Devotion for July 11, 2008

Courageous Elders

“For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans [are] always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” (Titus 1:10-15 NKJV)

We live in an age were tolerance is celebrated and truth is ignored. Paul preached against the insubordinate saying their mouths must be stopped. This attitude wouldn’t make you very popular today. You might even be called unloving if you espouse this methodology.

However, take a close look at what these idle talkers do, they destabilize or subvert as the text says whole households by teaching things they ought not for the sake of dishonest gain. Don’t be too quick to dismiss their threat as something that would never affect you. Their tools of deception come in the form of fables and commandments of men. We can see that the text suggest their error is legalism from Paul’s comment about the defiled and unbelieving see nothing as pure. It was their practice to gain power over the people by putting them back under the yoke of the law and that a law they had redefined to be even more stringent than God’s Law. All of us can fall into this trap if we don’t stay focused on the Word. Giving heed to traditions over the authority of the Word is how it begins. 

Now don’t miss the context here. Titus was to appoint elders to hold fast the faithful word to exhort and convict these types. It was and is the Elder’s job to preach against such subversions. We must pray earnestly for them because when they use their shepherd’s staff as a rod the unbelieving and ignorant will scream intolerance and seek with all their wickedness to destroy their ministries.

My dear friends the elder is to be a courageous man of integrity willing to fight the wolves off the flock. Many love their pastors for their meek kindly ways, and those are good and required qualities, but the man of God must hold fast the faithful Word never compromising the truth for anyone or any reason.

In the dark hour of the night when the hungry growls surround the shepherd and he catches a glimpse here and there of the danger, it would be very easy to let one of the flock stray knowing the predators would be satisfied for the night. The temptation is great for the leader just to ignore the carnage. Pray diligently that he would be strengthened in his inner man and stand against all that would seek to harm.

Even Paul who by our standards would be considered one of the most courageous Christian ever to live asked for prayer. He said: “And [pray] for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:19-20 NKJV) If Paul needed prayer for boldness, surely our elders need prayer. We must Labor in prayer for our elders if we expect them to protect the flock courageously.