1:5a I left you in Crete to complete the establishing of proper order in the church there.
1:5a - Again, it's the only choice before us. But in a way, this is the purpose of each one of us: to correct any defects in the order of the church we are part of. As the temple of God, we could look at it as a call to correct what is still out of order within ourselves.
Thematic Relevance:
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This pretty much is the letter's theme. Establish order, correct any present shortcomings, get the church onto solid footing so that in your absence it will continue to stand. |
Doctrinal Relevance:
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There is a correct order to the house of God. There are rules. |
Moral Relevance:
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It's easy for us to cry out against attempts at legalism. We tend to classify any restriction on our perceived liberties as being legalism, but much of what we resist is the establishing of proper order in the house of God. If we will not learn God's order for His house, and align ourselves with His directions, we are at risk of offering Him strange fire. The consequences of such cheek are deadly. |
Questions Raised:
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When was Paul in Crete? Was he? In saying that he left Titus there, is he implying a personal visit previously, or only that this remained Titus' assignment? |
What Paul tells Titus is indeed sound instruction for all who function in the leadership of God's church: address whatever shortcomings are present in the church, correct what is wrong, and declare what is right. I've heard it said before that a good leader will seek to make himself unnecessary. In other words, he will focus on training those he leads such that when he departs, those who remain are fully prepared to continue. The church must not be allowed to become so dependent on its leaders that they come to be the church. It falls to the leaders to ensure that this does not become the case.
No leader of the church worth his salt is going to be pleased to look on the church a short time after their departure and find all that they had sought to establish has been lost. This is part of what we see in Paul, as he considers the church in Corinth. It's anguish to his soul to see how quickly they have forgotten what he taught, how quickly sound doctrine has been polluted by worldly desire. This is an ever present danger to the church, and there is only one defense: leaders must maintain constant diligence to note any errors as soon as they occur, and they must move instantly to correct those errors. They must take every opportunity to teach the true doctrines of faith to reduce the potential for error taking hold.
Throughout Scripture, we are given glimpses of what happens when such faithful leadership is lacking. Throughout Scripture, alongside these stories by which we are warned, we hear the call for leadership to be bold and strong in combating error with the weapon of truth. Paul is a prime example of this. His letters are filled with pronouncements of the truth, the criticality of holding to that truth, and efforts to correct what errors have crept in. His instructions to his workers is to do likewise. Strengthen what remains: where the spark of truth still resides, fan it into full fire. Establish order: chaos is but a byproduct of conflict between truth and lies.
Chaos reigns where truth is held weakly, where lies can easily take root because there is no solid understanding to counter falsehood's advances. A church on solid footing is a church well versed in the truth of Scripture, taught constantly of sound doctrine so that any falsehood that seeks to come in is seen for what it is and rejected. A church on solid footing will not give the amen to every message that is spoken, but like the Bereans will first check the message against the truth of Scripture to see if it be true. A church with solid foundation will experience God in an emotional fashion, certainly, but it will not be led by emotion. No! It is an emotional church precisely because understanding of the truth overwhelms it with joy.
Inasmuch as this is a direction given to church leaders, it is a message given to each one of us. We are the church. We are the temple of the living God, His Spirit dwelling within us, filling His temple with His glory! The call is for each one of us to correct what is out of order within ourselves, to establish the truth within ourselves, to immunize ourselves against encroaching error, lest we become the means of spreading the virus of lies into the larger church body. Don't be a carrier!
No, and don't resist the establishing of due order in the name of legalism! How we've come to misunderstand that term! Anything that seeks to limit our ability to do as we please we label legalism, and dismiss it. But, that's not what legalism is about! Legalism is about attempts to establish outward righteousness with no concern for inward state. Order is about recognizing that God has ordained particular ways and means by which He is to be worshiped. He has provided us with perfect liberty, not with total anarchy! Not everything done in His name is automatically acceptable to Him. Many a sacrifice has been made to His name that was unacceptable because it was a sacrifice of rebellion.
If we will not abide by His established rules, how can we claim to honor and worship Him? "If you love Me, you will obey My commands" (Jn 14:15). Part of what He commands is proper order. Part of what He commands is submission to the authorities He has ordained to lead us. Look at what has happened when His people came before Him with no regard for His established order!
Eli's sons determined to take temple matters into their own hands, to make things more amenable to themselves. (1Sa 2) No legalism here! They did as they liked, stealing from the offerings of the people, having sexual relations just like all the priests at other temples. Why should God's ministers be any different? The result? God brought them to violent end, and not only themselves, but their father also perished because he had tolerated their corruption of God's service.
Nadab and Abihu decided that God's requirements regarding the formulation of His incense, and His rules regarding how the incense offering was to be made were matters of mere legalism. They decided that they were free to burn whatever they liked before Him, to offer whatever seemed good to them (Lev 10:1-3). They played loose with God's fire, and they got burned! God's warning was repeated on that occasion: "I will be treated as a holy God by those who come near Me. I will be honored before My people." If the leadership - those who come near Him - will not give God the respect, honor, and obedience His holiness deserves, then they dishonor Him in the sight of His people. They lead His people into disobedience. God will not long tolerate this kind of service. He will not be mocked.
Nor will He long tolerate those who claim to be His children, yet by their actions show themselves to be sons of the Devil. He is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and truth. Lip service won't cut it. Rebellion won't cut it. Those who truly worship Him truly seek to obey all that He requires, all that He so much as advises. If His requirement is that we limit our own freedoms so as to win others, the true worshiper will do just that. Nor will he complain of the limits. He will not kick against the goads, but will recognize that the God who has required this limitation on his freedoms knows far better than he what is best. He will rejoice that God has determined to use his willing submission to further His cause.
Lord, I hear you speaking to me in this. So much remains out of order within me. Submission remains an issue. In other ways, You have been speaking to me about giving full support to the direction of the church You have placed me into. This is part of that submission and order You are speaking of here. Submitting to restrictions, for whatever reason, seems to come a bit easier to me. It's been ok dealing with the limits we've had to place on ourselves as we share this facility You've given us. Or has it?
Lord, I hear you speaking to me in this. So much remains out of order within me. Submission remains an issue. In other ways, You have been speaking to me about giving full support to the direction of the church You have placed me into. This is part of that submission and order You are speaking of here. Submitting to restrictions, for whatever reason, seems to come a bit easier to me. It's been ok dealing with the limits we've had to place on ourselves as we share this facility You've given us. Or has it?
Oh, Father, I miss the days of simply worshiping You with the instruments You gave me. Yet, it seems that more and more You are taking me away from that. Is this a disciplinary action, Lord, or do You simply desire a different service of me now? God! It hurts so! The worship ministry as it had become was such a joy to be part of. It was so wonderful to be able to give to You the best of something I truly love. You blessed me with an abiding appreciation for music, both the hearing and the playing. What joy, when You caused my own abilities to increase. What joy, when I could offer up those newfound abilities in praise to Your name. Yes, those opportunities still come, but it seems less frequently.
What has happened, Lord? You had built up such a sweetness in the group of us, and now, it seems, You are pulling us apart. To everything, there is a season, I know, yet it hurts to see such a wonderful season ending. What new spring awaits, my God? Help me to see where You are heading, what You have in store. I know that when You have taken things from me in the past, it has always been for my good, and You have been faithful to replace the loss with something far better. Keep me mindful of that now. I feel the loss, but I have forgotten to look forward to Your blessing.
In those places You have called me to serve, Lord, keep me mindful that it is You I serve, not the building, not the people, not even the Pastor, but You. Whatever You cause me to put my hands to, Lord, let me do it as unto Yourself. God, if You will not establish this in my heart, then don't let me serve. I don't want to wind up like those I've noted here, not serving truly, but only using service as a cover to do what I please. No, the consequences are too dire. Bring me to the place of serving truly, my Lord, or remove me from service before I do harm both to myself and to Your people.
What is it You are preparing me for? Help me to see. Help me to join gladly in the preparations, so that whatever it is, when the time comes I will be prepared to render to You the effort that You deserve. Just such a time, what is it, Lord, that You've created me to accomplish? What is it that You have for me to do in service to Your kingdom in this time and place? If You will be there with me, My God, I will gladly go. If You prepare me, My Teacher, I will gladly do. Here I am, Lord. Use me as You desire.
When was Paul in Crete? Was he? In saying that he left Titus there, is he implying a personal visit previously, or only that this remained Titus' assignment? These are the questions that seem to accompany this letter, for we have no direct mention of Paul ever working there. Yet, in the account of his voyage to Rome, there is note of a stopover in Crete. Luke records that the ship arrived off the north-east coast of Crete, near Salmone. From there, it appears that they went down the eastern coast, coming to port in Fair Havens, about midway along the southern coast of the island. It was in the attempt to work along to the western coast that they were taken by storm, winding up eventually in Sicily.
Of note, in writing of the Fair Havens stopover Luke notes a nearby city (Acts 27:8), which would not necessarily be something he would have been aware of had they simply stopped overnight. Further, he notes that considerable time passed before the decision was made to leave that harbor. Now, we know it was not Paul's style to waste an opportunity. Even imprisoned in Rome, he was about the work of spreading the Gospel. Is it likely that he wasted the opportunity presented by this port? Isn't it far more probable that Luke, caught up in the telling of the ship in the storm, a portion of the story in which he was personally involved, simply bypassed whatever ministering may have occurred along that journey?
Now, then, it is entirely possible that this is the time at which Paul began a church on Crete. Luke is not specific about who took sail along with Paul, nor does he mention any names for the remainder of his history of Paul's work. He leaves us with Paul having been relatively free even in his imprisonment. He records that this situation had persisted for two years at the time he concludes the letter that is Acts. Again, we have no such direct record of what occurred in Paul's life beyond that point. Nothing we know from Acts precludes Paul from having done some rather quick church planting on Crete. Nothing precludes Titus from having been with him at the time. Nothing precludes us from accepting that at this point, Paul left Titus there, having not had much time to establish the church.
With all that, is it possible that Paul was released from this imprisonment? Sure. The assessment we hear from the Roman authorities in Israel is that he would be free already if he hadn't appealed to Caesar. What cause, then, to think that Caesar may well have concurred with the judgment of his governors in this case? None of this requires the setting aside of anything that Scripture tells us. To accept the contrary, that this imprisonment was the end of Paul's earthly work, requires that we seek some other means to reconcile his letters with Luke's history, a history written by one who was a close associate of Paul's and eyewitness to portions of what he records.
To me, it becomes far more likely that we have before us the answer to the riddle. Neither Paul nor Luke seem to be accustomed to lies or fabrications, and beyond that, Scripture remains infallible. If our understanding requires us to discard this or that portion of Scripture, we have not yet understood correctly. We cannot establish the true history by eliminating the one measure of Truth we have. Of course, in the end all we can have is theories. We weren't there, nor was anybody else that we know. As to records of the events, what we have in Scripture is largely it, unless some archaeologist uncovers a stone that says, "Paul was here." This doesn't seem overly likely. For now, this answer must satisfy. Later, I suppose we can ask Titus if we're still curious.
