The Role of Leaders - Jeremiah 22-23 and Titus 1
God was punishing His people by having Babylon defeat them and take them into exile, because the people had forsaken the covenant and worshiped other gods. This was true of all of the people, but God laid a special responsibility for this situation on the leaders of the people. The kings had failed to stop the shedding of innocent blood, the violence, and the oppression in the society. They had only been covetous and selfish. Therefore, God condemned them for not leading the people to do the right thing. The same was true of the priests and the prophets. They were to turn the people from sin, but instead, they were condoning sin. They were telling the people they were alright, even though they had forgotten God, and they were living by the dictates of their own hearts. Therefore, the Lord had a special word of rebuke for the priests and the prophets. There is no doubt that God holds leaders to a higher level of responsibility.
Paul told Titus to choose well qualified elders for all of the churches, so that the elders could keep the people sound in the faith. The reason the elders needed to watch over the people and lead them was that there were many insubordinate people. That means there were many who would not submit to the ways of God and His Word. There were idle talkers and deceivers. Idle talkers were the ones who said the wrong things because they were off track, and they had departed from the truth by getting on a tangent. The deceivers were deliberately trying to get people away from God's way. Both of these groups were insubordinate, and Paul told Titus to have the leaders rebuke them, or else everyone would get away from the true faith. Now, we don't like that word "rebuke", but it is a very Biblical word. People tend to drift from God and to get off track. Some people go away from God on purpose. Either way, they must be warned and rebuked for their sin and called to come back to God. We should look at rebuke as a good thing. We should not want to live according to the dictates of our own hearts. We should desire to live according to God's Word in every way. Therefore, the leaders who take God's way seriously are our best friends. They keep us on the narrow way that leads to life eternal.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 24-26 and Titus 2.
Paul told Titus to choose well qualified elders for all of the churches, so that the elders could keep the people sound in the faith. The reason the elders needed to watch over the people and lead them was that there were many insubordinate people. That means there were many who would not submit to the ways of God and His Word. There were idle talkers and deceivers. Idle talkers were the ones who said the wrong things because they were off track, and they had departed from the truth by getting on a tangent. The deceivers were deliberately trying to get people away from God's way. Both of these groups were insubordinate, and Paul told Titus to have the leaders rebuke them, or else everyone would get away from the true faith. Now, we don't like that word "rebuke", but it is a very Biblical word. People tend to drift from God and to get off track. Some people go away from God on purpose. Either way, they must be warned and rebuked for their sin and called to come back to God. We should look at rebuke as a good thing. We should not want to live according to the dictates of our own hearts. We should desire to live according to God's Word in every way. Therefore, the leaders who take God's way seriously are our best friends. They keep us on the narrow way that leads to life eternal.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 24-26 and Titus 2.