While gospel ministry can be incredibly rewarding and joyful, it is often a hard slog. It can be difficult to build deep relationships with those that you serve and are seeking to lead. It can be disenchanting when you don’t feel like you’re achieving your goals. It can be disheartening when you see your own shortcomings. It is often frustrating to see your people, whom you love, make slow progress. It can feel futile to keep showing up when others don’t. Working towards gospel growth can sometimes feel like trying to empty an Olympic-sized pool with a thimble. What hope do we have?
Paul wrote to Titus so that he might establish a healthy pattern of gospel ministry in Crete, so that the church there might grow. And God in his kindness has preserved this letter for us, so that we might be reminded again and again of what we need for gospel ministry.
Appoint Elders so that You Don’t Do This Alone
Titus was to establish a healthy pattern of gospel ministry through appointing faithful and trustworthy men as elders over the newly planted churches in Crete (Tit 1:5). Surely one significant reason for the biblical pattern of appointing a plurality of leaders is to ensure that the work of ministry does not become needlessly lonely. The reality is, ministry is often lonely. There will be the temptation to distance yourself when things get difficult, or to allow yourself to be put on a pedestal when things are going well. The Monday morning blues after preaching are real. The unrealistic expectations from members can be crushing. Gospel growth can seem out of reach.
Ministry is demanding! Just as it was in Crete. Titus was up against “many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers” (Tit 1:10). Not only were there many outside the churches who were radically opposed to the gospel but there were those who came into the churches who twisted the Scriptures. I’m not sure there is any reason to think that ministry in Fremantle or Toowong or Byron Bay is going to be much easier, than in Crete. And so Paul commanded Titus to appoint elders, as fellow workers. Not only do elders ease the experience of loneliness, they also share in the burden of the work. We need the help of one another to be faithful in ministry. To persevere. To see gospel growth.
If we are to continue the apostolic mission of Paul and Titus in establishing order in the church for the sake of gospel growth, then we need faithful men to help us in that mission. Indeed, elders are God’s grace to us in gospel ministry, so that we might not be overwhelmed with the task at hand. So let us raise up and appoint elders, to help one another in gospel ministry.
Preach the Gospel so that Your People Might Bear Fruit
One of the qualifications for eldership which Paul laid out for Titus was that elders “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Tit 1:9). Rebuking false teachers is a prominent theme in Paul’s letter to Titus (vv. 10–12). But we would do well to notice that Paul was not imploring Titus to be a keyboard warrior, or to run a YouTube channel with videos such as “10 Reasons Joel Osteen Is a Charlatan.” Rather, Paul wanted Titus to “insist on these things”—the gospel! — “so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works” (3:8).
Sound doctrine is necessary for good works, and so we must persist in it. There are going to be empty talkers and deceivers. There is going to be false teaching those with itching ears will eagerly pursue. There will be those who teach what they ought not to for shameful gain. So we must preach the gospel faithfully. On Sundays, at mid-week Bible studies, in one-to-ones. Our Saviour Jesus Christ gave himself up for us to redeem us and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (2:14). This is why we must preach the gospel. This is what will bring gospel growth. Preaching the word of God so that the Spirit of God will shape us as the people of God. Let us persist in preaching the gospel so our people might bear fruit.
Be Bold Because of the Grace of God
Have you ever needed to confront someone about something? Maybe your friend disappointed you, so you needed to sit them down for a coffee and an honest conversation. Maybe a leader needed to be disciplined for inappropriate behaviour. Maybe your boss made an unwise decision but didn’t recognise it. Confrontation is hard. But in gospel ministry, confrontation is unavoidable. False teachers need to be warned. False teaching needs to be corrected.
Confrontation is a way that we love and care for our flocks. But it doesn’t stop it from being difficult. So Paul encouraged Titus to be bold: “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (2:15). What gave Titus the right to do this? Throughout this letter Titus is reminded that the basis for this difficult work is nothing other than the grace of God in the gospel. It was God’s eternal plan that was the basis of Paul’s ministry (1:1–3); it was the grace of God that was the reason for Titus’s preaching and instructing the believers in gospel-adorning conduct (2:10–14); the grace of God was the topic of the trustworthy saying that grounded Titus’ charge to the people, to devote themselves to good works (3:4–8). Only God’s grace in the gospel could accomplish these things. Only God’s grace displayed on the cross and poured out on us by the Spirit can bring about gospel growth. Titus could indeed be bold, as he trusted God’s Spirit to work through the preached word. And so we too may be bold as we preach the gospel so our people might bear fruit, because of the grace of God.
