OnFire #228 Snapshots of Character

OnFire Encouragement Letter

OnFire #228 Snapshots of Character

When I was home on PEI for vacation, my mother presented me with a photo album of pictures from both sides of my family. There are pictures of my grandparents going back into the great-great’s, aunts and uncles, my parents, and lots of snapshots from when I was young. She spent months talking to relatives and assembling all these pictures, some of which I had never seen. It was a real labour of love and I understand a little more about my family and myself as I look at these pictures.

Snapshots of character are what Paul has in mind as he writes to Titus. What are the character traits of a godly leader? What is Christian discipleship? What does truth look like in the context of competing teachings? These are the kinds of things he writes to tell Titus about as he leaves him on the island of Crete to finish the work that was started (1:5).

It seems likely that Paul was released after Acts 27 and eventually visited Crete since he seems to know a lot about the situation of the churches there. In any event, there was unfinished work and Titus, Paul’s longtime travelling companion (see Gal 2:1), was the man for the job. He needed to appoint church leaders, “elders,” in every town (1:5) and teach various groups of people according to sound doctrine (2:1) in order to overcome the influence of rebellious factions (1:10). And so we have these snapshots of groups within the church and what Titus needs to teach them about leadership and Christian maturity.

The first snapshot is of the elders (1:5-9). Paul is very clear to Titus about the high, moral qualifications required of these leaders: Blameless, exemplary marriage and home life, patient, sober, peaceable, honest, hospitable, upright, self-controlled, holy, disciplined, sound in doctrine.

It is interesting that so much of what Paul tells Titus to look for in a spiritual leader is about life at home. How do we know if someone if qualified for spiritual leadership? We see it in the everyday decisions about regular life, and this begins in the home. Christian maturity is about closing the gap between belief and action. Long before Jan and the boys hear me preach at church, they watch me live at home and they know if there is a difference between what I say and what I do. No one expects perfection, but at the same time they will not respect me or follow my leadership at home if I prove to be a hypocrite. Christian leaders must be people who set a good example and so if I do not display maturity at home, I will not be a good spiritual leader in the church.

To me this boils down to two issues, corporate and personal. Corporately speaking, how do we recognize what good spiritual leadership looks like? Obviously, a person needs leadership skills, but in the church this is not enough. Godly, mature character is critical.

I happen to think that spiritual leadership, whether as clergy, board members, Sunday school teachers, or even youth and children’s leaders, requires mature, godly character. This may seem obvious, but sometimes we don’t always use this principle. The pressure to fill a board, run a program or provide a service overwhelms our judgement and we appoint people who aren’t mature enough for the position. I’ve done it, that is, I’ve asked people into leadership who weren’t spiritually qualified, and later regretted it because jagged edges of their character cut deep wounds. Sometimes we learn things the hard way.

As I look at this snapshot of a leader, I also think I need to read this personally, as a call to examine every area of my life. Can I honestly say there is no gap of maturity? We need constantly to be growing so that others around us can see a living snapshot of what Christian maturity looks like. The goal is not to be recognized as a leader, but to be spiritually mature.

I hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published July 29, 2010. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at http://www.onfireletter.com/ Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com

OnFire #227 Hinges of Hope

OnFire Encouragement Letter

OnFire #227 Hinges of Hope

We live in a house which is approximately 70 years old and, while it is generally in good shape, there are some things around the place which show their age. For instance, when we moved in many of wooden doors didn’t close well because they had either warped or the hinges had worked lose. As a result, I have had to adjust or fix almost all of them.

I was able to tighten most of the hinges by using larger screws or by inserting a wooden match into the hole along with the screw. These are traditional methods which I have used in the past, but last night I ran into a stubborn hinge in which these solutions did not work. What to do?

I remembered a tip a friend gave me. It seemed radical and posed a small amount of risk if it did not work since it involved drilling out the hole in order to glue in a piece of wooden dowel. If it did not work, it would mean an even larger hole and then what would I do?

I decided to try one hole. I cut a piece of dowel, drilled a small pilot hole in it, and then drilled a hole the same size as the dowel in the doorpost where the screw used to be. Filling the hole with glue, I inserted the dowel and waited about an hour for it to dry. I held my breath as I twisted the screw, feeling carefully for any signs that it might slip. I’m pleased to report that my friend’s advice was good and I no longer have a door hanging by one hinge.

In Titus 1:1-3, Paul talks about his role in the spread of the message about Jesus Christ. In our last letter we reflected on the fact that he knew his purpose was to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ and teach them to grow in godliness. In verse 2 he adds this little bit of insight into the nature of faith and knowledge, that it is “resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.”*

Why did I listen to my friend’s advice? I trust him because he knows what he’s talking about and I know he would not knowingly lead me astray. It is no different with God, but while we trust our friends we often question God because it is not what we want to hear, or it seems so different from the word we get from other sources. We can take comfort, however, in the fact that “God does not lie.” We can trust him utterly and completely with our future. Sometimes Christians are accused of having blind faith, that we believe (foolishly, it is implied) without any evidence to back up our belief. Not so. Our faith is based on the goodness of God’s character. As we trust in God’s goodness all the more, our faith and godliness will grow.

Our hope for a better, eternal life hinges on the fact that God has promised it and He does not lie.

I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published July 20, 2010. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter@gmail.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com