Titus 1:7 Are your elders owners or stewards?

Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. In this lesson I'm going to look at Titus chapter one verse seven and talk about elders being God's stewards.

Watch the video or scroll down to read a transcript.

Transcript:

Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. In this lesson I'm going to look at Titus chapter one verse seven and talk about elders being God's stewards. 

Let's start by reading Titus chapter one verses five through seven. 

Titus 1:5  For this reason I left you in Crete, in order that you might set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in each city as I commanded you, 6 if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, and having believing children who are not under charge of debauchery or rebellion. 7 For it is necessary for the overseer to be blameless as God’s steward,

As you know from previous lessons, Paul left Titus in Crete. Paul told Titus to set in order the things that were lacking and appoint elders. Then Paul listed the qualifications to be an elder. A man has to be blameless, the husband of one wife, and having believing children. There are many more qualifications. 

In the midst of this list of qualifications Paul wrote “For it is necessary for the overseer to be blameless as God’s steward”. Paul said an overseer or an elder is God's steward. That's not a qualification. It's a statement of what an elder is. An elder is a steward. Let's talk about stewards, what stewards are, and what this means for us. 

The word steward is a translation of the Greek word oikonomos. That word was used about 10 times in the New Testament and it literally means a steward or a manager. Here in Titus it is translated steward. It can also be translated manager. 

For example, let's look at Luke chapter 16. I'll start reading at verse one. 

Luke 16:1   Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. 2 “And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 

The word manager is a translation of oikonomos. The concept of an oikonomos is someone who manages someone else's possessions. In this case, there was a manager who managed the possessions of a rich man.

In Titus chapter one verse seven we see it is necessary for the overseer to be blameless as God's steward. An elder is someone who manages God's possession. An elder is someone who manages God's Church. An elder is not an owner. An elder is a manager, or a steward. He's managing something else on behalf of God.

We also see in verse seven the word blameless. An overseer has to be blameless as God's steward. The word blameless is a translation of the Greek word anegkletos. That's the same Greek word that we saw in verse six as one of the qualifications to be an elder. A man has to be blameless. In verse seven it says again that an elder or an overseer has to be blameless. The reason he has to be blameless is because He is God's steward.

By definition, when you are a manager or a steward, you’re managing something on behalf of someone else. As a steward, it is necessary to manage those possessions the way the owner would want them to be managed. There's a requirement to protect those possessions so that the owner does not suffer loss. As a steward or a manager, when you manage the possessions that you oversee, you need to act on behalf of the owner or the master, and you have to do what the master wants and not what you want.

Let's think about elders as stewards. Elders are in charge of the church as stewards. They are managing the church on behalf of the owner of the church. The owner, obviously, is God. It says in verse seven as God's steward. Elders, when managing the church, overseeing the church, need to do things the way God wants them done.

How does God want the church managed? There are many verses in the New Testament that weigh in on that. Part of the reason it's important to know the whole Bible is so that elders know how God wants His Church to be managed. The congregation should be Biblically literate and know the Bible so they know what God expects from the elders.

Let me end by posing a question. Think about the elders of your church. Do your elders act like stewards or owners? Do they manage the church the way God wants it managed? Or do they manage it the way they want to manage it? Do they manage the church the way God wants it manage or do they manage the church the way the culture or peer pressure wants it to be managed?

Elders are God's stewards. They are responsible for managing the church the way God wants it to be managed. Many times, that means they should do things against the culture and against peer pressure. Many times they should resist the world in how they manage the church in order to manage the church the way God wants it to be managed.

Thanks again for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you, and please forward this to someone else who would benefit from visiting Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. My email list is free. This is the best way to make sure you receive all my content. In order to join, go to www.BibleMountain.com, click on email, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold nor given away. Once again, thank you for visiting Bible Mountain.

Scripture quotations from Titus taken from a translation by Bible Mountain.

“All other Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)