Good Doctrine + Good Deeds = Good Pastors
Bible Passage:
Titus 1:4-9
Pastor:
Pastor Mike
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Sermon Date:
2010-01-09
I could ruin this church. After all that God has done through you and all the faithful teachers and pastors and members, I could ruin Eastside…before Easter, in fact. Just think how much damage I could do—I could start teaching people that God helps those who help themselves, that Jesus only loves good people who try their best, and that the Bible might contain some errors. Then I could print up an Eastside Lutheran t-shirt with “Pastor” on the back and hit the town. A few fist fights in a pick-up game. Get my hands into the offering plate and go to the gentlemen’s club. Use what’s left to buy four rounds for everyone at the bar. Have an affair with a member. Get a few DUI’s and make the State Journal. Eastside’s reputation would be ruined. And the only one who could stop me is…you!
Thankfully, making the 2010 edition of “Pastors Gone Wild” isn’t in my list of New Year’s resolutions. But we’d have to be extremely naïve to think those things could never happen at our church. We’d have to be extremely ignorant of church history to think that a “man of God” could never do anything ungodly like that. Unfortunately, we can’t erase the history of clergy charged with extortion, infidelity, and abuse. The truth is a minister can lead a congregation and community towards God or directly away from him. That’s why he needs someone to keep him accountable—for his belief and his behavior, for his doctrine and his deeds. And that’s where you come in. If you care about your faith, your children’s faith, our church/school, and God’s reputation in this community, listen carefully today. Listen to how the Apostle Paul begins his letter to Titus.
Here’s the background: Titus was a faithful coworker and friend of the Apostle Paul. Although he was a Gentile, Titus was reliable and well-trained. As a pastor and problem-solver, he was a tremendous asset to Paul’s work. That’s why the Apostle sent him to Crete. Crete was a Mediterranean island the size of Puerto Rico with a Vegas reputation. “To act like a Cretan” meant to be a dirty liar. Yet Paul left Titus in the land of liars with a job to do. Titus’ job was to teach the truth to this spiritual melting pot—to tell native Cretans and Jewish settlers, and Roman officials that Jesus was the way and the Truth and many of them were following lies.
Paul knew Titus couldn’t do that alone, so he directed him these instructions. “To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5The 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.” There was work to do and Titus needed help doing it. So what follows are God’s two requirements for every elder, or pastor, who serves God’s people—Good deeds and good doctrine. Think of it like this peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Besides bread, you just need two things. No peanut butter=just a “J” sandwich and it’s not very tasty. No jelly and your “PB” sandwich will stick like cement to your mouth. But put both together and you have a lunchbox classic. Same with the pastoral ministry. Take out deeds or doctrine and the ministry won’t work. But, as Paul wrote in another lesson, “Watch your life and your doctrine closely and you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
So Paul starts with doctrine. The list of all these good deeds revolves around the word “blameless.” What does that mean? Sinless? No, if it did we might have a teeny bit of trouble getting preachers. Blameless refers to a respected reputation. A man who isn’t known for sinful behavior would be a blameless man. It’s the difference between me getting a speeding ticket and using speed, the drug. Both are sinful, but only one might end my ministry. It’s the difference between racing past a stranded motorist and being a racist. Neither are God-pleasing, but only one would require my resignation.
So, let’s read with Titus through the list of things you must expect for your pastors to be “blameless.” First of all, he must be family-man, “the husband of but wife” with believing and obedient children. In other words, mistresses and ministry don’t mix. In counseling weak and hurting women, the pastor must act with absolute integrity. In working with ladies in various ministries, he must never become flirtatious or worse. And he must not let the ministry become his mistress either! When countless office hours mean his kids see the postman more than their father, he has lost his priorities. He must spend both quality and quantity time with his children. His presence, discipline, and love will, in most cases, avoid wild and disobedient children who want someone’s attention since they don’t have dad’s. That’s why our executive board asks me every month how many hours I work. They know that a better sermon today and a failed marriage tomorrow is not in the church’s best interest. Your pastor must be a family man.
Paul continues the list of good deeds with five things the pastor must not be. “Overbearing”—He must not frequently remind people of his education and authority. He must not shout and pout his congregation into fear and exhaustion as he constantly insists on getting his way. A pastor should put people at ease, not make them nervous or looking for an excuse to leave. And he must not be “quick-tempered.” A pinky-finger length fuse does not reflect the character of our patient God. Blow-ups over building problems, budget issues, bulletin errors, and bawling babies are damaging to the ministry. He can’t be “given to drunkenness” either.
Three beers takes the edge off and, like every Christian, he needs that edge to fight temptation. Drunkenness is about finding more joy in feeling dizzy than in God’s presence and that just doesn’t fly. Fourthly, he can’t be “violent”. Machismo, aggressive gestures, and punching the teenager who falls asleep during his brilliant sermon is not profitable. And, finally, he can’t “pursue dishonest gain.” When he campaigns every year for a raise and preaches on money so he can dip his filthy fingers into the plate like Judas, he needs to pack up his robe and go home. All five of these character flaws are about the reputation of God’s people and God’s Word. When the community mocks him, the children fear him, the men despise him, the women are nervous around him, and no one trust him, what good does he do? No, that pastor might stop pasturing.
Thankfully, Paul’s list has another side—Six good deeds every pastor does. He is “hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” Guests feel welcome. He celebrates good deeds. He knows when to just nod and control his tongue. People look to him as an example of Christian character—He is a man known for loving God, loving God’s Word, and loving others. That’s what you should not just expect, but require for any man whom you call “Pastor”. Everything is at stake.
But good deeds aren’t the only thing. In fact, they’re not even the most important thing! Imagine being on a plane and listening to the voice of the pilot over the speaker system, “Good morning and thanks for flying Southwest Airlines. This is Joel and I’m honored to be your pilot today. I’ve asked our stewardesses to give out extra cookies today because I know it’s been a tough year for many of you. And I used my Christmas bonus to buy stuffed animals for all the little passengers on board today. So just sit back and enjoy the flight. And thanks for being part of my first-ever time in the cockpit.” Wait…what?!? The guy next to you marvels, “Wow! Extra cookies?! This is the best flight ever!” “But,” you sputter, “did you hear what he said?” “Yeah, free stuffed animals for my kids. This is the best pilot ever!” “But,” you shout, “he’s never flown a plane!”
Good deeds are great, but they don’t mean a guy is ready to fly the plane. A man who will lead you spiritually must have more than good deeds, he must have good doctrine. You must require him to know the Word and to be in the Word and to be accurate with the Word if he is going to lead your church. He must humbly and consistently remind himself Sunday is not his “open mic” time. The service and the people and the message are God’s, not his. So he must preach only what God has sent him to preach. That’s why I pasted a reminder to our pulpit. It says, “God’s Property.” Every time Pastor Glen or I or anyone steps behind this pulpit, we are reminded for the sermon to be good the doctrine must be good.
Listen to how Paul puts it. “9[An overseer] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” A good pastor cannot waver on good doctrine. That might seem simple, but it’s not. It’s complicated because you and I know the fastest way to grow the church is to be a little flexible with the Word. Allow some differences of opinion on creation and more people will join. Stay quiet about sexuality and watch the pews fill up. Agree to disagree on fellowship and callings of men and women and the Sacraments and the existence of hell and the inspiration of the Bible and a lot more people will like this church. They will stop using words like “close-minded” and “old-fashioned” and start calling us “progressive” and “forward-thinking”.
But sometimes what smells sweet to the world, stinks to God. Bigger does not mean better in the eyes of God. Do we want our ministry to grow? Absolutely! Will we fudge on the Word to make that happen? Absolutely not! God cares too much about good doctrine. And that’s why a good pastor must hold firmly to it, to all of it. Why? “So he can encourage.” With pure doctrine, he can encourage hurting people with a no-strings-attached gospel. Instead of turning people back to their own good works for salvation, he points them to Christ. He invites them off the exhausting treadmill of “dos” and “don’ts” and tells them what Jesus has “done” to make them right with God. And Jesus has! Jesus promised us grace and peace—and he does not lie. He was blameless, in every sense of the term, blameless for you. He is the Head Pastor, who is hospitable, inviting you to heaven free of charge. He is self-controlled and restrained his power on the cross so he could be not just the shepherd, but also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is not violent, but the Prince of Peace as he ends the hostility between you and God. He is not greedy, but gave his own life for yours. He is not quick-tempered, but patient as he waits for our repentance. And that’s why Jesus is the best Pastor.
And that’s why doctrine matters. The gospel is doctrine. Without it, we have no faith, no hope; but with it, we have grace and peace. And so we insist our pastors hold firmly to good doctrine. And we insist they “refute those who oppose it.” Someone has said all it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing. In love, pastors must speak that non-P.C. word, “No.” No, that’s not correct. No, that’s false. No, God says in his Word otherwise. No, I am not swayed by your opinion because I worship God and not you. No, it’s because I love you too much to let you be a Cretan and believe the lie. And I love good doctrine.
That makes a good pastor. Good doctrine. Good deeds. So what can you do? Pray. Don’t pray for our popularity, but our progress in deeds and our persistence in doctrine. What can you do? Confront. Sparing my feelings and ruining Eastside’s reputation is not a good trade. Rebuke me and Pastor Glen for the love you have for your faith, others’ faiths, and the Word. What can you do? Remind us of these words. Many of you will pick up a CD after church today and memorize verses 7-9. Keep them in your heart and remind your leaders to be what God has called them to be. Good doctrine and good deeds. That’s the way for God to be glorified. Amen.
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