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21st Century Stewards Part 1

Wisdom for the Heart / Dr. Stephen Davey
The Truth Network Radio
January 17, 2025 12:00 am

21st Century Stewards Part 1

Wisdom for the Heart / Dr. Stephen Davey

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January 17, 2025 12:00 am

In a world increasingly skeptical of authority, the church faces a critical question: can its leaders be trusted? Paul’s letter to Titus speaks directly to the integrity required of those leading the church. Today, Stephen Davey delves into what it means to be a faithful steward of God’s household. The qualifications Paul outlines for elders and overseers aren’t about wealth or power—they're about character. It's not just about what leaders do, but about who they are, both in public and in private. In this episode, we’ll explore why qualities like humility, restraint, and generosity are so crucial for church leaders—and why they matter for every believer. Whether you’re in a leadership role or a supportive role in your church, this message is a call to live with integrity, to model Christlikeness in every aspect of life. Integrity builds trust, and trust is the foundation of a flourishing church. Listen in to be challenged and inspired to live as a steward who honors God in all things.

Listen to the full-length version of this sermon: https://www.wisdomonline.org/teachings/titus-lesson-06

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When people are given authority, even in the church, it's tempting to forget that God's authority is what matters. And this was the downfall of Satan, was it not?

And what did he do? He became blinded in his arrogance so that he said, I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God.

Isaiah 14, I will, I will, I will, I will, I will. You see, Satan had great authority. He just forgot whose will mattered most. Bring up the subject of pastoring, and most people immediately talk about what the pastor does. The Apostle Paul instructed Titus, and us, that the beginning point of pastoring is who the pastor is. Only then does Paul reveal the life-threatening, Christ-exalting, fruit-seeking, truth-telling ministry of what a genuine pastor-shepherd is actually supposed to do when the mantle of leadership falls upon his shoulders. It all involves his heart. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart. Today, Stephen Davey continues his series called The Shepherd's Mantle.

Let's get started. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes series of novels, decided on one occasion to pull a practical joke on a dozen prominent businessmen in the community and some of his own close friends. He sent them all the same telegram anonymously, and all the telegrams said on it were the words, all is discovered.

Without ever intending for this to happen, it created quite a scandal because within 48 hours, half the recipients of his telegram had mysteriously left the country without a word. This isn't a new problem or challenge, is it? Diogenes, you go back to the fourth century B.C., that philosopher who became famous as he walked around Athens with a lantern burning brightly, and whenever he was asked, what are you doing, he would say, I'm looking for an honest man, and I can't seem to find one. Warren Wiersbe, the former pastor of Moody Church and a prolific author, wrote in his little volume that I have in my library at home a book called The Integrity Crisis. And I quote, the church has grown accustomed to hearing people question the gospel simply because the message seems foolish, but today the situation is reversed for now the messenger is suspect. The reason this kind of issue matters so much to the church is fairly obvious. A cynical world is today basically asking the same thing.

They're asking the same questions. Why should we listen to you? Why should we listen to the church? How do we know you're telling the truth? Do you really believe all that stuff?

And if you do, shouldn't you be living it out? Can the church be an institution worthy of being trusted? Well Paul the apostle would believe and teach that the solution to this conundrum that's been going on really since the age of the church began. He began to teach that holding a spiritual office in the church ought to belong to someone who is submissive to the Holy Spirit. And one of the most critical questions to ask and answer is who is leading the church and what exactly qualifies them to lead?

And this wonderful little new series of books, they're not little, they're actually large hardbacks. Chuck Swindoll, the Chancellor of Dallas Seminary has written them. They're called Insights and I have his insights on the book of Titus at home in my study. And he said this, he said that Paul is demanding leaders to be men of character regardless of their age, regardless of their wealth, their experience, their power or their position. Leaders must demonstrate proven Christian maturity.

Without that, everything is suspect. Without that the church is hindered and the name and cause of Christ is hurt. I shared with you a number of years ago, most of you probably weren't even here, but I remember telling you about a leading Christian statesman coming to Colonial a number of years ago, pastor and a Christian leader, a man of integrity. In fact he's so well known if I told you too much about him he'd figure out who he is. He's with the Lord and I don't want to disparage him in any way. But I remember on one occasion when he was visiting, I was showing him around Cary at the time population 32,750.

A lot of land and I said we're looking at that land and this land and we need to build, we're renting the school. And he said as we drove along, he said you know what you need to do is put well known, wealthy men on your board, their influence and their financial resources will provide for the vision that God has given you to do what you need to do. While I thanked him for that advice, something in my heart said I don't know about that, didn't ring true. You don't find business connections and financial portfolios as a list or among the list of qualifications for those who will lead in the church. It was tragically ironic that years after this man passed away, a gentleman who had served as his board chairman for decades, a prestigious and well known banker and landowner died. He and his wife died in a car accident. They were involved in tragic accident, the funeral attended by thousands of people.

But then the news came out a few months later that impacted that city and that ministry in an entirely different way. When this man's will was being probated by the court, a young woman in her early 20s showed up. The family of course wanted to know what she's doing here and who is she. She claimed to be that deceased board member's illegitimate daughter. And she had all the proof that she needed to prove that in fact it was true that he had been secretly providing for her, paying for her education and needs all those years living in the very same town.

That family was devastated, the church and the ministries and most importantly the name of Christ and the cause of Christ which you can only imagine how it was solely because of that news. And what's more, all the major decisions this man had made were now in question. Now I say that and don't run to this implication that if you're a banker you can't be an elder. Or if you're wealthy you're hiding something, you know.

You got a secret or two. Now my point is in that in choosing leaders, if we choose them according to worldly standards of success, they may not be meeting the standards provided by God which truly matters. So as Paul writes to Titus, his young protege and pastor on the island of Crete, the qualifications you find in chapter one have nothing to do with a financial portfolio. See it isn't how much a man earns as to whether or not he can lead.

How much he owns does not qualify him for oversight. So what does? Paul continues to spell it out for us. You'll notice he writes in verse seven of Titus chapter one where we left off in our last study. For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward. The overseer, the overruler, and he changes the term in fact from presbuteros administrator in verse five to episkopos or overruler. So the elder administrator has to fit qualifications and now he shifts the term because this man is now going to be seen as an overruler. That is one who is in charge of ruling and in that comes the shift in term. And I want to spend just a few minutes on this issue.

It might be a little tedious for you but it's important that we address it. The Catholic Church maintains that a bishop is higher up on the food chain than an elder. That Paul is now going to give different qualifications for a separate different office. They have the office of elder and then they have the office of bishop. Now what that does is it conveniently separates the bishop in verse seven from the qualifications of an elder in verse six where he must be a faithful what?

Husband and father obviously allowed to be married and have children if he is married and has children and here's how he's to manage them. The Roman Church maintains that Paul gives us one list for married elders qualified in verse six. And then Paul gives us a new list for the office of celibate bishops in verses seven to nine where there's no reference to a wife or children. And of course if that's true then you're off and running up the celibate food chain eventually the Cardinals and ultimately to the Pope. The problem with all of that tradition and all of that hierarchy is this verse itself. The Bible just gets in the way of all of that.

Verse seven begins with a little Greek word for or gar translated for. For the overseer the guy I've been talking about must be above reproach. In other words Paul is continuing his thoughts and he's not even taking a grammatical breath. He isn't changing the subject.

Grammatically there's no break in the flow of these characteristics. He's simply giving some requirements now and reminding the elder pastor bishop that you also happen to be one who rules over. So because you rule over the assembly here's a little more explanation of what that leadership needs to look like. I find it ironic by the way that it is the apostle Peter considered the first pope who just so happens to be the biblical writer who uses the terms pastor, bishop, and elder in the same text for the same man and for the same office. First Peter chapter 5 verse 2 and Peter was a married man. At least that would be a clear assumption since Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. We're told in Matthew 8 14 that Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law of her fever.

I don't know how many men would be willing to have a mother-in-law without getting a wife out of the same deal right? I'm not going to go any further with that by the way. I have to say that I had a wonderful mother-in-law who's with the Lord now and she's probably listening so let's move on to verse 7. Paul is re-emphasizing the categorical characteristic of blamelessness.

You're not only an administrator you're an overruler and so you got to be blameless and I'm going to re-emphasize that. You remember from our former study this doesn't mean a church leader is flawless. If that were true I wouldn't be here nor would any other leader. But while he isn't flawless he must be faithful. Paul is not demanding perfection but someone who demonstrates a pattern because you're going to be imitated because you're leading.

That's just the nature of leadership. So first here in verse 6 this man must be faithful and worthy of imitation in the private life of his marriage and home. And now secondly in verses 7 to 9 he must be worthy of imitation in his public life and his character.

And that's the shift from private to public. And in so doing Paul adds an interesting word here in this opening phrase. Notice verse 7 again. He must be above reproach as what? As God's steward. The word steward is a compound word.

It comes from oikonomos, oikos, house, nemos, arranger. He is the arranger of the house. A steward is the keeper of the house. A steward in Paul's day would have more than likely been a slave who had risen up through the ranks because of his trustworthiness. Now given the right to rule over the estate of this man, the estate owner, and manage this estate. The steward does not own his master's estate.

He just manages it. He stewards it. He stewarded the manager's estate like the stewardess on the plane now called a flight attendant. She doesn't own the plane but she manages everyone inside the plane.

She arranges the plane on behalf of her employer for the benefit of those who are flying on this long trip or short trip. The idea steward is interesting in its Anglo-Saxon etymology. It comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word, stigward, which we changed to steward over time. It literally meant originally a stigward was a keeper of the sty. He was the keeper of the pig sty.

Now I know that doesn't sound all that flattering. We'd rather be sheep than pigs but in this case what this idea was is that this position was so critical because the survival of the estate depended upon somebody honest and faithful in the management of what was their primary meat supply. We've got to make sure the guy in charge of pigs was honest because we're not going to have anything to eat if he didn't. This is the idea here and you can of course think of one of the most famous stewards, the most famous in the Bible is Joseph, Genesis chapter 39. Joseph was sold into slavery and belonged for a time to Potiphar and because of his trustworthiness he sort of rose through the ranks until Potiphar placed him as the manager, the steward of his estate.

Joseph owned nothing. He managed it on behalf of the estate owner. So when Paul writes to Titus, he's talking with that in mind. In fact, I think it's interesting that he introduced himself in verse 1 as a slave of God. Oh, and by the way, I'm just a steward of stuff that really doesn't belong to me. In fact, Paul told Timothy earlier, Timothy, a young elder, he said, listen, in case I'm delayed, I write to you so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, God's house. The church, not so much the buildings but the people can certainly claim this sacred space that we've dedicated to him as part of the household of God. The elder bishop pastor is stewarding God's house, which is a reminder, again, that the church belongs to God.

And I want to be very careful in my stewardship of that. I don't even use the phrase when I stand here before you and call you my people. You are God's people. I'm stewarding God's possession, the elders with me, leaders, deacons and leaders and teachers. We're literally managing God's possession, the church on his behalf, for the benefit of those who are on this trip together. And so we fulfill his will as we feed and lead and train and counsel and discipline and encourage and equip and guard the household of God.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'll use the analogy I used last Lord's Day and kind of bring it into today. But if you've ever left your kids in the care of some babysitter, somebody who is about to steward your estate, your house, your children, you'll find yourself telling her some negative things. First, don't do this, don't do that, don't let the kids do that.

Please don't let the kids do this. And you do that before you ever get around to telling the positives because you want their focus of attention on you to not miss any of the don'ts. Well, that's exactly what Paul is going to do here for us. He's going to give us five negatives about who the elder is to be before giving us seven positives.

And we're going to deal with the negatives today. Notice verse 7. For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain. Now, let me outline these five negative characteristics this way.

Because an elder bishop pastor not only administrates but rules over the assembly, it is God's household and he is put in charge. He cannot be, and we need everybody to focus on this because this is first out of the gate. He cannot be, one, blinded by arrogance, two, controlled by anger, three, influenced by alcohol, four, recognized as abusive, or five, driven by affluence. Those are the five negatives. Okay, you ready?

Let's go unpack these one at a time. First, an elder can't be blinded by arrogance. Note, Paul writes, God's steward is not self-willed. And I think the reason this is first in the list is because it's the exact opposite attitude of a steward. A steward doesn't own anything. A steward, furthermore, doesn't do his will.

He does the will of the master. He doesn't own the household. He's just on loan to the household.

In fact, everything that he's gonna manage is on loan to him. You see, to take that analogy a little further, you wouldn't expect to come home and find out the babysitters used your makeup and put on your clothing, painted the living room wine green, and gotten rid of the dog. Cat would be fine, but not the dog, okay? Unless you said she could, she's probably not gonna be invited back. This isn't her house or makeup.

She can't get rid of the dog. She was brought to the house to do your will. So let me add quickly here that this word self-willed probably comes across as a little more mild to us English readers as more so than Paul intended. He's actually referring to somebody so given over to their will, so given over to their self-will, their self-serving arrogance, that that person literally gives off a spirit of entitlement.

And everybody knows it. Entitlement. He doesn't exist for the sake of the church. He gives everybody the impression the church exists for him. In the analogy of the babysitter, this refers to you coming home only to find out that the babysitter's actually changed the locks, thrown all your clothes out onto the front porch and changed the name on the mailbox. This kind of person says, this is all mine.

My will matters above everybody else's. This kind of person doesn't walk through ministry. He struts through ministry. He's caught up with his own arrogant self-importance.

He's blinded by his own reflection. And this was the downfall of Satan, was it not? Given great responsibility as the highest order of the angelic host in managing them.

And what did he do? He became blinded in his arrogance so that he said, I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly. I will ascend unto the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the Most High, Isaiah 14.

I will, I will, I will, I will, I will. You see, Satan had great authority. He just forgot whose will mattered most. One author said that an elder never says, this is mine, because all he has comes from God. His time, possessions, talents are all loaned to him by the Lord, and he must be faithful to use them to honor God as he works with Christ, as Christ builds his church. So Paul says right out of the gate here, Titus, make sure you grant power only to those who aren't in love with it.

Certainly those who aren't in love with themselves. Secondly, here's another negative, an elder is not controlled by anger. Paul described it in verse seven as quick-tempered. It's important to understand that Paul in these is referring to a way of life.

This is their character. In fact, there are two primary Greek words for anger. One word translated anger in your New Testament is the word thumos. We get our word thermos from it. It refers, however, to something differently than we would use a thermos for, but it refers to a fire that quickly blazes up and just as quickly subsides, like throwing straw or newspaper on a fire.

You get that whoosh, and then as quickly, it's gone. The second word is oregolas, which is an anger that a man actually nurses internally so that he can keep it warm. That's the word Paul uses. Paul isn't referring to someone with an occasional burst of anger, but to a person with a propensity to anger. In fact, he enjoys it, and he enjoys it so much, he keeps it on the stove, so to speak. It's warm, ready to burst into flame at any moment. In other words, this is a person known as an angry man. He has an internal inclination toward anger more than any other emotion, and that's how he kind of responds to life with anger.

And the reason this is so critical is probably obvious. Let me simply say that working with people provides so many wonderful opportunities to get what? Angry, right? It's okay to laugh. You serve in that classroom. You coach that team.

You manage that department. You've got, more than anybody else, a thousand good reasons to lose your cool. And if losing your cool is your propensity, everyone loses. Because the role of leadership means you're going to be able to add resentments upon resentments, hurt upon hurt, anger upon anger. As one author said, even when everything in the church seems to be going in the wrong direction, and people are critical or indifferent, the qualified elder must guard himself against a spirit of hostility and resentment and anger. Integrity matters, and it starts with our leaders, but it extends to all of us. As stewards of God's message, leaders have the privilege and responsibility to reflect his truth to a watching world.

Let's strive for nothing less. That was Stephen Davey, and this is Wisdom for the Heart. Today's message was called 21st Century Stewards. One of Stephen's greatest passions is training and equipping men and women for service to God, which is why he founded Shepherd's Theological Seminary, or STS. Graduates of STS are serving God in churches and communities around the world.

They're serving in over 22 states and 18 different countries. Many men have earned their degrees and have gone out to plant churches. Others are serving as pastors in established churches, making an impact in their local communities. If you or someone you know is interested in graduate-level theological training, consider STS. The seminary also offers a paid scholarship for qualified men who want to become pastors. If you're willing to study full-time, complete the program in three years, and your goal is pastoral ministry, this might be for you. You'll need to study in person in our Cary, North Carolina, campus, but for more information, visit wisdomonline.org forward slash STS. Now friend, even if God has not called you to full-time ministry, STS has something to offer you. Many people simply take a class or two.

They just want to gain a better understanding of the Bible and theology. You don't need to leave your current job, and you don't need to relocate to take part in these courses. That's because STS offers online options, so you can join a class from wherever you are. If you prefer in-person learning, there's classes held in Cary, North Carolina, Laramie, Wyoming, and Bryan, Texas. There are also clusters of students who gather together in local churches to take online classes together.

These clusters are found in places like Birmingham, Alabama, Lincoln, Nebraska, and many more locations added regularly. Our world needs people who can faithfully interpret and teach God's word. Stephen and the STS faculty are ready to invest in you. For more information, visit wisdomonline.org forward slash STS today. You can learn more about our ministry, Wisdom International, by visiting wisdomonline.org. On that site, you'll find the complete library of Stephen's Bible teaching ministry. We post each day's broadcast right on the homepage, so if you miss a lesson, you can easily catch up. Visit wisdomonline.org to access this valuable content anytime. Thanks for joining us today. Come back next time to discover more wisdom for the heart. .
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-17 11:39:05 / 2025-01-17 11:49:17 / 10

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