Titus 1 explained: Good Leaders for a Troubled Church

Paul's greeting (vv. 1-4)

Paul says his work is to help God's people grow in faith and in a truth that shapes how they live, resting on the hope of eternal life that God planned long ago and has now made known. He calls Titus, a non-Jewish co-worker he likely brought to faith, his true son in the faith they share.

Unfinished work in Crete (v. 5)

Paul had spent only a short time on Crete and left the believers there without settled leadership. He asked Titus to stay, finish organizing the churches, and appoint elders, meaning trusted, mature leaders, in each town.

What a leader must be (vv. 6-9)

A leader, also called an overseer, is like a manager running a household for its owner, so his family life, temper, honesty with money and welcome to guests all matter. He must also know the teaching well enough to encourage people and answer those who argue against it.

Teachers causing harm (vv. 10-11)

Some people in the churches, especially a group insisting that non-Jewish believers be circumcised and keep Jewish law, were spreading confusing ideas and unsettling whole families. Paul says they were doing it for money and must be stopped.

A harsh saying about Cretans (vv. 12-13)

Paul quotes a line usually credited to Epimenides, a Cretan poet from around 600 BC, from a time when "to act like a Cretan" was slang for lying. It is a blunt stereotype about a whole people, used to back his call for firm correction, and many modern readers find it uncomfortable.

Clean hearts, empty claims (vv. 14-16)

The troublemakers were pushing stories and human rules, probably about clean and unclean foods or rituals, though exactly what they taught is unclear. Paul answers that to a clean heart nothing is unclean, and that people who claim to know God but live otherwise show what is really inside them.

Key verse: Titus 1:9

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether the requirement that a leader have only one wife means church leaders must be men and married, and on whether elders and overseers are one role or two separate offices.

Something to think about

When you decide whether to trust someone who leads or teaches others, how much weight do you give to what they say compared with how they live?