Those Who Oversee
Words of Faith 8-28-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2023
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Titus 1
[7] Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless--not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. [8] Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. [9] He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught so that he can encourage others with sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Paul directed Titus to appoint leadership in the towns that had been evangelized in Crete. There would be several elder leaders. There also would be an overseer leader-- perhaps in the form of a Pastor or Teacher-- in each local area. What should this overseer be like? What character qualities? We looked yesterday at the negative qualities to be avoided. Today we get to the positive qualities.
Rather than overbearing, quick-tempered, given to drunkenness, violent, and greedy... the overseer should be, first of all, hospitable. This literally means "a lover of guests." While this probably is not at the top of the list for many "search committees," it was at the top of Paul's list.
The pastor, preacher, teacher, or minister who serves God faithfully will welcome those that are new. The work of God among His people calls for an open door and a welcoming spirit. There must also be good teaching and sound doctrine, of course. But without an open spirit of hospitality, the church will wither and doctrine will be cold.
For some this takes work. It may have even required hard work for Paul! His brilliant theological mind had to be tempered to welcome a new person. I have known some leaders that were excellent in the pulpit and dutiful in administrative responsibilities but found it rather difficult to actually be with people. This was not a barrier if such a servant of God would work hard on that personal side of ministry.
The one who leads and oversees the local ministry must love what is good. The word means "virtue." The lead pastor should promote virtue. These days, people want to be able to "relate" to their pastor and often want to know that their preacher is human and real. But being human should not be confused with being worldly or crass. The pastor/leader/teacher is called to promote that which is good and to love virtue.
Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Because of this, it is always a matter of surrendering to the Spirit. It is exceedingly important that an overseeing leader be self-controlled, meaning Spirit-controlled. The importance of not jumping to conclusions and listening to perspectives cannot be over-emphasized.
Upright, holy, and disciplined do not speak so much to the public appearance of a leader as it does to the private life of a leader. Religious people in the time of Jesus has mastered the "act" of appearing upright when they were not and looking holy when they were anything but. Jesus called such religious leaders "hypocrites" or religious actors. The call of God is to a life of integrity where the interior life matches the exterior and both are looking more and more like Jesus.
Perhaps most important is holding firmly to the Truth of the message of Christ. We may call this sound doctrine or rightly dividing the Word. In this short letter, Paul does not specify the details of the "trustworthy message." The letters to the Romans and to the Ephesians circulated among the early churches were more thorough in stating sound doctrine.
The overseer must encourage and protect. The word for encourage is the familiar parakaleo, which means much more than simple encouragement might convey. The call of the overseeing pastor-teacher is to exhort, invoke, implore, or "call near." The word means to "come alongside." The overseer is called to apply sound doctrine to daily living by coming alongside those who are also walking the walk. The word also means to bring comfort or entreat, but we don't want to miss the fact the Pastor-teacher will sometimes comfort the afflicted and at other times afflict the comfortable.
The other duty is to "refute those who oppose" sound doctrine. These are the more uncomfortable seasons of ministry, but they are vital if the trustworthy message of the Gospel is to be carried to this and succeeding generations.

Lord God, I pray for pastors, teachers, ministers, and leaders in Your church. The order is big for leading Your church. I pray for protection around these leaders and their families. I pray for You to use leaders to encourage believers and to defend the faith. Give them Your words and the anointing of Your Spirit. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.