“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:5-9 ESV)
To the best of my understanding I will say here that the biblical church of Paul’s day bears little resemblance to what is commonly called “church” here in America today. Did they have a lot of the same issues that we have today? Surely! But they had men of God who were diligent about correcting those situations and to exercise biblical discipline, where necessary, and to require of their overseers (elders) that they meet specific moral and biblical requirements in order to serve within the church in those positions of authority over the people. And the apostles taught the truth of the gospel.
And an elder was to be a mature man having seasoned judgment and experience in the faith. And an overseer was a man who served as supervisor and a ruler, especially used with reference to the supervising function exercised by an elder of a church congregation. And he was to be a man of God called by God to keep an eye on His flock (the church, the body of Christ). So like a shepherd (pastor) cares for his sheep, he was to care for and to protect God’s sheep, Christ’s followers, “not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” (see 1 Peter 5:1-5).
These men were not voted in by the congregation in a popularity contest. They were hand-selected by the apostles, and they had to meet the biblical requirements for the office or they were not chosen. They were not chosen according to what seminary or Bible college degrees they had, nor by any certificates of achievement academically they had obtained, nor by any particular titles that they possessed, as they often are today. But they were chosen according to the call of God on their lives and in accord with them having possession of the biblical requirements for overseer (elder, pastor).
So, they had to be men of God who lived lives which were above reproach. They each had to be the husband of one wife, and their children were to be believers in Christ who were not open to the charge of debauchery. They were not to be arrogant nor quick-tempered nor drunkards nor violent, nor greedy for gain, but lovers of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. And they were to be godly men who held firmly to the trustworthy word of God, as taught by the apostles, and by Christ, so that they would be able to give instruction in sound doctrine, etc.
And then notice with me that Paul instructed Titus to appoint elders in every town. Why every town? Again, as best as I understand this, the church was not like it is today. The church was the body of believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives who gathered together for the teaching of the word, and for fellowship in the Spirit, and for communion, and for prayer, and for the express purpose that they might minister one to the other as instructed in the Scriptures that we now have. So the church was the believers in Christ in the entire city/town, regardless of where they met.
And they were not one big collective body of Christ who all met the same place, for it is my understanding that they met from house to house and in the temple courts which were open to the Gentiles. They probably met wherever they could find a place to meet, but not necessarily all of them in the same location. And they met daily, not just on one particular day in the week, and daily they were to be ministering to one another. So the overseers were more like governors or mayors of a city and they didn’t necessarily each have their own congregation. And all believers were ministers of God.
Sadly, that is not usually our situation today. So much of what is called “church” here in America are just businesses created in the minds of humans, incorporated under the state (government), marketing their gatherings to the world (the ungodly) just like any other businesses. Their pastors (elders, overseers) are selected largely according to seminary degrees and titles and human credentials and often by popular vote of the congregation rather than according to biblical and moral requirements and standards. And so many of them are following the ways of the world.
So, as the biblical body of Christ, the true church, we need to return to biblical standards for our overseers and for anyone within the gatherings who might be in a position of spiritual leadership within the church. And we need to follow the biblical model of church and ministry, and make room for all true followers of Christ to be able to minister to one another within the body of Christ according to the teachings of the Scriptures and according to their giftedness of the Spirit and their callings of God. And we are to cease with these cult-like gatherings which are following marketing schemes.
[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]
Ministers of Our God
An Original Work / June 21, 2011
Ministers of our God,
harken to hear Him speak.
Have you given Him
your hearts and souls today?
Hasten to give all to Him.
Let Him cleanse your hearts from sin.
Cast yourselves on His altar.
In your lives do not falter.
Ministers of our God,
harken to hear Him speak.
Have you given Him
your hearts and souls today?
Ministers of our God,
flee from all your idols.
Remove them from your lives.
Be transformed today.
Listen to the words I say.
Give your all to Christ today.
Let him rule within your hearts,
cleanse from sin, His grace impart.
Ministers of our God,
flee from all your idols.
Remove them from your lives.
Be transformed today.
Ministers of our God,
won’t you come to His cross?
Die to sin and yourselves.
Penitently pray.
Humbly accept Him today.
Let Him wash your sins away.
Receive Him into your hearts.
His mercy and grace impart.
Ministers of our God,
won’t you come to His cross?
Die to sin and yourselves.
Penitently pray.
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