πŸ’‘πŸ‘‘ How To Rule The Unruly

A young man had just graduated from Bible school and wanted to be a pastor. But when he was offered a temporary job as a police officer, he accepted it, thinking it might give him some good insight into human nature that would come in handy later in the ministry. One of the questions on the police academy exam was, β€œWhat would you do to disperse an unruly crowd?” The aspiring pastor thought for a moment, then responded, β€œI’d take up a collection. That’ll disperse any crowd!”

Speaking of unruly people, the island of Crete where Titus was stationed (Titus 1:5) had it’s share of them. We know this because after Paul told him to ordain elders in the island’s churches, he told him the reasonΒ he needed to ordain them:

β€œFor there are many unruly and vain talkers…” (Titus 1:10).

The dictionary defines the word β€œunruly” asΒ people who don’t want to be ruled.Β That’s probably why the only other people in the Bible who are called β€œunruly” are people who didn’t want to be ruledΒ byΒ the rulers of their local church.Β Speaking of those spiritual leaders, Paul told the Thessalonians,

β€œβ€¦know them which labour among you,Β and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;Β And… esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake… warn them that are unruly” (I Thess. 5:12-14).

See the connection? After speaking aboutΒ rulers, Paul told them to warn theΒ unruly.Β In the context, these were obviously people who didn’t want to be ruled by the church’s pastor and elders.

But how could Paul have known that there were unruly men who didn’t want to be ruled by leaders in Crete? Their churches didn’tΒ haveΒ rulers yet! Remember, Paul had left Titus in Crete toΒ ordainΒ elders (Tit. 1:5). So how did Paul know that some of the Cretians were unruly?

Well, it was because ofΒ the wayΒ that pastors are supposed to rule. Paul explained how leaders are to rule in the dispensation of grace when he told the Corinthians,

β€œNot for that we have dominion over your faith,Β but are helpers of your joy:Β for by faith ye standβ€œ (II Cor. 1:24).

Pastors aren’t supposed to rule by having β€œdominion” over God’s people, that is, byΒ dominatingΒ them. People stand by faith, and faith comes by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). That means pastors are supposed to ruleΒ by teaching people the Word,Β and then lettingΒ the WordΒ rule them. Beloved, the only way you are going to have any joy in life is if you let God’s WordΒ ruleΒ your life!

But that’s how Paul knew there were unruly men in Crete. When he was there among them, he had seen that there were Cretians who didn’t want to be ruled by the Word that he had taught them. So he told Titus to ordain some elders to teach those unruly menΒ moreΒ of God’s Word.

Perhaps you are thinking, β€œHow would that help? If they didn’t want to be ruled by God’s Word, why ordain leaders to give themΒ moreΒ of His Word?”

The answer is that God doesn’t have a β€œPlan B” when it comes to helping people with their joy! That means when people don’t want to be ruled by the Word, a pastor shouldn’t chuck the Scriptures and look around for something else to give them. Instead, he should continue to teach the Word, and ordain elders to do the same. You see, growing in the Word is a believer’s only hope of living the joyous Christian life God wants each of us to richly enjoy. source

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