An Organized Church

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking…”

– Titus 1:5

In many arenas, the “Acts of the Apostles” is deemed the model for the New Testament church. If Acts is the church establishment, then Titus can be rightly called the path to church organization. It is the organization that the Book of Titus emphasizes.

In Titus, Paul demonstrates how administration, done decently and in order, fosters an environment that allows God’s Word to go forth with clarity. As a result, the congregation gains the tools to perform good works to lead others to Jesus. The proper structure prepares a more effective Christian witness.  

Paul is a dynamic theologian. He was Saul of Tarsus, a Jew, Greek, and Roman, all simultaneously. A Jew by birth, training, religion, education. A Greek by scholarship, learning, and language. A freeborn Roman citizen. And when Jesus arrested him on the Road to Damascus, this multicultural man became nothing and was used mightily by the Lord. John Phillips wrote, “Saul took Genesis, Leviticus, Psalms, and Isaiah in his backpack when he went into the wilderness. He returned with Romans, Ephesians, and Thessalonians in his heart.” All of Paul’s knowledge was used to hammer out much of the New Testament. Yet Paul considered all of his accumulated worldly knowledge as nothing (Philippians 3:8). In the Pastoral Epistles, the Apostle goes from theologian to pastor. A side of Paul often forgotten.

It seems odd to some that Paul was a man with so much knowledge and, at the same time, meek. It is rare even today to have a theologian demonstrating a loving pastor’s heart. This is where wisdom lays its head. Knowledge correctly applied produces wisdom. It is Paul’s wisdom here that gives us effective church administration. He became a master who followed The Master. May we, like Paul, be in complete and willing submission to God that others might come to know our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

“This Letter presents a compact guide to the kind of Christian ministry and personal Christian living that leads the unconverted to salvation. Titus is an evangelistic letter whose ultimate purpose was to prepare the church for more effective witness to unbelievers…”

– John MacArthur