Starting Over
An exposition of Titus 1:1-9 at the YouTube link
Moving Is The Best Way to Clean House, especially if you’re moving far away, like across an ocean. The Reformers were seeking to start over based on the Word of God. But now the challenges are different.
A Reformed church seeks to start over with the Word of God and follow it, dumping all unbiblical traditions that accumulated over time. Originally, they were moving away from the baggage of the old religious tradition. Today, if you want to reform, you have to move away from a consumer culture. The church is not like your favorite restaurant. That’s the baggage people have been bringing with them to church.
To start over, we have to leave behind the baggage of consumerism, of individualism, of self-sufficiency.
To Start Over, listen:
Leadership
The Leader Serves God by Serving the Church
Consumerism says that leader is like the waitress at the restaurant. Individualism and self-sufficiency rebel against the idea of needing leaders. If you don’t think you need leaders, you’re worldly and need to start over. Begin by listening to the message linked above.
Every Christian needs to be under leaders; they need to be “set in order” (1:5).
The One Thing Elders Are to Be
The overseer, or elder, is “God’s steward.” The word “steward” implies the idea of “household”. The church is the family of God. You don’t go to another one because they cook better or their house is better. You’re connected.
Today people think of the church like a restaurant. So, they leave when they think they might like another one better.
“. . . the household of God, which is the church of the living God.” — 1 Timothy 3:15
That the church is the “family of God” and not the “restaurant of God” shows that you need to be a member of a church set in order according to the Word of God. Listen to the message on YouTube (linked above) to hear more about the family vs restaurant.
The Two Things Elders Are to Do
The elders are the head servants put in charge of the family of God to encourage the believers to believe and do what is right and “rebuke those who contradict” the truth..
You can’t love flowers without hating weeds. You can’t love sheep without hating wolves.
Listen to the YouTube video above to learn what a true elder is called to do.
The Many Things Elders Should Be
“Above Reproach”: only have men as elders who have no disgrace in their lives that would lessen their authority. If your church has women elders (or pastors), find a church that is set in order according to the Word of God. If a man is too arrogant to admit he’s wrong, he shouldn’t be an elder. If a man doesn’t lead his own house (including his wife), he shouldn’t be an elder or deacon. More requirements for elders on the YouTube message linked above.
God loves His family so much, He sent His Son to purchase that family with His own blood.
Christ came to start us over as a new creation, to be born again. That’s the new kind of life that God manifests now, through His Word. If you have faith in that “trustworthy word”, it will start you over.
Click on the YouTube link above to listen to this message from Dr. John Carpenter.
Covenant Reformed Baptist Church is Caswell County’s/Danville’s Reformed Church.