Titus 1:7-9 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker… St. Paul had never shown himself indifferent to the local organisation of each little community which he founded. On his very earliest missionary tour, he and Barnabas had ordained presbyters over the Gentile Churches at Derbe, at Lystra, at Iconium, and at Pisidian Antioch. It seems likely that, as he grew older and realised how soon both he and the other temporary chiefs of the new society must be withdrawn, he only came to feel more strongly than at first the importance of providing for its permanent administration through stationary office bearers who could be continually replaced. Such a case as this which had come to his knowledge in Crete must have sharpened that conviction. As error spread, and especially such error as led to lax morals, the office of ruler in the young community grew to be of the higher consequence, and it became more important to secure that those who were admitted to office possessed the requisite qualifications. It throws a good deal of light on this point to observe where the stress is laid in Paul's catalogue of these qualifications. Ability on the elder's part to argue with Jew and heathen, or even to edify disciples, is not put in the foreground. On the contrary, the qualification insisted upon with most detail is one of character. Among the little companies to be found in the towns of Crete few men would probably be found competent to discuss points of theology, or to hold their own on subtle questions of Mosaic law with glib talkers of "the circumcision." Certainly there could not as yet exist a class of professional divines, expert in controversy or specially educated to instruct their brethren. What was to be had was just a few men of some years' Christian standing and of grave and approved Christian character, who, knowing from experience that the true faith of the Lord Jesus was a faith "according to godliness," could bring new-fangled doctrines to this plain test: Did they contribute to promote wholesome manners, or did they betray an evil origin by their noxious influence upon practice? In effect, it was by their pure example, by the weight of their character, by the sober and balanced judgment which Christian experience forms, and, above all, by that instinct with which a mature Christian mind, however untrained in theology, recoils from morbid views of duty, dangerous errors of mischievous speculation: it was by the possession of gifts like these that the elders were fitted to form a salutary force within the Church; and the best service they could render it at that conjuncture would be to keep the flock in old safe paths, guarding its faith from poisonous admixture, that, amid the restlessness of a fermenting period, men's minds might be settled in quietness upon the simple teaching of the gospel. It cannot surprise us therefore to find, when we come to look at the qualifications Paul desires in the Cretan elder, that the condition first insisted on is, not simply character, but reputed character. He must be a man against whom public rumour lays no scandalous charge, either within or without the Christian society. There may have been something in the condition of the Cretan Church which rendered it specially desirable that its representatives should stand well in the esteem of their neighbours. But it is plain that upon this qualification must always depend in every Church the real value and influence of the eldership. It matters comparatively little how active or zealous or even devout a church ruler be, if men cannot respect him because they either see, or imagine that they see, such flaws as seriously detract from the total impression his character ought to make upon them. However useful in other ways a man of blemished estimation may prove, he is not likely to lend dignity to sacred office or attract to it the confidence and reverence of the people. The general conception of "blamelessness" St. Paul breaks up into eleven particulars; of which five describe what the elder must not be, and six what he ought to be. Of the negative requirements, the first and the last need not surprise us. Many a good man exhibits an unconciliatory and unpliant temper; but such a disposition is a peculiarly unfortunate one in the official who has to act along with others in the management of a large body of brethren, and to preserve that peace which is the bond or girdle of perfection. The stubborn man who insists on having his own way at too heavy a cost makes a bad elder. So of the fifth negative. The instance of the false teachers at Crete showed how readily in that age a greedy man might take unworthy advantage of the confidence of the Church, not to say by downright peculation, but at all events by making a good thing out of his position. Such a temptation lay near to a trader in one of the Greek seaports, as many among these new-made presbyters would be. But the spirit of covetousness is hard to exorcise from the ministry at all times; the harder now, because the ministry has come to be a "profession." Let us hope that the modern ecclesiastic stands in less danger of the group of things forbidden which lies between these two: "not soon angry; not given to wine" (or in the R.V., "no brawler"; literally it means one who is not rude over his cups), "no striker." All three expressions picture for us a type of character with which Paul and the Church at Crete were possibly too familiar; a hot-tempered man, apt to get excited, if not a little tipsy, on jovial occasions; and, when heated with wine, only too loud in his talk and too prompt with his fists. The seaboard of these Greek islands must have offered plenty of specimens of this sort of fellow; but we should scarcely have supposed it needful to warn a Christian congregation against making an "elder" of him. Although the temptation to drink drags too often even presbyters from their seats, we should not elevate to that position a quarrelsome tippler if we knew it. I suspect that the surprise we feel when we meet such items in a list of disqualifications for office, serves in some degree to measure the progress in social manners which, thanks to the gospel, we have made since these words were written. Our holy religion itself has so raised the standard of reputable behaviour, at least among professors of the faith, that we revolt from indulgences as unworthy even of a Christian which Cretan converts needed to be told were unworthy of a presbyter. When we turn to the positive virtues which Paul desired to see in candidates for sacred office, we are again reminded of our altered circumstances. No modern writer would think of placing hospitality at the top of the list. But in times when travelling was difficult, and the inns few or bad, those Christians, whom either private business or the interests of the gospel compelled to visit foreign cities, were exceedingly dependent on the kindly offices of the few who in each chief centre owned and loved the same Lord. At heathen hands they could count on little friendship; the public usages of society were saturated with the associations of idolatry. The scattered members of the Christian body were therefore compelled to form a little secret guild all over the Mediterranean lands, of which the branches maintained communication with each other, furnishing their members with letters of introduction whenever they had occasion to pass from one port to another. To receive such stranger disciples into one's house, furnish them with travelling requisites, further their private affairs, and bid them God speed on their journey, came to be everywhere esteemed as duties of primary obligation, especially on the official leaders and wealthier members in each little band of brethren. Hospitality like this would be a part of the elder's public duty; it was to be wished that it should spring out of a liberal and friendly disposition. Hence to the word "hospitable" the apostle adds, "a lover of good men," or of all noble and generous acts. The main emphasis, however, in Paul's sketch of the good "bishop" rests on the word our Authorised Version renders, not very happily, "sober." This favourite word of the apostle throughout the Pastoral Epistles describes, according to Bishop Ellicott, "the well-balanced state of mind resulting from habitual self-restraint." As he grew older St. Paul appears to have got very tired of intemperate extravagance both in thought and action, even among people who called themselves Christians. He saw that mischief was threatened to the Christian cause by wild fantastic speculation in theology, by the restless love of novelty in matters of opinion, by morbid one-sided tendencies in ethics, and generally by a high-flying style of religiousness which could minister neither to rational instruction nor to growth in holiness. Sick of all this, he never wearies in these later letters of insisting that a man should above all things be sane — morally and intellectually; preserving, amid the bewilderment and "sensationalism" of his time, a sober mind and a healthy moral sense. If the new elders to be ordained in Crete did not possess this quality, they were likely to effect extremely little good. The unruly Jewish deceivers, with their "endless genealogies," legal casuistry, and "old wives' fables," would go on "subverting entire households" just as before. It certainly pertains to this balanced or sober condition of the Christian mind that it rests firmly and squarely on the essential truths of the gospel, holding for true the primitive faith of Christ, and not lending a ready ear to every new-fangled doctrine. This is the requirement in the presbyter which at the close of his instructions St. Paul insists on with some fulness (ver. 9). The mature and judicious believer who is fit for office must adhere to that faithful (or credible?) doctrine which conforms to the original teaching of the apostles and first witnesses of our holy religion. Otherwise, how can he discharge his twofold function of "exhorting" the members of the Church in sound Christian instruction, and of "confuting" the opponents? (J. O. Dykes, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; |
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