LIFE LESSONS
FRIENDS OF PAUL: TITUS
DR. JIM DIXON
TITUS 1:4-5
JANUARY 8, 2006
If you were not with us last Sunday, then we would like to wish you a Happy New Year. We are grateful that you’re with us today. Last year as we were approaching the end of the year, and particularly the month of December, we asked that as you approach Christmas, and you gave gifts to each other and gifts to family and loved ones that you would remember to give some special gift to Christ and His Church as well. We just want to say thank you. The Elder Board, the staff, we all want to say thank you for your faithfulness. If you look in your program on page 7 in the bottom right corner, you can see that December’s operating budget… December is a huge month for our ministry as a church and we projected receiving $1,500,000 in December. That’s a lot of money and you can see that we, by the grace of God, reached that amount in December and yet when this went to press, not all the December dollars were in, and we got another $300,000 beyond that so that as a congregation to the general operating budget (congregation applauding) we received $1,800,000 in contributions to the operating ministry budget of the church in December and of course additional dollars for the chapel and the atrium. We just want to thank God for your faithfulness. We know that it reflects the love of Jesus Christ and your commitment to His Church, and we know that God will bless you. We also know that these dollars will enable the kingdom of heaven to go forth with heavenly purposes on earth, so thank you so much for your faithfulness.
Now, as we are moving into this year’s messages, we return to Life Lessons from Biblical People and we are going to conclude with a series of some additional people from the New Testament. We are going to look at the friends of Paul, so in these upcoming weeks, we look at various friends of Paul and today we come to the man whose name was Titus. Our scripture is found in the Book of Titus. It is found in the first chapter. We are just going to look at verses 4 and 5, so Titus, chapter 1, verses 4 and 5. “To Titus, my true child in a common faith, grace to you and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus, our Savior. This is why I left you in Crete that you might amend what was defective and that you might appoint leaders in every town as I directed you. “This ends the reading from God’s Holy Word. Let’s pray together before we have our message this morning. “Dear Father, may the words of my mouth and may the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
Every four years the citizens of the United States of America elect a national leader. It might be a new president. It might be an incumbent president but every four years the people of this nation elect a national leader. Then, of course, we spend the next four years critiquing, kind of judging, evaluating the performance of the President Elect. It is just kind of the American way. It is kind of part of the democratic system. Of course what is true on the national level is also true at the level of state and local government. We elect leaders and then we critique them. And so we ought to be experts in this area of leadership. As American citizens we should all be kind of leadership experts.
A book that was written by S. I McMillan called “None of These Diseases” tells the story, the true story, of a young woman who made application to a prestigious private college. On the application she noticed the question, “Are you a leader?” She is very honest and so she wrote, “No.” She thought it might damage her chances of being accepted at this prestigious private college but a few months later she was pleased to see a letter in the mail, and she was informed of her acceptance. The letter said, “A survey of our accepted applicants for this college or university reveals 1,425 new leaders. They will surely need at least one follower. Congratulations, you are accepted.
When I read that I could not help but smile because, of course, I suspect that in our secret hearts most of us believe that we have at least some leadership qualities and of course we do. Certainly, everyone in this worship center this morning is, at least in some sense, a leader. Many of you are leaders at home. You are moms and dads. You are parents and of course parenting is one of the most difficult forms of leadership. It is relentless. It is complex. It needs tremendous grace and tremendous mercy.
Some of you are leaders in the office or in the marketplace, in the corporate world. Many of you are leaders there as well. Of course the Bible tells us that each of us will one day be judged by God for the way that we have led our own lives individually. Even individually we are leaders, and we are kind of captains of our own ship, and we are going to have to give an account for how we manage the stewardship of our own lives.
This morning we come to the subject of leadership as we look at Titus, friend of the Apostle Paul. Titus was a leader, and he was a leader chosen by Paul. More importantly, he was a leader chosen by God. Titus expressed his leadership in the churches of Corinth, and he expressed his leadership in all the churches of Dalmatia and then, of course, it was Titus who led the churches of the Island of Crete. According to Eucebius, the ancient historian, Titus became the Bishop of Crete, the Chief Religious Leader of the island and Titus, according to church tradition, died at the age of 94 and he was buried in the capital of Crete. The Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate his feast day on August 25th. The Roman Catholic Churches celebrate the feast day of Titus on January 4. They just remembered Titus this past week. Of course Protestants don’t remember Titus at all but this morning we’re going to focus on him and we’re going to take a look at his leadership.
It was Titus who was responsible for choosing the leaders in all the cities of Crete. Titus was kind of a leadership guru and of course he was the one assigned to choose the leaders. So today as we look at leadership, we look at leadership from God’s perspective. What does God treasure in a leader? We have two teachings this morning, two life lessons. The first is this. In God’s sight, a leader must be humble. This is the first quality that a leader must have -humility.
I know that in the world we think the primary attribute of a leader is perhaps giftedness, talent, abilities but, you see, God looks at character. From God’s perspective, while talents and abilities are important, what is most important is character and so God wants us to understand leaders must have humility.
In the Book of Titus, in the 1st chapter, we are told that leaders must not be arrogant. The Greek word is “authetes.” It comes from two Greek words, “autos” which means, “self’ and “hedoni” which means, “to please,” so the arrogant are people who live to please themselves. This word authetes, this word arrogant, was used of people who seek to glorify themselves. It was used of people who seek to exalt themselves, people who are focused on self. This word authetes is the opposite of the Greek word for humility, “tapeinos.” It is also the opposite of the Hebrew word for humility, the Hebrew word “odd-nah.” So we understand that humility has to do with an outward focus. Humility has to do with focusing not on self but on others, and humility has to do with serving others. Humility has to do with pleasing others. Humility has to do with exalting other people and bringing glory to other people, so in the sight of God, if we would be good leaders in the home or even in the marketplace, then we must live to exalt others and to give glory to others and to serve the needs of others. This is the first attribute of a leader. We see it not only in Paul’s letter to Titus but also in his letters to Timothy.
I want to tell you a story of a woman named Katie. I tell this story because I think it reveals – it is a true story – very much the heart of God and the way God views people. Katie was 66 years old when she joined the Philadelphia Church in the city of Chicago. You might be thinking, “Well, why is not the Philadelphia Church in the city of Philadelphia but of course the word Philadelphia simply means, “love of the brethren” or “brotherly love” and it is an appropriate name for a church in any city. The truth is that one of the seven churches in Asia mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Revelation was called Philadelphia, and so there is this church today in the city of Chicago called the Philadelphia Church.
Katie came to that church when she was 66 years old. Katie only had three or four dresses. There is no real problem with that except she wore them all at the same time. Katie wore all four dresses at once whenever she came to church, one on top of the other. Of course people thought her strange. She had a wig and she never seemed to get it on just right. It was always a little kind of just crooked, not on there right. People noticed that too. Katie always had a bag that she had over her arm and the people in the Philadelphia Church called Katie “the bag lady.” They did not want to sit next to Katie. They did not want to sit next to her and the Philadelphia Church in the city of Chicago even today is a church of pews. Of course we are going to have pews in our chapel but in here we have chairs. As people came into the Philadelphia Church, they did not want Katie to sit next to them so they would put a coat next to them or a purse next to them or a hat or whatever, something that would keep Katie away and give them some space. They did not want to sit next to Katie.
The pastor of the Philadelphia Church was named Dennis Sawyer and God spoke to Dennis Sawyer. God convicted Dennis Sawyer, the pastor of the church, that he was to love Katie. God convicted Dennis Sawyer; You arc to enter Katie’s world. I want you to enter Katie’s world I want you to serve her. ” The pastor and his wife had Katie over to the house for Thanksgiving dinner. That was the first of many evenings that they invited Katie into their home. They got to know her, and they discovered that Katie had been born in Germany and that when she was three years old her mom and dad moved to the United States of America. That same year, when she was three years old, her father died. Katie was reared by her mom who loved her desperately.
Katie could not hear very well and that affected her speech but even more so she couldn’t speak well because, from her birth, she had a birth defect whereby her tongue was kind of like sealed against the bottom of her mouth cavity and her tongue could not move naturally. She sounded kind of retarded when she spoke. It was a tremendous social problem.
Her mother loved her so much and she wanted the surgery for Katie so Katie could speak more normally but her mother was poor. Her mother could not afford the surgery. When Katie was 14 years old, her mother in a moment of despair when she was just crying and desperate for Katie to be able to
communicate better, tried to do the surgery herself with scissors. It was a bloody mess and a scary moment, but Katie survived and incredibly, by the grace and mercy of God, Katie was able to speak better.
When Katie was 33 years old, her mother died, and Katie was institutionalized. She was institutionalized because they thought her retarded. She remained in that institution for thirty-three additional years. They gave her an IQ test after many, many years and they made an amazing discovery. Katie was not retarded. Katie had a normal intelligence. She may have been atrophied socially but she was not retarded. They released Katie at age 66 and she found a job stuffing envelopes and she found her way to the Philadelphia Church in the city of Chicago.
One night Katie was at Dennis Sawyer’s house, the pastor’s house, and after dinner she began to hum the tune of an old Christian hymn. The old hymn was “I’ll Give My Life To The One Who Died For Me.” Dennis Sawyer said to her, “Katie, where did you hear that hymn?” She said, “My mother used to sing it.” Dennis Sawyer said to her, “Well, has that happened? Have you given your life to the One who died for you? Have you asked Jesus to be your Lord and your Savior?” Katie said, “No, I’ve never done that.” Right there that night at the pastor’s house she gave her heart to Jesus. She gave her life to Christ.
Just two weeks later there was a healing service at the church. A child was brought in who was near death and had a horrible disease and the parents were desperate. The congregation prayed silently as the child was brought down front and the elders and the pastoral staff put hands on her and prayed over this child that she might live. The congregation was kind of stunned when Katie got up, the bag lady. She walked down to the front of the church, and she put both of her hands on this little girl, and she began to pray with the staff and with the elders. This little girl was miraculously healed.
In subsequent weeks, Katie prayed for many, many people and they were all healed. This is an amazing story. They were all healed, and people began to realize that God had given Katie the gift of healing. Everybody began to want to be with Katie. Everybody wanted Katie to pray for them. Nobody put their coat on the pew next to them or their hat or their purse. They all wanted to sit next to Katie. Katie began to kind of be exalted in the congregation at the Philadelphia Church in the city of Chicago and everybody esteemed Katie. That is how it was for Katie the rest of her life there.
That story is true and what is amazing for me is what it tells us about God. The gift of healing is very rare. In my experience, the gift of healing is incredibly rare. Lots of people claim to have the gift of healing but very few people do and amongst all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, this is one of the most rare of gifts and yet God gave this incredible gift to Katie because God valued Katie, God treasured Katie, and God wanted to raise Katie up and bless other people through Katie. God wanted people to value Katie and it was God who told the pastor, Dennis Sawyer, that he was to love Katie and he was to enter her world and he was to serve her, and he was to lift her up.
That tells you a lot about God, does not it. How God feels about people. How God views people. I do not think the world understands. I do not think we have God’s view. I do not think we have God’s perspective. I do not think we view people like God does. But understand this. In the sight of God, if you would be a leader that pleases Him, you have to live to lift other people up, even the lowest of people. You have to live to lift them up. I know some of you have heard of Jim Collins. Jim Collins is kind of a leadership guru, and he is written many books. He is fairly famous right now. “Good to Great” is one of his best-selling books. Jim Collins speaks at corporate entities, at companies and corporations all across America. For that matter, around the world also, and of course he speaks at conferences and seminars. I’ve even heard Jim Collins speak at a couple of Christian conferences although, by his own testimony, Jim Collins is not a Christian. By his testimony, he is a “seeker,” a seeker who is enamored by the person of Jesus Christ.
In his book “Good to Great,” Jim Collins describes the characteristics of what he calls the “fifth level leader.” A fifth level leader in the structure of Jim Collins is the highest type of leadership. It is the best leader of all. Fifth level leaders are very rare in corporate America, very rare. Fifth level leaders, according to Jim Collins, have humility. They are not focused on themselves. They do not seek their own accolades. They do not seek their own glory. They do not seek to exalt themselves. They do not seek their own praise and most of them are kind of not known because they are not into that and their focus is outward. They are focused on the cause, and they are focused on the people that surround them. They tend to build great companies. When they die or when they retire, their companies continue in strength. They do not crater because it was not about them. It was not about their glory. It was not about their greatness.
Fourth level leaders often build great companies as well, but they seek their own glory and they seek their own recognition, their own honor and they are very much into themselves. When they die, companies tend to crater because it is all about them. Jim Collins observes that he is amazed at how many biblical principles seem to apply to the secular corporate world. There should not be any surprise there because God wrote the Book. Understand, in the sight of God, you could be a great leader at home for your children or even at work, but you must seek to exalt others, seek to serve others, and seek to praise others.
I want to tell you one other story about Booker T. Washington. Booker T. Washington was a Black man, an African American. By the belief of many historians, he was perhaps the greatest leader, the greatest Black leader, the greatest African American leader in 19th Century America. It was Booker T. Washington, of course, who founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Today it is called Tuskegee University. He founded that in 1881. It was Booker T. Washington who wrote “Up from Slavery.” I remember when I was in high school that was mandatory reading. Everybody had to read “Up from Slavery.” Were that true today, and I hope that you have read that book or will read that book “Up from Slavery.”.. Booker T. Washington was a great Christian. He loved God. Everything he did was motivated by his desire to serve God and his desire to serve Christ.
There is a story about him. The story is one of my favorite stories. Booker T. Washington was taking a walk one day and it was not too far from the Tuskegee Institute. He is walking into an affluent neighborhood. He was going there to see an affluent friend. As he walked through the neighborhood, which was entirely Anglo, entirely white, a woman came out of her very large house and she, of course, was a white woman. She saw Booker T. Washington, this Black man walking down the street. She did not know him. She called out to him and said, “Hey, Mister. Would you like to make a little extra money? I need someone to chop the wood at the back of my house.” Booker T. Washington stopped, and he smiled, and he said, “I would love to help.” He went to the back of the house, and he chopped wood for two hours. He chopped wood and for two hours he stacked the wood by the fireplace in her living room. At the end of the two hours, she offered him a little money and he declined it saying, “I was just happy to help.” He headed out the door and as he headed out the door this woman’s daughter was coming in. When Booker T. Washington was gone the daughter said, “Mom! Do you realize who that WAS? That was Booker T. Washington! He is famous! He is the head of the Tuskegee Institute! Mom, what was he here for?!” Her mother explained and the daughter was just devastated.
The next day the mother went to the Tuskegee Institute to apologize to Booker T. Washington. She got into his office, and she apologized, and he smiled. He said, “There’s no need for you to apologize. I enjoy a little manual labor once in a while.” He said, “Besides, you’ll never know how much of a joy it is for me to do a favor for a friend.” What an amazing statement. I promise you he knew she only asked him to chop wood because he was black, and he surely also knew she was only apologizing because he was famous.” But, you see, he was willing to embrace her in friendship. What an amazing man. Is it any wonder that God elevates a guy like that? Is it any wonder that he became one of the greatest leaders of 19th Century America? Is that any wonder that God’s blessings would be upon him? It’s because God exalts the humble. And so if you want to know what God looks for in a leader at home, at work or even in terms of how we lead our own lives, God wants humility, an outward focus seeking to serve and exalt other people.
There is a second quality, a second and final quality that we see from Titus, this leadership expert and he received it from God and of course from Paul. This second quality of leadership is self-control. If we would be leaders who please God, we have got to have self-control. You cannot be an effective leader unless you’re humble with an external focus, and of course you can’t be an effective leader without self-control because you will undermine your own leadership if you do not have self-control. Proverbs 25: “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. You are defenseless and helpless if you have no self-control.”
On December 5, 1933, our nation ratified the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, thereby bringing the era of Prohibition to an end. It had been 14 years in length, and it had been a tragic failure, Prohibition. Crime had increased exponentially across America during that era of Prohibition because of rum runners and bootleggers, etc., and so on December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment and the end of Prohibition. President Hoover addressed the nation and he said, “Prohibition has been a grand experiment, noble in intention, tragic in results.” President Hoover told the people of the United States of America, “The answer to alcoholism in the United States of America is not government control but the answer is self-control.”
Of course today we know alcoholism is very complex in its causation and alcoholism is very complex in its solution. Perhaps the statement of President Hoover represents a certain naivete. Maybe it is shallow but there’s no denying this. We are a nation desperately in need of self-control. Leaders at home and at work are desperately in need of self-control. If we would please God, we must have self-control.
So you look at Titus and you look at the description that Paul gives Titus of leaders and the leaders that Titus must pick, and you see five different self-control words in Titus, chapter 1. We are told that leaders must be “enkratos.” That word means, “they must have “kratos” which is “strength.” Enkratos is “inner strength.” It means self-control. Another word, a second word that is used is “sophronos.” Sophronos means, “sound minded,” “sober minded,” “master of self,” another self-control word. Then there’s “paroinos.” Paroinos is from the word “oinos” which means, “wine” and paroinos literally means, “tarrying over wine” but has to do with drunkenness, the lack of self-control in the area of alcohol. Of course in addition to those three words, there’s “orgilos” which is a fourth word describing leaders. Orgilos comes from “orge” which has to do with anger, temper management, anger management. Orgilos means a leader has to be someone who has self-control in the area of temper. Then of course there is a fifth word, the word is “pletes” and pletes has to do with violence, and again it’s a self-control word. It has to do with self-control and again it has to do with anger management, temper management. All five of these words have to do with self-control.
As Titus went forth to pick leaders, this leadership guru, he knew he needed to find people with self-control. It was not easy because he was on the island of Crete. The most famous philosopher in Cretan history was Epimenides and Epimenides had once said that “All Cretans are liars, lazy gluttons and evil beasts.” The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus and said, “This testimony is true.” Kind of stereotypical but generally true. A lot of people in that day in that culture on the island of Crete were kind of lazy gluttons and really kind of degenerate in their lifestyle and they were liars. Here Paul had sent Titus there to pick leaders and to go into every city and pick leaders with self-control. This is what he needed to find – people with humility, people who love Christ first of all and then people with humility and people with self-control. These five self-control words…
I was recently reading an article in the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Just recently, apparently in the city of Houston, this guy became very angry at his washing machine. He had recently purchased his washing machine and it appeared to be defective and was not working properly. He tried everything. Finally he began to just kick it and he began to kick it again and again and again in just a rage. It obviously did not get the job done and the machine didn’t start. He went and got a dolly and he put the washing machine on the dolly, wheeled it out to the front of his apartment there in Houston and just pushed it down the steps into the front yard. Then he went and got his .22 caliber handgun, and he fired three rounds into the washing machine. The neighborhood in this Houston suburb became pretty upset and called the police. The police arrested him. It was called “appliance rage.” I’ve never personally experienced appliance rage and you probably have not either, but I think you all know there’s a lot of rage in society.
We have experienced road rage, haven’t we? I mean I know I have experienced road rage and I’m sure each of you at some point in your life have experienced some form of road rage. Maybe you were completely innocent, and you did not do anything wrong. Maybe you did do something wrong, but somebody got really mad at you, and they began to flip you the bird. Maybe they flipped you dual birds and they began to roll down their window and they are shouting at you and they are riding your bumper and they’re following you and they’re honking their horn – they’re laying on their horn. You know what I am talking about, and you do not want a leader like that, do you? You do not want your boss at work to be a person like that. You do not want a leader like that. You do not want to be a person like that. You want self-control. We all want self-control.
Aren’t you glad that God is not like that? Aren’t you glad that God isn’t characterized by kind of the “road rage” mentality? That the Leader of the Cosmos does not have a short fuse? Aren’t you glad of that?
There is an island off the coast of Egypt called Theros. It is right off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. The island is famous because, of course, there once stood there on the island of Theros one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Lighthouse of Theros, and it was a wonder on all the earth. “Great as the pyramids” they said. “Great as the Tomb of Mausalais” in the town of Halicarnassus, modern-day Bodrum. Great, not only as the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus but the Colossus of Rhodes and the Altar of Zeus and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis or Diana in Ephesus – all the Wonders of the Ancient World. This was one of them and it was great.
For Christians and for Jews, the island of Theros is renowned for a different reason. It is very important for a different reason because on the island of Theros long ago, that is where the Septuagint was created. You know the story — how Ptolemy II Philadelphus, in the 2″° Century before Christ decreed that the Torah, the Hebrew Bible, had to be translated into Greek because it was a Hellenized world and so we had Hellenized Jews from the city of Jerusalem come there to the island of Theros and they were to translate the Hebrew into the Greek. Seventy-two Hellenized Jewish scholars translated it in seventy days and of course the Septuagint comes from “Septuaginta” which means, “seventy.”
It’s so important and became so important because Hebrew would ultimately become a dead language. Did you know that? Hebrew became a dead language. After the fall of Jerusalem, when it was destroyed by Titus and his Roman legions in 70 AD and the Jews were dispersed over the earth, the whole world became Hellenized, and the Hebrew language ceased to exist. Nobody spoke it. A dead language. Of course it has been revived today with the rebirth of the modern state of Israel and once again Jews on the earth are speaking Hebrew and others are learning Hebrew but for many years it was a dead language. Because of the Septuagint, what happened on the island of Theros, many of the meanings of the Hebrew words were retained because now they were in Greek.
In the Old Testament you have God, of course, again and again describing Himself as “Ulpecapium.” What did that mean? Literally, in Hebrew, “long of nose.” So here is a God who’s describing Himself as long of nose. What does that mean? What would that Hebrew expression mean? Does that mean God is nosey? Got a big nose? Kind of wants to nose into everybody’s business. Kind of wants to know everything about you. Is that what “Ulpecapium” means? Or does it mean God is discerning, He’s long nosed. He can smell out anything. He is discerning? What does that mean? What does that Hebrew expression mean?
Of course we know because of the Septuagint because in the Septuagint, “Ulpecapium” is rendered by the Greek word, “makrothumia” which means, “long-suffering” and “slow to anger.” What God’s telling the world again and again and again is, “I’m slow to anger. I am long-suffering. I can suffer a long time before I get angry. I’m slow to anger.” And are not you thankful God is like that. I’m thankful. There have been times in my life I just thank God He was slow to anger, long-suffering with me. Maybe you feel the same way but remember, He wants you to be like that as a leader at home. You cannot raise your kids right unless you are long nosed, unless you are slow to anger, unless you’re long-suffering – you can’t be the right leader. It is true at work too. You cannot live your life right. You cannot lead your own life correctly unless you are slow to anger.
Here we are approaching a new year, the year 2006. Maybe we need some New Year’s resolutions. Maybe we need to make some commitments beginning this morning. Maybe you are struggling with self-control. Maybe you are struggling with self-control in the area of gossip. In any area as a leader, lack of self-control can destroy you, make you unfit to lead, make you a bad example for those you are seeking to lead. Maybe you need self-control in the area of gossip.
In the Book of James in the Bible we are told that the tongue is meant to be an instrument of blessing through which we bless others, through which we lift them up. It is never meant to be an instrument of cursing through which we tear them apart. Who wants a leader who tears people apart? Maybe you need self-control. Maybe you need self-control in the area of diet and exercise. We are kind of a nation out of control when it comes to personal health. Maybe you need self-control in the area of drinking and alcohol. Maybe in the area of anger and anger management. Maybe you need self-control in your sexual behavior. Maybe you need more self-control in the area of lust. Maybe you are struggling in some measure with pornography. This could be a wonderful year. This could be a year where you grow in sanctification and begin to become more the person, become more the people God wants us to be.
Titus understood this. He looked for these kinds of people, humble people who lifted up others and people with self-control. As we look to the Lord and we close with prayer today, let us be open to a commitment to God. Let us pray.