Part 82 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series
David Pawson says, though these letters were addressed to individuals, they were all about the churches they were trying to help, and these were quite different. Titus, in Crete, had the task of appointing elders and Paul’s concern was about the quality of membership there; whereas in Ephesus, the membership was good but they had the wrong elders and Timothy was given the task of replacing them with the right men. The important thing at the beginning of a fellowship is to have quality leadership and membership before numbers expand. David says that confrontation is an important part of church leadership. If you neglect a problem, it just gets worse. Ultimately, the best safeguard of a church is constant good teaching. With the Spirit and the Word of God, you grow up. With a plurality of leaders, they will contribute more strengths and balance each other out much better, whereas one man will communicate his own strengths and weaknesses to the church he leads because people do follow unconsciously a leader’s manner of living, rather than what he says. Character is of prime importance. This teaching can help us in choosing those to serve our churches.