The Church and Its Leaders Titus 1

The Church and Its Leaders Titus 1

CFC Small Group Bible Study Summer 2015

INTRODUCTION

For ages, people have debated whether leaders are born or made.

So too goes the discussion about spiritual leaders. Are spiritual leaders gifted with leadership qualities, or do they acquire these qualities as a result of their spiritual growth? The answer is both. God never meant for a select few to perform all the ministry in the Kingdom. God gifts and trains His people so that they can minister and lead in church, family, and all areas of life.

Such is God’s intent. Ever since the resurrected Lord looked at Peter on the shores of Galilee and said, “Feed my sheep,” (John 21) there have been many shepherds dedicated to the task of leading, feeding, and the caring of sheep. There has never been a growing church without growing leaders. Our passage in Titus calls the people of God to grow up as spiritual leaders. No matter what place you are in life, we are to be trained to become qualified, Christ-like servants that can serve His people.

COMMENTARY

1:1 For the sake of God’s elect - “God’s elect” are the believers who have or who will respond to God’s call through the gospel. The biblical teaching on election is for believers and is intended as a practical truth. It assures faithful, struggling believers that their salvation is all of God from beginning to end.

1:4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith - Titus was a convert, friend, and helper of Paul’s ministry. He was Greek. Unlike Timothy, Titus was not circumcised (Gal 2:3). Yet, like Timothy, Titus was sent by Paul to minister to specific churches (2 Cor 7:6-16, 2 Tim 4:10). In the book of Titus, he was sent as a pastor to oversee the church on Crete.

1:10 …especially those of the circumcision party - The false teachers that emerged from among Jewish Christians. They brought together various aspects of Christianity and Judaism and formed a hybrid teaching that claimed to have higher spiritual knowledge and insights.

12 … “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” - The Cretans had such a notorious reputation for falsehood that the Greek word “crete-ize” meant to lie. “Evil beasts” stigmatizes them as having sunk to the level of animals, unrestrained in their self-control.

DISCUSSION

1.  Please share about a leader or an older person, who has positively influenced your life. What characteristic or quality did you appreciate about that person?

2.  Read Titus 1. Paul shares to Titus God’s purpose and plan for training up spiritual leaders. What can we learn from this passage?

3.  Please share something that convicted you today and how you plan to live it out this week.