Doug McMasters: Take your Bible and go to the book of Titus.
Doug McMasters: The book of Titus.
Doug McMasters: We're in our second message through this book that we just started.
Doug McMasters: We'll be in it for about three or four months together.
Doug McMasters: It's a glorious book.
Doug McMasters: As I said last week, it falls in line with the flow of our messages and series over the past few years.
Doug McMasters: As we looked at the servant prophesied in Isaiah and the pro the servant revealed in Matthew, and here we're seeing in Titus the servant embodied in gospel order in the life of his people.
Doug McMasters: And we'll be looking at a passage particularly that shows what that gospel order looks like as we begin to think about how to set leadership within a church.
Doug McMasters: But before we open up Titus together, I just want to bring ourselves to a remembrance of things that several of us have witnessed in recent years, things that have been painful and difficult and even sobering to experience.
Doug McMasters: We've seen on the public stage what happens when a ministry fails because giftedness is given a higher priority than godliness.
Doug McMasters: And when charisma is given far greater significance than character, and when the appearance of strength or the seductive view of expertise covers over a complete absence of holiness.
Doug McMasters: Some of you might have heard of the name Mark Driscoll, who was a pastor in the Pacific Northwest.
Doug McMasters: He was in the papers in a lot of places, national papers, and drew attention to his bold, energetic, and even brash manner.
Doug McMasters: People came there in droves.
Doug McMasters: But eventually that ministry collapsed.
Doug McMasters: It collapsed under the weight of anger and intimidation and the strength and pattern of bullying in the leadership rather than the gentleness and humility that scripture requires.
Doug McMasters: Others have sat back shocked when they heard about uh Bill Hybels and the allegations against him and Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago area.
Doug McMasters: A church where polished leadership models took the precedence, where expertise was a key word.
Doug McMasters: All of it masked deep fractures of integrity.
Doug McMasters: And closer to our home and within more of our circles, I would say, were men like Steve Lawson and Art Arzudia.
Doug McMasters: These are men who preached Christ with passion, who seemed to hold the Bible up with high regard, but whose lives contradicted the holiness that they proclaimed.
Doug McMasters: I don't mention these things simply to cast stones, but to remind us that truth, there is a truth in this that we dare not ignore.
Doug McMasters: That charisma cannot overshadow character, that giftedness cannot be elevated above godliness, that the appearance of success cannot be a cloak over the absence of holiness.
Doug McMasters: Because every time it is, eventually the church is going to be harmed, people are going to be wounded, trust is going to be broken, the gospel of Christ is going to be shadowed, and the name of Christ is going to be dishonored.
Doug McMasters: Paul understood this danger.
Doug McMasters: And so he's speaking to Titus, to these young, vulnerable churches that are surrounded by a culture that admires strength and rhetoric and influence, and he's telling them here's the answer for gospel order in the middle of this church.
Doug McMasters: And so he writes to Titus, look at verse 5, with this urgency.
Doug McMasters: The reason I left you in Crete was to set things right and to set right what was left undone.
Doug McMasters: And as I directed you to appoint elders in every town.
Doug McMasters: What is important here is gospel order.
Doug McMasters: What is here is God's appointed means of leadership to bring about that gospel order.
Doug McMasters: And as we'll see today, as we look at this passage of scripture, Paul is not calling Titus to find impressive men, powerful men, men who can draw a crowd.
Doug McMasters: No, what he's prescribing are godly men.
Doug McMasters: Men who have been shaped by the gospel, shaped by what they proclaim.
Doug McMasters: And what Paul is giving here is not a leadership manual.
Doug McMasters: We're not to read this like this is some sort of text manual for leadership, but rather as a pastoral safeguard for us as God's people.
Doug McMasters: Because God is giving us this order in order that we might be free from the dangers that surround us in the culture that's in this world.
Doug McMasters: That we would be able to shine, because we're protected people from those things, the beauty of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Doug McMasters: That we might have godly leadership that anchors us in truth and love and holiness and peace.
Doug McMasters: And so as we walk through Titus, particularly these verses that we'll be looking at five to seven this morning and eight next week, I want us to hear Paul's words.
Doug McMasters: They're not just ancient wisdom from a distant culture, but they are wisdom for us right where we are, right now, in our moment.
Doug McMasters: So let's take a look at what Christ does to safeguard his people as he gives us leaders who are marked by Christ's holiness and Christ's humility and Christ's grace.
Doug McMasters: Because if we want to be a church that continues to stand for truth and to grow in holiness and to display the beauty of Christ, we must be the kind of church that's shaped by this gospel order.
Doug McMasters: And so with this vision before us, let's step into it and see how Paul unpacks Christ's orders for his household.
Doug McMasters: And the first thing I want us to notice is just that.
Doug McMasters: How Christ declares who we are, his order for his household.
Doug McMasters: Now we read verse 5.
Doug McMasters: This is why I left you in Crete, so that you could put into place the things that are lacking here.
Doug McMasters: But you'll notice Paul isn't reaching into the language of business or organizational strategy.
Doug McMasters: He's speaking about something in a metaphor that we need to anchor our hearts in.
Doug McMasters: Look at verse 7.
Doug McMasters: As an overseer of God's household.
Doug McMasters: That's a key word.
Doug McMasters: The basic social relational structure of the ancient world.
Doug McMasters: God's household.
Doug McMasters: And we need to slow down for just a minute here because if we gloss past this word, we're going to miss the weight of what Paul is saying.
Doug McMasters: Metaphors matter.
Doug McMasters: Metaphors do two things for us, especially when we see this metaphor in relationship to who we are.
Doug McMasters: We are God's household.
Doug McMasters: And what that does is it gives us an identity in which we can understand who we are.
Doug McMasters: And it also projects for us a course of action so that we might know how to conduct ourselves and live out our lives.
Doug McMasters: Metaphors matter.
Doug McMasters: And this metaphor is extremely important for us to be able to understand how we are supposed to be as God's people.
Doug McMasters: And in the Greco-Roman world, they would have understood this completely.
Doug McMasters: They would have understood exactly what Paul was talking about when they read these words to Titus in order to conduct themselves in a particular way among God's household.
Doug McMasters: What is a household in the Greco-Roman world?
Doug McMasters: Well, it was more than just a nuclear family like we understand it.
Doug McMasters: Yes, it included parents and children, but it also included extended relatives, it also included the servants, it also included apprentices, it also included laborers who were all within the context of one particular household.
Doug McMasters: It was a place where people were fed, where they were taught, where they were corrected, where they were protected, where they were formed.
Doug McMasters: A household in the Greco-Roman world had an order and it had oversight, and it had someone responsible for ensuring that the life of that household held value for the society at large.
Doug McMasters: And for Jewish people, the household carried an even deeper meaning.
Doug McMasters: Because it was within the center of the household life where the scriptures were taught, where the children learned the fear of the Lord, where hospitality was practiced, and where the rhythms of a life of faith in God were lived out day after day.
Doug McMasters: Now think about that for just a second, in the contrast to how we understand a household.
Doug McMasters: Lived in England for many years, and in England they say every man's house is his castle.
Doug McMasters: And if you're English, you put a moat around that castle.
Doug McMasters: And inside that castle, it's your domain.
Doug McMasters: And we think about it as a place of privacy rather than responsibility.
Doug McMasters: We think of it as a place of retreat rather than formation and shaping.
Doug McMasters: And so when Paul calls the church God's household, we don't immediately grab hold of it, and we lose the ability to understand the category that he's referring to here when he says that we are God's household.
Doug McMasters: And if we gloss over this metaphor, we're going to look for the metaphors that we're accustomed to seeing and perhaps even experiencing in our culture today.
Doug McMasters: We'll misunderstand them to such a degree that we'll pull in other metaphors to shape who we are, ignoring God's metaphor.
Doug McMasters: And so we'll assume that elders must be the most winsome of people, the most charismatic, the most business savvy, the most assertive, the most visionary, or perhaps just the strongest personality in the room.
Doug McMasters: Why?
Doug McMasters: Because we've taken a metaphor of the business world or of celebrities and have said that's what a pastor should be and that's what an elder ought to be.
Doug McMasters: But God says no.
Doug McMasters: Because God's not building a co a corporation.
Doug McMasters: God is building a spiritual family, He's building a household.
Doug McMasters: And what do families need?
Doug McMasters: They need a shepherd, not an executive.
Doug McMasters: They need a counselor, not a celebrity.
Doug McMasters: What does a family need?
Doug McMasters: They need a father with character, not just a person of charisma.
Doug McMasters: And how often have we seen the brokenness of families in Hollywood?
Doug McMasters: How often have we seen the shattered lives of those who are in the C-suites?
Doug McMasters: How often have we felt the reverberating effect of families whose fathers are led by giftedness rather than character?
Doug McMasters: And they feel like they can never ever attain the place of that charismatic father.
Doug McMasters: So Paul here is taking household imagery, and he's saying, This is who we are.
Doug McMasters: We're a household.
Doug McMasters: And he's giving Titus this radical understanding of leadership within that metaphor, that context.
Doug McMasters: And so, elders here, we're not here to build a brand, and we're not to be using God's word as a platform.
Doug McMasters: We're here to help God's family grow and take up their responsibilities, shaped by the word, ordered by God's decrees, led by his spirit, to be a display of the beauty of the gospel in this world.
Doug McMasters: And so, before Titus gets into the deeper meaning of what it means to strengthen this church or to call people to godly life and living, he wants us to have set in place what it means for us to have the right kind of leadership.
Doug McMasters: It's important.
Doug McMasters: I learned a valuable lesson one day in the middle of one of the most difficult days of my life, where I was in the middle of a meeting in which my character was besmirched and where people were visibly and vocally opposing me as a pastor.
Doug McMasters: And the best I could, I tried to be as kind and generous and gracious as I could be in the midst of that moment.
Doug McMasters: And there was a man from the church, and some of you have heard me tell this uh by the name of Cody.
Doug McMasters: Now, Cody was a medical doctor, he was an anesthesiologist.
Doug McMasters: In fact, he was the head of anesthesiology at the hospital.
Doug McMasters: And his email address will give you an understanding of how he thought about himself.
Doug McMasters: Commander Cody was his was his email address.
Doug McMasters: So he, you know, your typical doctor, right?
Doug McMasters: You know, he thought he was the smartest guy in the room in every room he went into.
Doug McMasters: And he probably was, actually.
Doug McMasters: And he came up to me and he looked at me with this quizzical look for about 10 seconds.
Doug McMasters: And it's a little uncomfortable when somebody looks at you kind of sideways, you know, for 10 seconds without saying anything.
Doug McMasters: And like, hi, Cody.
Doug McMasters: And he said, You're gracious.
Doug McMasters: Cody, we're all supposed to be gracious.
Doug McMasters: He said, No, no, no, no, no, no.
Doug McMasters: You're you're gracious.
Doug McMasters: I never knew what gracious looked like, but now I know.
Doug McMasters: Now I know what it means.
Doug McMasters: That is much, much more important than any other leadership statement or action or decision I could have made.
Doug McMasters: Because it radically altered this man's life to be shaped like Jesus.
Doug McMasters: This is what leadership's meant to do, and this is why Titus is meant to start here.
Doug McMasters: Paul says, appoint elders who will bring gospel order to God's household.
Doug McMasters: Because it's not about hierarchy, it's not about control, it's not about authority, it's about making sure that through this ministry of care and protection and nurturing of holiness, Jesus Christ is on display by all of his people.
Doug McMasters: That's what to ensure that the church reflects the character of the one who bought it by his own blood.
Doug McMasters: So let's take a look at how he gets into this.
Doug McMasters: And where he begins shouldn't surprise us.
Doug McMasters: He begins with the elder's household.
Doug McMasters: Makes sense, right?
Doug McMasters: If God's people are God's household, then those who are going to be in a place of influence in God's household must have already shown a consistency in their own household.
Doug McMasters: It starts there.
Doug McMasters: Take a look at verse 6.
Doug McMasters: An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion, as an overseer of God's household.
Doug McMasters: So when Paul digs into this for Titus and says, this is what you're to look for in these men that you're to put in place, he doesn't start with preaching ability, he doesn't start with theological training or acumen, he doesn't start with leadership gifts, he starts with a house.
Doug McMasters: He starts with their home.
Doug McMasters: And that's not accidental.
Doug McMasters: Because everything that Paul is saying here is rooted in this household terminology.
Doug McMasters: Because the church is God's household, and the first place you want to look to see if a man is fit to be in a place of influence in God's household, you look at his household.
Doug McMasters: Take a look at it.
Doug McMasters: Because this is where his character is exposed.
Doug McMasters: This is where his authority has been exercised in all the little decisions.
Doug McMasters: This is where relationships have been nurtured, and this is where order has been maintained.
Doug McMasters: The home is the man's proving ground.
Doug McMasters: It reveals who he truly is, not what he appears to be in public.
Doug McMasters: What he's like when nobody's there to applaud, but everybody sees him as he is.
Doug McMasters: So let's take a look at this.
Doug McMasters: First of all, he must be above reproach.
Doug McMasters: No, we'll spend a little more time with this in just a moment because it's repeated.
Doug McMasters: But it doesn't mean, first of all, that if a man is above reproach, that he is perfect.
Doug McMasters: Perfect.
Doug McMasters: What does it mean though?
Doug McMasters: It means that there's no glaring contradiction between his private life and his public life.
Doug McMasters: It means that there's not a tangible way of grabbing a hold of him and saying he lacks integrity.
Doug McMasters: And it's in contradiction to how he presents himself.
Doug McMasters: That he's the same person in the living room as he is in the pulpit.
Doug McMasters: The household.
Doug McMasters: Take a look at the next phrase there.
Doug McMasters: The husband of one wife.
Doug McMasters: Now, literally, a one-woman man.
Doug McMasters: This is not about marital status.
Doug McMasters: It's not like he's saying, Um, are you married?
Doug McMasters: Yes?
Doug McMasters: Good.
Doug McMasters: Got that one ticked off.
Doug McMasters: Let's let's go to the next one.
Doug McMasters: It's it's about faithfulness of heart rather than status of marriage.
Doug McMasters: Single married.
Doug McMasters: Those things might be part of it, but the core focus is on this.
Doug McMasters: The man must be faithful in heart, faithful in mind, faithful in conduct.
Doug McMasters: His marriage must not be a performance, but a place where he lives his life in such a way that his wife is secure, and that women in the church know that they are not the object of this man's seduction, and therefore they too can be secure, because that man is a one woman man.
Doug McMasters: Now he moves deeper into the household.
Doug McMasters: And here he says this blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness, rebellion.
Doug McMasters: An earlier version of the CSB and other translations translate this word as believing, that an elder must have believing children.
Doug McMasters: And in this revision in the CSB, they've made it faithful children.
Doug McMasters: And I think that's probably the better translation.
Doug McMasters: Faithful, trustworthy, well-ordered, even obedient children is the idea.
Doug McMasters: And the context is unmistakable when you see it.
Doug McMasters: Because Paul is not telling Titus to try to discern the regenerate heart of every child of every elder that's going to be appointed.
Doug McMasters: Something none of us can see.
Doug McMasters: Instead, he gives an explanation of it here.
Doug McMasters: Take a look at the verse.
Doug McMasters: Faithful children who are.
Doug McMasters: Not accused of wildness or rebellion that are not marked by debauchery or insubordination.
Doug McMasters: And this little phrase is what is an exploit explanatory phrase that gives us an understanding of the definition of this term.
Doug McMasters: And so Paul is talking about conduct here, not conversion.
Doug McMasters: He's talking about order, not regeneration.
Doug McMasters: He's talking about the fruit of a father's shepherding presence, not the secret work of the spirit in the heart of a child.
Doug McMasters: And this becomes even clearer.
Doug McMasters: My watch is talking to me, so better tell it to be quiet.
Doug McMasters: There we go.
Doug McMasters: What he's saying here is that the Father's presence in the home should be such that his children, though they may not have the faith of the Father, they have the respect of the Father.
Doug McMasters: They live a life that's within the context of the Father's leadership, so that they are not standing in flagrant disregard of it, a life of debauchery, and they're not living in angry conflict with it by way of rebellion.
Doug McMasters: So Paul is saying that if a man knows how to bring this kind of order, this kind of dignity, this kind of respect, this kind of responsiveness within his home, then he's going to be suitable to be in a place where he can do the same thing among the larger household of faith.
Doug McMasters: So the children are glad, willing, submissive parts of the household that this man oversees, where his leadership is marked by love, where it's marked by consistency, where it's marked by care, where it's marked by wisdom.
Doug McMasters: And so this is why Paul begins at the home.
Doug McMasters: This is where the man's leadership is tested.
Doug McMasters: This is where his character is revealed.
Doug McMasters: This is where his ability to shepherd is put on display.
Doug McMasters: And it's important, as I said, because if there are leaders whose homes are in disarray, the church is going to be in disarray.
Doug McMasters: If there's leaders where their homes are neglected, the church is going to be neglected.
Doug McMasters: If there are homes where the homes are spiritually barren, the church is going to feel the reverberations of that kind of leadership, and they too are eventually going to be spiritually barren.
Doug McMasters: And so he says, look at the home.
Doug McMasters: This is for every single one of us.
Doug McMasters: Why?
Doug McMasters: Because the gospel is meant to shape our homes.
Doug McMasters: Right?
Doug McMasters: The gospel is meant to shape our marriages.
Doug McMasters: The gospel is meant to shape our parenting.
Doug McMasters: The gospel is meant to shape our character so that we might live out our lives with love and constancy and dignity and wisdom.
Doug McMasters: That we are to be who we say we are, that we are to be consistent, so that no one could grab a hold of us and say you're living a contradictory life to what you proclaim yourself to be.
Doug McMasters: Because the beauty of Christ is meant to be displayed not just in the elders, but all of us.
Doug McMasters: As we'll see later in the book of Titus, adorn the gospel, beautify the gospel by the way you conduct yourself in your daily activity at work, for instance.
Doug McMasters: So Paul begins here, not with gifting, but with a witness of character, not with ability, but with faithfulness.
Doug McMasters: Not with this public ministry of charisma, but with private, constant, consistent character.
Doug McMasters: Now let's see what that looks like.
Doug McMasters: Let's dig in just a little bit different, a little more deeply here.
Doug McMasters: Take a look at verse 7.
Doug McMasters: An overseer of God's household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money.
Doug McMasters: So he moves from the observable character of the household to now the observable character of the heart.
Doug McMasters: And again, he's not looking for perfection here, but for patterns of behavior.
Doug McMasters: And therefore, he starts with this idea that in God's household he must be blameless.
Doug McMasters: But before we get to the blameless term again, let me reiterate this term God's household.
Doug McMasters: This is not the elder's household.
Doug McMasters: This is not the pastor's household.
Doug McMasters: This is not the TV preacher's household.
Doug McMasters: This is not the radio ministry's speaker's household.
Doug McMasters: Whose household is it?
Doug McMasters: God's household.
Doug McMasters: This is not his ministry, his platform, his agenda, his name, his bank account.
Doug McMasters: It's God's household.
Doug McMasters: Which means that those who are in leadership must recognize that they are under a greater leader.
Doug McMasters: They are under the chief shepherd under whom they serve.
Doug McMasters: And that it is his household and his will and his agenda and his glory and his purposes that are to be enacted.
Doug McMasters: Which means in every way this they must be guided by the revealed word of God.
Doug McMasters: And ensure that what God once done is what is done.
Doug McMasters: And that those things that lie outside of God's express word are places for wisdom and humility as they seek to operate within this context that it is God's household.
Doug McMasters: So who do we look for?
Doug McMasters: When we look for people who will do that, well, they must be blameless or above reproach.
Doug McMasters: Again, free from those kind of patterns that would lead them to a public call of a lack of integrity that would bring confusion to the church.
Doug McMasters: A life that is whole and consistent.
Doug McMasters: And then Paul gives us these knots here, these dangers that disqualify a man.
Doug McMasters: Not accused of being these kind of people.
Doug McMasters: Arrogant, hot-tempered, excessive drinker, a bully, are greedy for money.
Doug McMasters: Let's begin with the first one, not arrogant.
Doug McMasters: Not arrogant.
Doug McMasters: God wants a person to lead the church who is full of him and not of themselves.
Doug McMasters: Because pride is a poison in the household of God.
Doug McMasters: An arrogant man is going to crush weak people.
Doug McMasters: An arrogant man is going to silence hurting people.
Doug McMasters: An arrogant man is going to use compliant people.
Doug McMasters: But a humble man would never do that.
Doug McMasters: An arrogant man will make the ministry about himself rather than about Christ.
Doug McMasters: So you look for someone who is deferential, who is caring, who is humble of heart.
Doug McMasters: He goes on to say, not hot-tempered.
Doug McMasters: Not given to eruptions of anger.
Doug McMasters: The flock needs patience, not volatility.
Doug McMasters: Because a man who cannot be trusted with his temper cannot be trusted with souls.
Doug McMasters: If he can't control his temper, he certainly can't lead people.
Doug McMasters: I grew up in that kind of household.
Doug McMasters: My dad didn't control his temper a bit.
Doug McMasters: And it would flare and fire in any place at any point in time.
Doug McMasters: And it was a shameful, humbling, and fearful place to be when you're walking around in the middle of a department store, and the only voice that can be heard, even above the sound of the announcements coming from the mic the speakers in the ceiling, was my dad bellowing about something he was upset about.
Doug McMasters: And if he did that in public, he certainly did that at home.
Doug McMasters: Outbursts of anger create fear, distancing, anxiety, withdrawal, hurt.
Doug McMasters: Not the kind of openness and the growth in Christ that God intends for his church to have.
Doug McMasters: Because a man who numbs himself is not going to be keen enough to have the wisdom to bring clarity in the lives of others.
Doug McMasters: A man who lacks self-control is not going to be the kind of person you want to live among with the dignity and order that God's household needs.
Doug McMasters: And so a shepherd of God's household must be clear-minded, must be ready for action, and must be free from anything that controls his character.
Doug McMasters: So his comp he doesn't compromise his integrity and it doesn't dull his judgment.
Doug McMasters: Take a look at the next one.
Doug McMasters: Not a bully.
Doug McMasters: Not because they had committed any sin whatsoever, but simply because they had not fallen, followed, fall, fallen in line.
Doug McMasters: Fallen in line?
Doug McMasters: Is that the right word?
Doug McMasters: Fallen in line with the dictates of the pastor.
Doug McMasters: And the pastor ousted them from the church.
Doug McMasters: And they came here broken and wounded people.
Doug McMasters: And they sat among us for several months.
Doug McMasters: And I said to them, It doesn't matter at all if you get to the place where this may not be the church you want to join, but if this can be simply a place where you can let go of all of that hurt and pain and simply be able to hear the word of God with a sincere and clear mind and heart until you're whole again.
Doug McMasters: And then you can move forward and maybe here, maybe somewhere else, but serve God the way you can.
Doug McMasters: They had been bruised by a bully.
Doug McMasters: They had been abruptly accosted by a man's devious strength of personality.
Doug McMasters: The shepherd's staff is meant for guarding and guiding, not striking.
Doug McMasters: Let's take a look at the last one.
Doug McMasters: Not greedy for money.
Doug McMasters: It's obvious, isn't it?
Doug McMasters: A man who's greedy for money is eventually going to use people in order to gain it.
Doug McMasters: But a man who loves Christ is going to use himself up and his resources up to serve people.
Doug McMasters: As he brought me to see Nikolai, and we spent some time in prayer with him.
Doug McMasters: And as he kindly took me to lunch and we enjoyed a meal together.
Doug McMasters: Who then joined together with Pat to visit her mother, who was on the phone more than once during the course of that time to talk to another church member in need and to try to find a way to help.
Doug McMasters: A person who's taking time and resources and energy in order to care for others.
Doug McMasters: Because greed corrupts the soul and it will destroy ministry.
Doug McMasters: And Paul is saying these things must not be in the kind of men that you put in place in a church.
Doug McMasters: These all these knots, if you will, are guardrails within which we are guided and guarded within the boundary markers here.
Doug McMasters: Not greedy, not arrogant, not full of anger, not given to excess.
Doug McMasters: This way.
Doug McMasters: It needs holy men.
Doug McMasters: It needs men whose lives are shaped by the grace of God.
Doug McMasters: Men who reflect the heart of the shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Doug McMasters: And so before he gets into the things that tell us what an elder needs to be, he needs to clear the landscape and say, this is what an elder should never be.
Doug McMasters: Never be these things.
Doug McMasters: And so next week we'll look at this.
Doug McMasters: We'll look at what it means to be hospitable and loving the good and sensible and righteous and holy and self-controlled.
Doug McMasters: Just for today, though, we want to clear that out for a little bit.
Doug McMasters: But let me make just one more point.
Doug McMasters: Because I don't want us to just focus on the elders as shepherds.
Doug McMasters: I want us to focus on Jesus as the shepherd.
Doug McMasters: Because we need to remember that this isn't just a checklist.
Doug McMasters: This isn't just a list of performance metrics that the elders are meant to maintain.
Doug McMasters: These qualifications are not arbitrary, they're not cultural, they're fixed and rooted in the person of Jesus Christ Himself.
Doug McMasters: Because all of these things tell us who our Savior is.
Doug McMasters: Because our Savior is the true overseer of this household.
Doug McMasters: He is the faithful shepherd of this flock.
Doug McMasters: He is the one who leads us always without arrogance, who loves us always without anger, who serves us always without self-indulgence, who protects us always without bullying, and who gives to us always without greed.
Doug McMasters: What a beautiful Savior He is, isn't he?
Doug McMasters: He's wonderful.
Doug McMasters: You can clap, you can do it.
Doug McMasters: It's like it didn't hurt, did it?
Doug McMasters: Yeah.
Doug McMasters: Because every not this, it's to clear the room for us to understand who our Savior actually is for us.
Doug McMasters: And next week we'll see that even more.
Doug McMasters: Paul is describing for Timothy a man who's shaped by Jesus, who's walked with Christ long enough and deeply enough, through enough trouble and the ebbs and flows of life for Christ to take root in him.
Doug McMasters: This is why the home matters.
Doug McMasters: This is why character matters.
Doug McMasters: And this is why integrity matters.
Doug McMasters: Because an elder is meant to be a living, breathing reminder, perhaps an imperfect one, but a reminder of who our Savior is.
Doug McMasters: The elders' lives are not the source of our hope.
Doug McMasters: Jesus is.
Doug McMasters: The faithfulness of the elders is not the foundation of our church.
Doug McMasters: His faithfulness is.
Doug McMasters: The integrity of the elders is not the anchor of this household.
Doug McMasters: It's his character and integrity that is.
Doug McMasters: But there should be a link between the two.
Doug McMasters: Next week, Paul's going to turn the corner.
Doug McMasters: What are we to do with this then?
Doug McMasters: As we step back from this passage and we ask ourselves, what is this vision of leadership that reflects the leaders' hearts and shapes and brings embodiment of Christ into the way that they conduct themselves?
Doug McMasters: Well, first of all, remember this is not just marks for the spiritual elite.
Doug McMasters: These are marks for all of us.
Doug McMasters: That's key to remember.
Doug McMasters: Also, it means that we should pray for our elders.
Doug McMasters: We should pray that God would guard them in their homes and strengthen their marriages and steady their hearts and keep them away from these patterns that Paul is warning about.
Doug McMasters: That they would lead the church with humility and patience and sobriety and gentleness and generosity and wisdom.
Doug McMasters: We should examine our own lives and ask ourselves: is my home shaped by Christ?
Doug McMasters: Is my heart guarded by Christ?
Doug McMasters: Do I display the generosity of my Savior?
Doug McMasters: Or am I filled with pride and greed or anger?
Doug McMasters: And ultimately, we need to look up and remember our Savior.
Doug McMasters: Remember, He's the one who protects us, He's the one who purifies us.
Doug McMasters: He's the one who leads us, and He's the one who sustains us.
Doug McMasters: And He's the one that deserves all our praise.
Doug McMasters: We're not finished with this passage.
Doug McMasters: We'll look at elders in part two next week, where we'll see the positive characteristics of hospitality and sensibility and righteousness and holiness and self-control.
Doug McMasters: But for today, let this truth settle in your heart.
Doug McMasters: Christ protects us by giving us the kind of leaders that look like him.
Doug McMasters: Let's pray.
Doug McMasters: Father, we come before you as your household.
Doug McMasters: We come together before you as a people bought by the blood of Christ, who've been gathered by your mercy and grace, and who are kept by your constant, faithful love.
Doug McMasters: And we thank you for Jesus Christ, our true overseer and faithful shepherd, who leads us without arrogance and loves us without anger and serves us without self-indulgence, who protects us and gives to us.
Doug McMasters: Father, we pray that Christ would be stamped upon every one of our lives.
Doug McMasters: And Lord, we do want to pray for those who are placed in positions of influence in this body.
Doug McMasters: Lord, we pray that you would protect them and guard their homes.
Doug McMasters: And Lord, you would make them one woman men, strengthen their marriages, steady their hearts, and keep them from these harmful patterns of behavior and shape them into the men who reflect the beauty of Christ.
Doug McMasters: Make them gentle men, patient men, sober-minded men, generous men.
Doug McMasters: Father, we pray for ourselves that our homes would have the same humility, that our hearts would be guarded by your spirit.
Doug McMasters: And so we pray that you would make us a household that beautifies the gospel, a place where holiness is nurtured and encouraged among us all, a place where the weak can come and find their burdens lifted.
Doug McMasters: A place where the sinful can receive and exercise forgiveness.
Doug McMasters: A place where the truth is loved, a place where Christ is seen.
Doug McMasters: Father, we pray that all of this would bring us into the place of confidence in you, who is our shepherd, the guardian of our souls, and the one who will never fail to lead his household well.
Doug McMasters: And we ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Doug McMasters: Amen.