In the last post, we looked at the necessity, character, and purpose of elders. Now we turn in the text to a contrast between qualified elders and rebellious men. Paul takes this turn in Titus 1:10.
The Prevalence of Rebellious Men
“For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision…” (Titus 1:10, NASB)
“For there are many…” The reason Titus needs to appoint qualified elders is because there are many men in Crete who are opposite of what an elder should be. If they were to gain authority, they would corrupt and destroy the churches. In the absence of qualified elders, many of the wrong people were gaining influence in the churches. So, the urgency to appoint biblical elders had two reasons.
Guarding the church from wicked leadership. There has to be qualifications to ensure the authoritative roles of the church don’t go to corrupt men.
Silencing harmful doctrine. As we will see shortly, these rebellious men were upsetting families. In order to refute the errors that are bringing harm to the Body of Christ, it is necessary to have elders who are given the authority to teach truth and oppose error.
Our day of content creation and instant global access has brought this need to even greater light. There are countless people who have been given a voice through social media and internet platforms. As their subscribers grow and people flock to take in their content, they are being given authority by their audience. This can be dangerous because there is no qualification process for someone to write a blog or post a video. Added to this, much of the younger Christian generation is getting their biblical instruction from influencers, while being noticeably absent from the church.
*By the way, the irony does not escape me. I am writing a blog telling you to watch out for bloggers. My point applies to my own content as well. I hope my content is encouraging and instructive, but it must always be secondary to the ministry of your church and elders.
The church is the pillar and support of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). Therefore, many modern Christians are getting their primary instruction in truth from something other than God’s ordained means. We must be careful that our primary outlet for growing in truth is the church under glad submission to the ministry and authority of qualified elders.
The Character of the Rebellious Men
This is how Paul describes the men that need dealt with. They are rebellious, deceptive, and primarily include Hellenistic Jews. The rebellion of these men is not necessarily rebellion against the church as an institution. At this time, the church in Crete has no authority structure. Therefore, there is no “system” to rebel against. Many today rebel against the church for various reasons. But that is not the rebellion being talked about here. These people are rebellious against God’s Word.
If these men are given a voice, they will drag the churches away from the Scriptures. They are not attempting to pull away from the church, but to pull the church away from God. That is what makes them dangerous.
They are “empty talkers and deceivers.” An empty talker is essentially someone who uses words with no meaning. Of course, all words have a basic meaning in and of themselves. But this kind of person talks in such a way that everything is fuzzy and vague. They do this so they can manipulate people with vague language, and no one can pin them down to a certain position. They are also called deceivers. We learn from the connection of these two terms that their deceit lies in their word play. They are crafty at manipulating words to make you hear what they want you to hear.
Paul also notes that they are “especially those of the circumcision.” He is referring to Jewish converts who brought in a sort of hybrid Hellenistic Judaism. It is easy for us to pass up mentions like this. Throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus, the Jews were always causing issues. In the life of the early church, the trend continued. We should not ignore this detail because we are not Jews. Instead, we should consider that everyone who enters the fellowship of the church comes from somewhere. We need the Lord’s grace to avoid bringing in the ideas of our old lives and mixing them with life in Christ.
The Necessary Treatment of the Rebellious Men
“…who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.” (Titus 1:11, NASB)
One thing the installment of qualified elders is supposed to accomplish is the silencing of these rebellious men. They need to be silenced for two reasons and there are two ways in which it is to be done.
First, they must be silenced because they are destroying families. This is what Paul means when he says they are upsetting whole families. Some members of the family are being led astray by the false teaching, causing a division in the home between them and those who are remaining faithful. No doubt, there were husbands and wives whose marriages were becoming strained, siblings who were turning away, and so on. Yes, Jesus said He came to bring division, but not this kind. When turning to the truth causes division, that division glorifies God. When turning away from the truth causes division, that division must be dealt with.
Second, they must be silenced because their motives are impure. They are not teaching with a good motive. Their focus is self and gain, not the glory of God, and certainly not the good of the saints.
The two ways in which their silencing is to be done are:
By denying them the platform they need in order to gain a hearing.
By teaching, correction, and potential church discipline from the elders.
Conclusion
There are many churches today that closely resemble the disorganized nature of the church in Crete, especially among my fellow Southern Baptists. In those churches, anything goes. Nobody really knows who exactly is running the show and who is really in authority. Anyone who wants to teach a study, lead a class, or do something on stage is allowed to do so. Often, the people driving the church’s decisions are not those who are biblically sound and spiritually mature. Rather, they are often just the ones with the loudest mouths, most influential family ties, or deepest pocketbooks. Is it any wonder that church politics are such an infamous feature of our congregations?
We desperately need a return to biblically qualified elders. And we need to grant them the authority to teach the truth and silence falsehood. In the absence of qualified elders, the wrong people are likely to gain influence in the churches.
For the sake of length, we will stop there for now and pick it back up next time.
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