For Those In Authority!

        

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He 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. For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. Titus 1 NIV

Pray for understanding and re-read and then compare what is said to what we see in the behavior of those in authority.

Yes, I know this is Paul talking about authority in the church, but the same traits and expectations for leadership in the church should extend to those in authority anywhere else.

Think about it!

Of course the first person who comes to mind for me is the #WHidiot and all those in Congress who claim to be Christians but have not learned to walk the Christian life. They do not exercise discipline; they are corrupt and self-serving, seeking what they can do for themselves and not concerned about what is best for all Americans; and they lack self-control, are narcissistic, liars.

When God gives us instructions about how to be leaders, we ought to use those instructions across the board--in whatever situation we find ourselves--whether political or not whether paid or not. This is what it means to be a great leader.

Based upon God's Word, we do not have a great leader in the White House; in fact, we have a tantrum-throwing toddler-in-chief commanding America's military to stroke his own ego, not to protect Americans or American interest. This is an unacceptable way to lead and it certainly won't protect us from the enemy--which is not outside the United States, but in the White House.

God knows and I'm counting on His love to prevail and protect those of us who know from the folly of the fool who thinks he is more than he is.