In many Eastern traditional societies, leadership succession is a serious decision. After a king’s passing, great care is taken selecting their next ruler. Besides being from a royal family, the successor must be strong, fearless, and sensible. Candidates are questioned to determine if they will serve the people or rule with a heavy hand. The king’s successor needs to be someone who leads but also serves. Leadership succession is also a serious decision in the church. So must men be whose character meets the divine requirements for the church. That is precisely what Paul is telling Titus, precisely what he is saying. If a man is to be an elder, this is the kind of man he must be. We are failing to meet the standards of God in the written Word.

All of the battles that we have fought for sound doctrine, all the battles for the integrity of Scripture, fall uselessly by the wayside if preachers of it are corrupt and if their people no longer follow their shepherds as models of holiness. — Dr. John MacArthur

Wherefore there must be a clear understanding of the qualifications for those leaders. The Apostle Paul is writing this epistle to Titus to sets down the standards of leadership. In setting things right in this church, he will teach members how they ought to behave. He is going to have the responsibility of removing unacceptable leaders and putting up the right leaders. This sometimes is a process to be done for the betterment of the church and the growth of its people.

I. Titus a true son and pastor vv.5

1. The letter is addressed to Titus, a true son in the faith. We note this truth back in verse four and understand he refers to him here in verse five. But who is this Titus? We have to piece together his biographic references from sparse scriptures of him in three of Paul’s Letters. A Greek by birth (Gal. 2:3), he was born again by faith in the Lord Jesus, possibly through Paul’s ministry. We don’t know anything about Titus from Acts. He is strangely absent from that record, though he must have been an associate of Paul during the time covered by Acts.

2. Second, a battle was ensuing over what was the true gospel. Paul and Barnabas took him Titus to Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1) for a conference with the apostles and elders. The decision of the council was that a Gentile like Titus did not have to submit to Jewish laws and ceremonies in order to be saved (Acts 15:11). Gentiles did not have to become Jews. Titus became one of Paul’s most valuable assistants, serving as a “trouble-shooter” in Corinth and Crete. He was the right man for a tough assignment.

We notice Titus is described as a genuine brother to the Apostle Paul in (2 Corinthians 2:13) and as “my partner and fellow worker concerning you” (2 Cor. 8:23). Titus walked in the same steps as Paul, in the same manner of life (2 Corinthians 12:18).

3. In this verse (5) Paul declared his reasoning for posting him on the Island of Crete. Paul left Titus behind to build enduring churches by selecting mature, qualified pastors in certain cities. This was especially needed in Crete, because the people of Crete were a wild bunch, well known as liars and lazy people. Titus had to find and train capable leaders for the Christians Churches on the island of Crete.
Homer called Crete “the island of one hundred cities,” “the island of a hundred cities.” So if there was a church in every city, or a church in most of the cities, you can imagine what a tremendous job it was to cover them all. They may have been there for some time. It sounds as though the church was wide-spread through the island of Crete.

4. He stresses, “Set in order the things that are lacking: This was the job Titus was given. Titus was commanded to set in order the churches, and to do it by appointing godly leaders. “That phrase is a medical term; it was applied to the setting of a crooked limb.” (Wiersbe) There were crooked things that had to be set straight among the congregations of Crete.
— What about in your life or in our Church today. God help us!

II. Leaders and their Qualifications vv. 6a

1. The list in the following passage reminds us that God has specific qualifications for leaders in the church. Leaders should not to be chosen at random, or just because they volunteer, or because they aspire to the position, or even because they are “natural leaders.” Leaders should be chosen because they match the qualifications of the Word of God.

2. These characteristic were given to Timothy and we exposited them in the First Epistle. Therefore, I will not labor them as I did before…It is an unequivocal prerequisite that this man be blameless; blameless mean one “cannot lay hold on”. That is the basic overall requirement. It means not able to be taken hold of. In other words, you can’t grab him as if he were a criminal or a malefactor. He is irreproachable. You can’t charge him with anything. He is beyond accusation – that’s the idea. There’s nothing to accuse him of. He is not perfect but he has a good reputation outside the church.

3. This “man” must be a man whose life is not marred by some grievous sin, some vice, or an incident, or be it an attitude. It could be anything that will cause him to be accused. He is to be beyond accusation. That is, in his present or in his past, there is not to be some blight upon his spiritual life. I’m not talking about what he did before he was ever born-again. Now, that doesn’t mean he’s going to be perfect, and that doesn’t mean that there won’t be times when he fails, when he does something wrong. But it’s not something in his life to which everyone points, as an obvious flaw in his character. He is the husband of one wife.

4. The issue here is a one-woman man. This passage is not talking about being a Polygamist. Among the Jews, polygamy was not tolerated so he is not talking about polygamy here. What does that mean? It is a man devoted to one woman in his heart and mind. This is a man who loves only one woman, who desires only one woman, who thinks of only one woman, whose heart is for only one woman, and that woman is the wife that God has given to him. The candidate must prove by his character he is a one women man. Many churches will not even consider divorce men because it becomes very complicated and embarks on the quality of not being blameless.

5. Having faithful children (teknon); a child (as produced):—child, .not accused of riot or unruly”: The godly leader demonstrates his leadership ability first in his own home; Paul recognized that it is in the home where our Christianity is first demonstrated. Leadership in the church is centered on successful spiritual leadership in the family.

III. List of negative 6b-9

1. This list of qualifications of moral character for one who leads the church. Not self-willed: Basically selfish people are disqualified from leadership. They show their self-willed nature in arrogance, stubbornness, and a proud self-focus; not soon angry or quick-tempered: The ancient Greek word used here (orgilos) actually refers more to a settled state of anger than the flash of an occasional bad temper. It speaks of a man who has a constant simmering anger and who nourishes his anger against others – close to the idea of a bitter man.

2. Not given to wine, The word is paroinos and it basically means a drinker – “not a drinker.” It isn’t a reference to someone who drinks unto drunkenness; that’s obvious. It wouldn’t have to include drunkenness; anyone would know that a drunk was not fit to lead the church. You can go back to the word “temperate,” and we saw there the idea of wineless. But here it’s another idea. There it has to do with his watchfulness and his clear headedness, and his alertness. Here it has the idea of his associations. He is not a drinker; he doesn’t frequent bars and taverns and inns. That’s why in Proverbs 31 it says wine is not for kings and princes, and that’s why in Leviticus 10:9 it says it’s not for priests. Anybody in spiritual leadership stays away from anything that blurs their vision. In Isaiah 56:9, listen to what it says, and Isaiah 28:7, for a moment.

3. Not a striker, meaning he is not violent. This is a man who is not given to violence either publicly nor privately; a man who can let God fight his cause. He is not greedy of filthy lucre, that is to say he is not greedy for money. Originally, money obtained dishonestly. For example…This term comes from the Bible (Titus 1:11), where it refers to those who teach wrongly for the sake of money.

4. Not given to fithy lucre. This is a more encompassing thought than merely greedy for money. The covetous man is never satisfied with anything, always demanding something more or different. A man who is constantly dissatisfied is not fit for leadership among God’s people.

5. We go back to the positive qualities: hospitable. Loves to be in the company of godly men, is sober that is sound minded. This describes the person who is able to think clearly and with clarity. A pastor or leader in the church must be just (right toward men), holy (right towards God), self-controlled (right towards himself).just set apart and temperate.

Conclusion:
Being a real leader is more than having a title; it is being able to inspire others to follow you. If a congregation wants its elders to be fruitful and successful in their work, they need to create an environment in which they may serve with joy. That is where we will pick this up next time Lord willing.