Titus 1:5-2:8,
The elders of the church that are described in Titus sound great, don’t they? Trilby wants to know if they actually exist. I will remind you at this point that in 1915 (as recorded in the minutes) there were no suitable elders to elect in this congregation. The language here is important. Elders should. And yes, they should. Are they? Well…
This passage is about aspirations, about things as they should be, not about things as they are. So no, there are probably no elders who meet all these criteria. Also, the idea of looking for these criteria, both in positive and negative ways, marks a contrast between the leaders of the body of Christ and the general population. This gets extended to all believers in chapter 2. Being a Christ follower should be distinctive.
If we read these not as impossible standards to meet in their entirety, but as goals that stand in contrast or opposition to the general way of life, how does that change our expectation of the witness of the body of Christ?
