Moments in the life of a Pastor

Walking with God

Author Archives: Giles


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8. Vices and Virtues – Part 4

Titus 1:5-9

“I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you. An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious. A church leader is a manager of God’s household, so he must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or dishonest with money. Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life. He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.”

2.         Hospitable instead of Hostile – Vs 8

This is the coming together of your Father and family focus, because its seeing your home not just as a house but as a hospital for the hurting. Many of us are very selfish with our homes we don’t see them as ministry centers we see them as MINE. Who are you opening your home to? Some of you are tempted to say yeh but I’m not a very gifted host, but I want you to notice that this is not about your ability it’s about attitude. We are called to enjoy providing a place for people to feel loved.

3.         Love what is good instead of being a lover of Greed – Vs 7-8

Our world values money but the Word values morality. It’s not about riches it’s about doing what is right. In America we judge the health of our nation by our economy instead of our empathy. Why because we are looking to Wall street instead of the Word to gauge our success. Look our success as a society is not dependent on the Dow its dependent on doing what’s right. It’s not about the riches it’s about our relationships and doing what is right. Your success is not found in your salary but in your service to the Savior. So stop looking to a pay check as proof of a productive life because if you make it about the money you are going to have a miserable ministry. Don’t look for a church with lots of benefits look for a church where you can be a blessing. Are you controlled by caring or converting? Are you in it for the people or the paycheck?

  1. Devoted and Disciplined instead of drunk – Vs 7-8

What you put into your life will be what ultimately propels your life. The point here is that leaders should be controlled by the Lord not liquor. We need to talk about alcohol today because we are living in a community that is caught up in alcohol. Now for those of you who do drink can I ask you this question, when was the last time drinking a beer made you feel more Christlike? One of the problems with the church is that Christians have become more concerned with defending their wine than their witness. Look do you really think that the world associate beer with Christian behavior? Why are we fighting so hard for something that doesn’t point people to Jesus, has the potential to poison our lives and doesn’t enhance our testimony? Several years ago I got a call at 1 am on a Saturday night from a desperate dad, his son was drunk and he had a gun. So I drove over to his house and hauled him back to my home. He slept on my couch and then went to church with me after church we went back to my house where he ate dinner with my family. As he looked at my family and listened to us laughing together and loving each other he realized he wanted what we had. Never underestimate the power of hospitality. He sobered up surrendered his life to Jesus and started to serve. Since then he has helped many others stuck in alcohol come to freedom.


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7. Vices and Virtues – Part 3

Titus 1:5-9

“I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you. An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious. A church leader is a manager of God’s household, so he must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or dishonest with money. Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life. He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.”

So let’s look at the Life of the Leader and see the Virtues vs the Vices. 

  1. Loving leader instead of a lording leader – Vs 6-7

He must not be arrogant, conceited and caught up in self but instead he should serve. Are you being bossy or are you being a blessing? This brings us to a leaders first focus, faithfulness instead of foolishness. Paul here points to 2 areas of faithfulness, first a leader must be:

A. Faithful to the Father – Manager of God’s house

Pastor this is not your church, its Christ’s. You are not the owner you are the steward. Which brings us to a challenging question, Am I making it about me or about the Messiah? Many leaders are in it for the position instead of the people. Great leaders are motivated by their love for the Lord and His church, they make it about serving not about self. Second an Elder must be:

B. Faithful to His Family –

An Elder is a manager not just of God’s house but also His own home. Paul provides two distinct focal points here, your wife and your children. Because how you treat your Bride will be how you treat the bride of Christ. If you are not being faithful to your own family what makes you think you will be faithful to your family of faith? Men how are you treating your wife? Are you treasuring her or trashing her. If you want to know what kind of leader you are getting just watch his wife. Because how he leads his wife will either reveal a loving leader or a lording one. As leaders we need to live a balanced life because it’s easy to get so focused on the church that you neglect your calling to your wife and kids. Many ministers get so busy feeding the flock that they forget to feed their family. We are called to be married to our wife not married to ministry. Unfortunately many ministers treat their ministry like their wife and their wife like a mistress. Paul goes on to say that our children should have a righteous reputation not a rebellious one. Sadly most churches interpret this as nothing more than the pastor’s kids being under control, but this is not about control it’s about care. God has commissioned you to care for your kids not just control your kids, to be a loving leader not a lording one. Rebellion is often the result of control without care. Why does it matter if the preacher’s kids are respectful or rebellious? Because if I can’t teach my kids to live out the truth how am I going to teach the church? For ministry to extend beyond one’s family it must first be established within one’s family. Many churches put unfair expectations on the pastors kids, crushing them under the weight of unrealistic and unhealthy demands and constant criticism. Rebellious kids are one of the worst reputations a church can have in its community. Love your Pastor’s kids, be kind to them and pray for them. Pastor’s don’t be carless with your kids take time to lovingly lead them.