EPISODE 198 TITUS CHAPTER 2 "Following the leader"

Welcome to Share the Word. It's always great to hear Margie's voice and insight. Today she explains the value, principles, challenges, and the benefits that mentorship and character have on leaders. Remember, Titus and Timothy were mentored by the Apostle Paul, so men, women, young and old, listen closely because godly truth, wisdom, and advice is always welcome. Margie? Thank you, Pastor Tony.

Today, as we cover Titus 2, we will discuss the big idea of following the leader, the leader, the leader. We're following the leader wherever he may go. Some of you may recognize that song from Disney's cartoon movie Peter Pan, released in 1953. To quote ChatGPT, while Peter Pan is often celebrated for his adventurous spirit and youthful charm, his leadership is ineffective and problematic, characterized by a lack of responsibility, fear of commitment, and an inability to learn from experience. His leadership ultimately leads to serious consequences and puts others in danger. Well, I don't think anyone's going to disagree with that summary.

As we move through the pastoral epistles, we see the Apostle Paul looking for the exact opposite in leadership. Paul was encouraging Timothy and Titus to find leaders who were mature mentors with strong moral fiber and godly character. No Peter Pans need apply. You've heard it said that in real estate, the three most important factors are location, location, location. Well, in leadership, the three most important factors... Our character, character, character.

In their book, The Ascent of Leader, co-authors Thrall, McNichol, and Elreth state that character is the inner world of motives and values that shape our actions. It distinguishes those who steward power well from those who abuse power. Character weaves integrity, honesty, and selfless service into the fabrics of our lives. On the island of Crete, character was not a priority. In fact, the Cretans seemed to reveal its lack. Perhaps you've heard the expression, He is such a Cretan.

You can probably tell just by the tone that that is not meant as a compliment. As Pastor Paul said, Cretans were considered to be the most immoral people group of the time. The expression, to play the Cretan with a Cretan, meant to out-trick a trickster. To Cretize meant to lie. Unfortunately, these derogatory comments were based in some truth. In chapter one, the apostle Paul quoted one of their very own prophets saying, Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, and lazy gluttons.

It seems that our young pastor Titus had his hands full attempting to reverse the reputation of the believing Cretans. It was his job to teach these people to no longer act like their namesakes, but to act like Jesus's namesake, as Christ followers, as Christians. And what they needed was strong leadership, good and godly examples, someone worthy to be followed. In Titus chapter 2, the apostle Paul outlined Christ-like characteristics for older men, younger men, slaves, and, tucked right in the middle of that passage, women. Following the leader, the leader, the leader, we're following the leader wherever she may go. In Titus 2, 3 through 5, Paul described traits that were desirable in godly older women, and he described how those older women should encourage younger women.

Take a listen. Teach older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to too much wine, but to teach what is good, and then they can train younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, to be subject to their own husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. It's as if the apostle Paul was saying, having people of all ages and walks of life in the church body makes it stronger. The older people should be teaching the younger people by words and example. This is how values and character are passed from one generation to the next. Women who were new Christians needed to learn how to have harmony in the home by watching the older women from their church who had been Christians for some time.

If you are a woman of a certain age and a Jesus follower, or if you are a person in position where others look up to you, then live in a way that honors God so that your example is motivating younger people who will follow behind you, behind you, like Nancy did. This is Jeanie's story from More Mentoring. She says, It took me years to ask Nancy to be my mentor because insecure thoughts flooded my mind. My life seemed too messy for anyone else to jump into it. Why in the world would I want to invite someone else into my family challenges and the exhaustion of raising two small children? Besides, I had nothing to offer Nancy in return, and most likely she'd be too busy anyway.

Well, now it's been two years since I asked Nancy to be my mentor, and my life has not been the same since that day. I have a godly woman with years of experience speaking consistent truth over my marriage, my parenting, and me. Our time together has been so sweet, filled with encouragement through sharing experiences, scripture, and prayer. My husband, my children, and my other relationships have benefited greatly from this powerful and meaningful relationship. You know, mentoring can be a good and beneficial thing. It's been around for a long time.

Historically speaking, we know that Socrates mentored Plato. Biblically speaking, we know that Moses mentored Joshua. And recently, we have studied the Apostle Paul mentoring Timothy and Titus. With all the technological and non-relational approaches to training available to all of us over the last several decades, person-to-person mentoring have begun to fade in popularity and status. But thankfully, mentoring is experiencing a rebirth in our culture today. Business leaders are encouraged to raise up the next generation of leaders.

Spiritual leaders are advocating mentorship as a way to pass the baton of spiritual vitality to the next church. Socially conscious individuals are promoting mentor as a method to take something beneficial and transfer it or build it into the life of another. Frank C. Bucaro, a leading advocate for ethics and values in business, said, Don't wait for someone to take you under their wing. Go and find a good wing and climb up under it. The Productivity Ace from YouTube's Mentoring Done Right offered five tips to successfully mentor or mentee.

Number one, anyone can be a senior mentor to support a junior mentee. Number two, look for someone with a different perspective than yours. Number three, schedule regular, structured, semi-formal meetings in the beginning. Number four, be prepared and take the role seriously. Number five, be a respectful mentor and a grateful mentee. Now, these might be good practical tips, but there's nothing here about character, which is the most important and critical element in godly leadership.

The Apostle Paul, on the other hand, gave very specific guidance in regards to developing one's own character and then helping others to develop theirs. Let's look at the passage a little bit more carefully and understand the character goals for both older women and younger women. Older women were encouraged to be reverent in their behavior, so honoring of God and others, not slanderers or malicious gossips. To teach what is good, uplifting, and beneficial, not addicted to or enslaved by too much wine. Now, I have a couple of side notes here. Firstly, Dr.

Sandra Glenn, on her online article, Does Paul Really Think Women Are Gossips and Busybodies? argues a strong no. Nothing she says in the text suggests that Paul thinks women are more prone to gossip than men. Indeed, gossip is not just a female weakness; it's a human one. Sticking our noses into other people's business is not just a female weakness; it's a human one. Just like teaching false doctrine is not a male weakness; it's a human one.

However, due to the Cretans' historic reputation of laziness, idleness, and drink, the women had developed a bad reputation that the Apostle Paul wanted to address and help reverse. In other words, they were fighting a stereotype, and they should be very much on guard against it. Secondly, in regards to wine, Paul not only warns the Cretan elder women not to be addicted to too much wine, but the overseers not to be drunkards and the older men to be temperate. You see, the island of Crete was known for its vineyards, and the people were known for enjoying the fruit of those vineyards. Paul's encouraging restraint, not indulging in too much of that yummy vino. And younger women were urged to love and respect their husbands and love their children.

Also, to develop character by learning to be sensible, pure, kind, and workers at home. The reason? So that the word of God would not be dishonored or maligned. They were representing Jesus. They were representing the gospel. They needed to look different than the rest of the Cretans.

Now remember, the Apostle Paul was Jewish, and the Hebrew idea of education was completely different from ours or the Cretans. The Jewish mentor program had life training, life on life, lifelong apprenticeship. It was all based on Deuteronomy 6, 4 through 9, part of the Shema, a Jewish prayer, a declaration of faith, which commanded the good Jewish parent or mentor to set an example and instruct, teach, train, encourage the child or mentee when they sat in the house, when they walked along the road, when they laid down, when they rose up. And that took time, effort, energy, intention, prayer, and commitment. The leader was commanded to exemplify living for God, encourage living out truth, and to train in godly character. Being a mentor was not just imparting knowledge, not just about intellect.

It was about modeling godliness in everyday life. Notice that in Titus 2, there are no ages attached to the descriptions of older or younger, which implies that almost anybody is eligible to fill the role of either a mentor or a mentee. In reality, most of us can find others that are ahead of us or behind us in life. The Tuesday morning Women's Fellowship in Roswell, Georgia, had a vibrant Titus 2 program in which they would teach, train, and equip younger women to be godly wives, mothers, and citizens. It was developed by Pat Harley and a team of wonderful godly older women who realized that many younger women were not prepared for marriage or motherhood. Therefore, these older ladies committed to start classes for anyone interested in learning how to improve their marriage, train their kiddos, or efficiently and effectively run a household.

Now, I realize that this may sound old-fashioned to some young ears out there, but it exploded. Why? Because there was such a need. The first class had about 20 young ladies who showed up. The next class had over 50. By the end of the three-year program, between 200 and 400 women were coming to the Bible study and then staying for the Titus 2 program.

I guess it could be likened to a home economics class, a class I'm told is no longer offered in the public schools and considered by many to be useless, archaic, sexist, and unnecessary. I can't help but wonder what Martha Stewart would say about that. Those older women faithfully, beautifully, and practically impacted generations of women, both young and old, to which I can testify. As I was one of the beneficiaries. One of the women involved in the program was Karen Luritz. You may have heard of her husband, Crawford Luritz.

Dr. Luritz is a well-known and accomplished teacher, pastor, speaker, and author. Both he and Karen have been featured speakers in Family Life marriage conferences, as well as co-authoring Your Marriage Today and Tomorrow. Karen shared her powerful story of how the Titus 2 principles were lived out in her life by older women that were walking ahead of her in their Christian faith. As she tells it, she was born a preemie to an unwed teenager who was on welfare and raised her in the projects of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When she was two years old, her mother became pregnant again with a different man's child.

Because her mother was in poor health, much of the responsibility landed on little Karen, who was ill-equipped to handle raising her little brother or running a household. As a young teen, Karen's church sponsored an outreach in downtown Philly that changed her life. The young pastor was speaking to 4,000-plus youths on the Bible passage, John 3:16. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believed in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Karen explained that suddenly she felt as though God was speaking to her. You see, Karen had never heard anyone say the words, I love you, before.

So first time in her life, she felt loved. That hole in her heart, that deep loneliness, was finally being filled. Her little church committed to give her a mentor at each stage of her life: junior high, high school, college, and grad school. Her first mentor was Miss Becky Nichols. It was from Miss Nichols that Karen learned reverent behavior, a deep respect for God and others. She also learned about the Bible, worship, prayer, and spiritual gifts.

In high school, her mentor was Mrs. Bourne. Mrs. Bourne coached Karen in regards to running a home. As Karen grew and matured in her faith, she began to apply these practical skills and, in her words, became more sensible, kind, and capable in running her mother's household, which resulted in more peaceful atmosphere. In college, her mentor was the service director at the Philadelphia College of Bible.

Karen said, She took me under her wing and reassured me that God had a plan for my life. Of course, in that Christian atmosphere, Karen said, I was warned against gossiping and drinking. In grad school, Karen's mentor was the local pastor's wife, who Karen described as a hoot. She showed Karen what it meant to be in full-time ministry. Karen said, She taught me how to memorize scripture. She had such a passion for the Word of God, it was contagious.

These four women invested their lives in Karen. It was nothing formal, nothing contractual, but they took their commitment very seriously. Karen said that their example instilled in her responsibility to do the same for the next generation, not just her own children, but any girl or young lady that the Lord brought into her life. She considers it a privilege to love them, to teach them the Word of God, and to train them to love their husbands and their children. Godly mentoring requires teaching, training, encouraging, and correcting. And there are subtle differences in the definitions.

Teaching is to give verbal instruction, to impart knowledge or information. Training is really the act of instruction, many times hands-on, which suggests a close relationship between the elder and the younger woman. Encouraging is to give hope, to urge on, to help, and to cheerlead. Exemplifying is to illustrate, to show, to exhibit good qualities and godly characteristics. And lastly, correcting. It's to offer an adjustment, an exhortation, or to give guidance, to kindly reprove, to bring to light, to expose wrong thinking, and to uphold truth.

It should not be a harsh rebuke. Instead, it should all be done with love and respect. Godly mentoring is walking together. It's working together. Basically, what the Apostle Paul is saying is to make sure your behavior does not just convince or convict, but that it elevates and inspires others to follow. Now for Mary's story.

In her own words, I cannot say enough good things about my experience having Julie as my mentor. I feel truly blessed by God. Six months ago, I was going through one of the hardest times of my life. I was totally devastated, rejected, and abandoned. I actually started writing. Julie, a ten-page letter about my past, explaining all of the pain, so that we wouldn't spend our time together just working and looking at the past, but moving forward.

I honestly thought that after she read all of it, she might go running for the hills. But instead, it sent her running right to me. She could not be a better mentor or friend. She patiently listens, cares for, and guides me. She continually encourages me to trust God, to forgive others, and to bless others. She's compassionate, kind, loving, and gentle at heart.

Historically, holidays have been very hard for me without a family, but Julie has invited me into her celebrations at the holidays. This Christmas, her gift to me was a Bible. Julie said, God will speak to you through this Bible, and your real life will be found in Him. And boy, was she right. I read the Bible every day now, and I'm learning to be a better friend, sister, and hopefully someday, a godly wife and mother, maybe even a mentor to someone else. I can't help but wonder how many other lives, like Jeannie's and Karen's and Mary's, would be changed and uplifted if we would apply these Titus 2 principles more often.

Are you a younger woman seeking an older woman to be your mentor, following the leader, the leader, the leader? Or perhaps you're an older woman seeking to build into the life of a younger woman, wherever she may go. Well, what's stopping you? Whatever your situation, I pray that you will be sensitive and receptive to God's leading in your heart and life, and to consider being a mentor or a mentee to make an earthly and eternal difference in someone else's life. This is Share the Word. I'm Margie.

Thank you for listening. Thanks, Margie. You know, this podcast brought back some incredible memories because I've had mentors in my life since I was 17. They were elders and leaders in the community who I trusted, and they looked out for me through every twist and turn of my life, as I imagine the Apostle Paul did with Titus and Timothy. And after five decades, I still have mentors today. But now, I also mentor many others as well.

We often think of a mentor or a leader as someone listed on some organizational chart or a corporation. But listen, if you're a mom or a dad, you are a mentor for your children. Our challenge today is for you to find a mentor. A mentor should be someone local to you who you can trust and give permission to speak truth into your life. Leadership is about influence, and no one has influenced the world more than Jesus. There are different degrees of mentorship, and if you'd like more information, email us at info at sharetheword.org, or you can email me directly at tony at sharetheword.org.