism. Realizing

8:18

that there was much yet to be done,

8:20

but knowing that his schedule required him to

8:22

get on up to Nicopolis, along

8:24

the western shores of Macedonia, Paul

8:29

left Titus there on the island. They

8:32

must have talked it over late into the night because

8:36

at the end of verse 5, we

8:38

read that Paul refers to

8:40

his directing Titus already

8:42

and the reason he left him there. What

8:46

were the reasons? The main reasons are set

8:48

forth in verse 5. For

8:51

this reason, I left you on Crete, one,

8:56

that you would

8:58

set in order what remains, and

9:02

two, appoint

9:04

elders in every city as

9:08

I directed you. Let's

9:10

take them one at a time. Always

9:13

when you read your Bible, pay attention

9:15

to the main verb. The action of

9:18

the passage revolves around that verb most

9:20

often. In this case, it

9:22

is set in order. Ortho,

9:27

O-R-T-H-O-O is the

9:29

Greek word and I give you that only

9:31

because you'll detect it in the root of

9:33

orthodontics and orthopedics. It

9:37

means to

9:39

make straight. The orthodontist makes

9:41

the teeth straight. The

9:44

orthodontist makes the teeth straight.

9:46

The orthopedic surgeon works

9:49

on bones that have been broken

9:52

to get them straight again. But

9:55

in this case, what we have is

9:57

theological and moral and

9:59

some practical. problems that

10:02

Titus needs to clean up so that

10:04

things are set straight again. Let

10:07

me add here, anytime you assume

10:09

a role of leadership in a

10:11

church where there have been

10:14

others before you, usually

10:16

there were things that

10:19

were left unaddressed. Your

10:22

predecessor may have run out of energy, run

10:25

out of time, run out

10:28

of skill. He may

10:31

have even run out of courage to

10:34

address the things that were a mess. I

10:38

remember in a former church we had

10:40

an anniversary celebration and the former pastor

10:42

came back to visit. We had a

10:44

wonderful time together and when we were

10:46

all alone he pulled his chair up

10:48

close and put his hand on my

10:50

arm and he said, Chuck, I want

10:53

to apologize. I left

10:55

this and he named the problem

10:58

a real mess. I

11:00

said, don't let it bother you. I just plan

11:02

to slash your tires before you leave. When

11:05

you leave a problem it only gets

11:07

worse over time, especially

11:10

if that problem, and usually it

11:12

does, relates to people. There

11:15

were things that needed to be set in order

11:18

on Crete. Paul

11:20

didn't have the time and his

11:23

predecessor, these who had come and

11:25

established churches, weren't

11:28

really qualified or if they were they

11:30

were partially qualified. So it was

11:32

a real mess and

11:35

he leaves Titus to

11:37

straighten them out. Now

11:40

when you do that sort of thing you usually

11:42

need help. Someone

11:44

around you who will work with you

11:46

who will have the maturity and the

11:48

qualities necessary to deal

11:51

with difficult situations. And

11:55

for that reason he mentions the importance of

11:57

appointing the right people. Please

11:59

observe They are called in verse

12:01

five, elders. And

12:05

in verse seven, overseers.

12:09

Again, pay attention to key words.

12:12

I take it that these are one

12:15

in the same office, just referring to

12:17

various features of

12:20

the role of a leader. You

12:22

could also think in terms of the word

12:24

pastor, appoint

12:26

elders and overseers and pastors,

12:29

people who will be in

12:31

spiritual leadership so that

12:33

things can be set in order and

12:35

you get back on the right track. The

12:38

islands 160 miles long, we're not

12:40

told how many churches were only

12:43

told that there were cities on

12:46

the island. Every city is mentioned in

12:48

verse five. And the

12:50

apostle no doubt wants Titus to pay attention

12:52

to the whole group of them. In

12:56

case you wonder what kind of problems he would face, and

12:58

we'll look at it more in depth next time. Drop down

13:00

to verse 10. There

13:04

are many rebellious men, empty

13:07

talkers and

13:09

deceivers, especially

13:12

those of the circumcision. You're

13:15

going to deal with rebellion. So you'll have the stubborn

13:17

will to deal with. You're

13:21

going to be dealing with gossips, people who talk

13:23

too much. And

13:25

you're going to be dealing with those who are deceptive, people

13:27

who are one way in front of you. And they're another

13:29

way behind you. They're hypocrites.

13:34

In case you wonder if Titus was just

13:36

merely to become friends with them or

13:38

do his best to chum up and make things a little better.

13:42

Notice the 11th verse. These

13:46

are people who must be silenced. They

13:50

are upsetting whole families, teaching things they can

13:52

do. Teaching things they should not teach for

13:55

the sake of sordid gain.

13:58

Why couldn't Titus do it all? alone. If

14:01

you ask that, you've never tried to straighten

14:04

out a mess. If

14:06

you have tried, you know the value of having

14:09

people in your corner. We

14:11

would say today having a strong board of

14:14

individuals who work alongside you and with

14:16

you in leading people

14:20

who stand there, take

14:22

the pressure, handle the flack,

14:26

face off the stubborn, silence

14:28

the gossips, and

14:31

deal with those calling a deceiver

14:33

what he is. Let

14:36

me add just a little thought that might not

14:39

dawn on you. Titus is Greek, but

14:42

these are people into verse 10 who

14:44

are of the circumcision. So

14:47

he's now dealing cross-culturally with

14:50

people who have a different cultural

14:52

background than his. He's

14:55

Greek. He's a

14:57

gentile. He's dealing with

14:59

Judaizers, legalists who

15:02

are Jewish. That exacerbates

15:05

the challenge. It

15:08

takes guts to deal with this. It

15:10

takes right timing, wisdom.

15:13

It takes determination, planning,

15:16

the ability to stand firm

15:19

for truth without being

15:22

dissuaded or intimidated. It

15:26

also takes grace. Sheep

15:29

must be led, not

15:31

assaulted. People must

15:33

be dealt with carefully, not

15:36

attacked. All

15:38

of this means, Titus, you need people around

15:41

you who can do this with you. You

15:44

need, remember, qualified

15:46

leaders. They

15:48

are the ones able to

15:50

lead the work of the church. If

15:54

you have ever been involved in a church

15:58

that has somehow gotten off course,

16:01

because of poor leadership or

16:05

an unqualified individual who

16:07

is taking it his own way. You

16:10

don't need any further example. You

16:13

may come from an abusive leader. Pastors

16:17

can be that. Sometime

16:19

they began by simply being

16:21

zealous and passionate and

16:24

strong-hearted. And

16:26

then as time passes, if there are

16:28

not those around him who can help

16:30

round some of those edges, you

16:33

find yourself a victim of

16:36

his assaults and demands, and

16:39

sometimes legalistic requirements.

16:43

Whatever it may have been, Titus needed

16:46

help those who

16:48

would come alongside him and lead and

16:51

address these problems. Can

16:55

I just add a little extra word for no extra

16:57

charge? If

17:00

you crave leadership, walk

17:04

into your closet and get a pair

17:06

of shoes and hit yourself real hard

17:08

on the knees and on the shin till

17:11

you bruise yourself a little bit. There

17:15

is nothing to be envied in the

17:18

role of the leader. Nothing.

17:23

Oh, there are moments of reward, but they are

17:25

that. More than not, it

17:27

is hard work. It is lonely

17:29

work. It is

17:32

being misunderstood and maligned and criticized.

17:35

Unless you think I'm taking on

17:37

the Stonebriar Community Church

17:40

today, you might think that if

17:42

you don't know me, the

17:44

pulpit is not where I fight those battles. And in

17:46

this case, there's no battle to fight. This

17:49

is the most delightful ministry I've ever been

17:51

a part of. And

17:53

part of the reason is we

17:56

deal with problems when they arise. And

17:59

I haven't had... a predecessor

18:03

who has preceded me in this role,

18:05

so I'm making a message for

18:07

my successor as I preach

18:09

today. I hope

18:11

not, but we all have blind spots. The

18:15

point being, please, if

18:17

you are to be thrust into leadership, God will

18:20

find you. The right people

18:22

will tap you on the shoulder. Don't

18:24

feel the need to get an agent or

18:28

to send out letters or to drop

18:30

hints. You will be

18:32

found. You will be used. Titus

18:35

is to appoint them. There

18:38

was not to be an election where

18:40

a popular opinion would win the vote, and

18:43

the person who gets the majority would

18:46

be placed into office. He was to appoint

18:49

them. It doesn't

18:51

fit with most denominational churches, or

18:54

at least many denominational churches, and it may

18:56

seem a strange way to put it because you

18:59

were not raised with that. Be

19:02

sure your theology is shaped by the

19:04

scriptures, not by a

19:06

former denomination or a former

19:08

church or what Mama taught you

19:11

or what Daddy said. What

19:14

the scripture says is what guides us, and

19:17

I read the word appoint literally.

19:22

Now we're going to deal with the qualities that

19:24

are necessary to be found in the life of

19:26

one who takes on this lonely

19:29

assignment, this very

19:31

important responsibility of spiritual

19:34

leadership. As

19:37

I look over verses 6 through 9,

19:39

I see three categories. First

19:41

is the home and family, verse 6. How

19:45

the leader lives his life behind the

19:47

scenes with family as

19:50

the doors are closed and he's with his wife

19:52

and with his children. The

19:56

next part that's addressed, verses 7 and 8,

19:58

has to do with his life. own

20:00

inner qualities. Five

20:02

of them are negative in verse 7. Six

20:06

of them are positive, mentioned in verse

20:08

8. When you

20:10

get to verse 9, he goes public,

20:13

and we see the role of the leader in

20:15

a public role at the church

20:17

and beyond. So

20:19

we move from the most private of areas, the

20:21

home, to those areas that

20:24

are still personal, the inner qualities of

20:26

positives and negatives, and then we see

20:28

the importance of that role as it

20:31

works its way out in the lives

20:33

of other people publicly. Let's

20:35

go in that order. First, marriage

20:38

and family. Verse 6, addressing

20:40

the issue of appointing elders.

20:43

He says, namely, or

20:45

here are the things you look for. If any man

20:49

is above reproach, that's

20:52

pause there because that's mentioned again in verse 7, the

20:55

overseer must be above reproach.

20:57

The word means blameless, not

20:59

sinless. We don't

21:01

try to find sinless people. He left the

21:03

earth in the first century

21:07

and we who continue on in

21:09

the work of ministry are all

21:11

flawed individuals. The

21:14

word is not sinless. It is

21:16

the word that really does mean

21:18

without blame. The term

21:20

means unaccused, unquestioned

21:23

integrity. Calvin

21:26

writes, marred by no

21:28

disgrace. A qualified

21:30

leader should offer

21:33

no loophole for criticism.

21:36

We have the word exemplary and

21:38

that would fit. Kent

21:40

Hughes writes, not chargeable with

21:42

some offense, not open to

21:45

community accusation. This

21:47

man is free of scandal. He

21:50

doesn't have a bad track record. He

21:54

does his work, whether it's in the

21:56

business realm or other ministry realm, whatever,

21:58

he is respected. And

22:01

in that sense, he is without accusation.

22:05

It's always called here above

22:07

reproach. Now watch the two

22:09

areas in verse six. He

22:11

used to be the husband of one wife. The

22:16

Greek reads one woman man. Obviously,

22:20

it would be a man who is

22:23

married once and

22:25

living in harmony with this same

22:27

woman he's been married to. And

22:30

by the way, it is a reference to an adult male,

22:33

not a female. This is

22:35

a role to be filled by men, and

22:38

in this case, a category of

22:40

men who are married. I'm

22:44

broad enough to believe it could include a

22:46

widower married to a

22:48

woman whom he has lost to

22:50

death. Could very

22:52

well be that he has married again. Now

22:55

some are rather pristine in their convictions and

22:58

have no place in their theology for a man ever

23:01

married more than once for whatever reason. It

23:05

could include a man, perhaps, who

23:07

has never married. However, all

23:10

of that could be conjecture and

23:12

it's debated. I have

23:14

about 14 volumes on the letter

23:16

to Titus, and in those 14 volumes,

23:19

I have about 11 opinions of

23:21

how to handle one woman man. So

23:24

you come to terms with it as

23:26

you study it and be careful

23:28

that you stay with this text and

23:30

correlated texts that relate to the same

23:32

thing. For example, 1 Timothy

23:35

chapter 3. Basically,

23:39

there is a singularity of a

23:41

man's faithfulness to a woman who

23:43

is his wife. It implies sexual

23:45

purity and a reputation for

23:48

devotion to that woman. John

23:52

Phillips writes a helpful word, Marriages

23:55

bring disciplines as well as

23:57

delights. It is

23:59

an arena for men. where love and loyalty

24:01

can be practiced, where lessons

24:03

and personal relationships can be learned,

24:07

where theories are tested in the

24:09

crucible of experience, where

24:12

limits have to be observed. A

24:14

good husband is faithful to his

24:16

wife, a good provider, a spiritual

24:19

leader, loving his wife as Christ

24:21

loved the church. Another

24:24

man adds, many a wise

24:26

pastor has advised potential leaders

24:28

whose marriages need attention not

24:32

to seek church office, despite

24:34

the fact they are technically married.

24:37

God requires the church to determine

24:39

whether a potential elder's marriage is

24:42

whole, healthy, and solid.

24:45

As a corollary, men with

24:47

damaged or deficient marriages should

24:50

not pursue church leadership positions,

24:52

thinking that others will not care or

24:55

notice. They will care, and

24:58

they will notice. You're

25:06

listening to the Bible teaching of pastor and

25:08

author Chuck Swindoll. This week,

25:10

we've embarked on a study in the book

25:12

of Titus, and there's much more to discover.

25:15

Chuck titled this series, Tough Grace

25:17

in Difficult Places. As

25:19

we conclude another week of Bible teaching, I

25:22

want to draw your attention to two resources

25:24

provided by Insight for Living. First,

25:26

Chuck asked his creative team to assemble

25:28

a Bible study workbook for our study

25:31

of Titus called Tough Grace in Difficult

25:33

Places. This resource is part

25:35

of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Studies.

25:38

Through each of the 11 chapters, you can

25:40

study the book of Titus alongside Chuck while

25:43

jotting down your personal notes and reflections from

25:45

the text and the message. To

25:47

purchase a spiral-bound copy

25:50

of this Bible study

25:52

workbook, go to insight.org/workbooks.

25:54

And then I want to remind you that Chuck

25:57

wrote a commentary on 1 and 2 Timothy along

25:59

with Titus. that we're offering you right now.

26:01

It pairs naturally with this study

26:03

and combines Chuck's practical wisdom, warmth,

26:05

and wit to help you understand

26:07

and apply God's word to your

26:10

life. The book is

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titled, Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament

26:14

Commentary. In this book,

26:16

Chuck draws on more than 50 years

26:18

of ministry to help you know how

26:20

to participate in a healthy ministry and

26:23

protect yourself from spiritual erosion. These

26:25

principles apply even if you're not a church

26:27

leader. To purchase Chuck's

26:30

commentary on 1 and 2

26:32

Timothy and Titus right now,

26:34

just go online to insight.org/offer.

26:37

Before we close today, I wanna remind you that

26:39

you can send a donation to support the

26:41

ministry of Insight for Living by writing to

26:44

us. Here's our address. It's

26:46

Insight for Living, Post Office

26:48

Box 5000, Frisco, Texas 75034. You

26:52

can also call us at 800-772-8888 or

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give a donation online by going

27:02

to insight.org/donate. I'm

27:10

Bill Meyer, inviting you to join us again when Chuck

27:12

Swindoll continues his study in

27:14

the Book of Titus, Monday on Insight for Living. The

27:23

preceding message, Looking for

27:25

a Few Good Men, was copyrighted

27:27

in 2006, 2007, and 2024. And

27:32

the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by

27:36

Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All

27:38

rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication

27:41

of copyrighted material for commercial

27:43

use is strictly prohibited.