Truth Over Tradition

DEVOTION
TITUS
TRUTH OVER TRADITION
Titus 1:5-6
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
NIV
There is always unfinished business when it comes to the administration of the truth of God. I am not sure any one man can straighten out what is left unfinished, although I suppose in this sense it was to set up the leadership roles of a local group of believers so there would be some semblance of order, for without order there would be chaos. If there was no leadership there would be far more division than there is. I believe it is a principle of God to establish, to appoint elders in every local assembly. This Greek word actually is the base word for presbyter. These are not the pastors of the local church, but rather a senior man, a member of a greater consul, a word Paul knew well because the Jews used that word for the Sanhedrin. These were men who would report to each other and perhaps Paul as to the condition of all the little local churches in their towns. So how does this relate to me, my life, and my walk with the Lord? I understand these men had to meet certain requirements; however one of them was not attend a bible school. I understand man has deformed and defamed this position from what God originally intended it to be, yet how does this relate to me? I know I should be in a sense spiritually subject to those who God has appointed over the church. But I think that is the point, who God has appointed and not who men have appointed based on their education received from either seminary or the Bible College of their denomination. I think the qualification of being blameless has a much larger obligation. I do not think I have a problem with authority if it is from God, but I know I struggle greatly with authority which has been devised by men. I do not think that many of the men who occupy this position in the church actually qualify based on these mentioned requirements. It is not just him, but it must be his whole family that meets the requirements of God. I will recognize men as elders when the Spirit of God bears witness to them within my spirit, otherwise I shall look to God and God alone until that time comes. Sure I have to work within the framework of the local church, being a part of the body, doing what God has called me to do. Yes I have to live within the structure set up by the leadership of the local church God has placed me in. I am not sure yet if I should buck the system, call out the ways in which the church functions more like a business than like the body of Christ. I am not sure yet if I am ready to call out the man devised system of appointing. But I know the time will come when I must render the truth over tradition.