Titus 1, You Little One-Eye Crettan

Paul wrote this book to Titus who was stationed in Crete and he was one of Paul's converts. Titus probably worked with Paul at Ephesus. Crete was the 4th largest island in the Mediterranean and people there had sunk to a deplorable moral level: dishonesty, gluttony and laziness.(sound familiar?)

Titus 1
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Titus' Task on Crete
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
10 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." 13 This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

When I think of Crete I am reminded of the line in Monsters Inc. where Mike is insulted by

Randal: You little one-eyed crettan(krettin)!
Mike: First of all, it's cretan(kreetin)! If you're going to insult me, do it properly.

This passage is often refered to when churches form their bylaws for deacons and elders. I recently served on the team at my church that formed these bylaws.

Verse 6 is a tough one. I guess most would prefer that their church leaders have not experienced divorce. I'm sure some churches allow deacons who have been divorced and others may not.

I do agree that a leader should be: blameless, hospitable, loves what is good, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

He should NOT be: overbearing, quick-tempered, a drunkard, violent, dishonest.

Another expectation is that a leader's children be respectable and not wild and disobedient. I guess the thinking here is that if a leader cannot control his own household then he will not be that effective in God's church as a leader as well.

I haven't made up my mind if I will post a regular passage on Sunday, or try to post what we learned at church in our adult bible group. Come back Sunday to find out.