Titus 1:7  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
8  But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
9  Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

We see in verse 7 that the term “bishop” is used. This is the same as the elder of verse 5. The bishop speaks to the oversight that the pastor must have over the flock. He does not need to be spying on the people. He needs to be watching out for the well being of the people. He cares enough to warn and protect those that God sends his way.
Again we see that he must be blameless. He is the steward of God. In the Old Testament, Joseph was a steward in Potiphar’s house. He was a faithful man, but Potiphar’s wife was not a faithful wife. She wanted to have an affair with Joseph and he refused. She was able to trap him at one point, but he fled from her. She got hold of his robe and he left without it. She then made up a lie and her husband believed her rather than Joseph. Joseph continued to be a man of integrity even though he was thrown into prison. The jailor saw the integrity of Joseph and he trusted him. Of course God was looking out for Joseph because he was blameless. God rewarded Joseph in a way he never thought of.
The bishop needs to be above reproach. He must be trustworthy. He cannot be self-willed. Life is not about him. It is about God and the people he is called to serve. He cannot have a short fuse. He needs to be able to take slander and mocking. He cannot be a drunk either. We have looked at alcoholic drink before. There is no place for that in the Christian’s life.
A striker is one who is ready for a fight. The bishop cannot be such a person. He does not call the offender outside to fight it out. He speaks the truth and trusts God to take care of those who want to stop the proclamation of the truth.
He also must not be in it for the money, or the perks that some might want to give him. The bishop needs to be paid, but he does not serve because he gets paid. He does not demand payment. He teaches the Word of God faithfully and the Lord works in the hearts of the people to see to it that the bishop is properly looked after. If the man is in it for the material gain he can get, he can also be convinced to avoid speaking the truth. That helps no one.
In verse 8 we see that the bishop must be a lover of hospitality. He needs to have the time to visit with people and to get to know them. He cannot be preoccupied with his own life and neglect the care of the people. If he is a family man, of course he needs time for his family. God will guide him to plan his days in a way that the family is not neglected and the people are also looked after.
The bishop needs to be a lover of good men. He wants to have good men around him. He needs their counsel and he needs their prayers and friendship. He does not need “yes men”. He needs men who are in the Word and are humble. He needs men who can help him to stay on track and to be blameless. The bishop is just a man. He is not a god. He can fall. He needs good men around him to help him to be the man God designed him to be.
The bishop also needs to be sober. He should not be a jokester. He needs to be a seriously minded man who can help people to deal with their needs. It is not wrong to laugh from time to time. However, it is wrong to think that you always need to find a way to make others laugh. He must also be just. He needs to be fair in his dealings with others. He cannot play favourites. He needs to listen to the facts and act in accordance with God’s Word.
He must be a holy man. That is in words and in deeds and also in his thought life. Since the coming of the internet there are reports that suggest that there are pastors who are secretly involved in pornography. They may think no one knows what they are doing. They forget that God knows everything that every person is doing.
The bishop must also be temperate. That is being under control of his emotions. He needs to be able to weep with those that weep and laugh with those that laugh. He needs to be level headed so that he can guide others through the challenges of life. We have seen many different responses to the challenges of the past three+ years. Some have tried to get involved in things that are of no help. The pastor needs to be a man of prayer who can counsel people on the right approach to different situations, even when there are those who want to threaten us in an unjust manner.
In verse 9 we see that the bishop needs to hold fast to the faithful Word as he has been taught. This would eliminate the use of perversions. They are not faithful to the original language texts and thus not to God. He cannot use sound doctrine if he does not even know what sound doctrine is. The perversions remove any possibility of sound doctrine. That is why we see such a wide range of views among religious leaders on the matter of alcohol, or marriage or sodomy or the role of government, etc. Sound doctrine is essential to living the Christian life.
The bishop cannot convince the gainsayers if he does not know what truth is. Gainsayers are those who look for an argument but they cannot keep the facts straight. They are contradictory in their words and actions. They are out looking for trouble. The pastor needs to know how to convince those who are fighting against the truth. He needs to be able to show them what God actually says. He needs to do so in a way that exemplifies the love and holiness of God.
Jesus dealt with the Pharisees and their associates. They came at Him from many different angles. They wanted to destroy Him. He knew exactly how to answer them every time. They hated Him for that. Paul also learned how to respond to the different attacks against him. He responded with truth. A few accepted the truth, but most did not. That is something that we can expect.
The bishop/pastor/elder needs to walk in the Spirit so that he can be a help to those who oppose themselves and those who want to try to destroy him. He also needs to know how to help those who truly appreciate him. He can deal with these things as he walks in the Spirit and is careful to put God first in all things.
Today is the Lord’s day. In our area it is beginning as a nice sunny day. We have had some heavy rains this past week and it is nice to see the sunshine again. More importantly, it is the day to be in the house of the Lord. It is good to be where the Lord — the Light of the World, expects His followers to be. He will direct you if you let Him. He will show you things that are important for you. Isolating yourself is dangerous. You can convince yourself that you are right. You can even find some verses to support your position. However, if you are not gathering with other believers on the Lord’s day and under the direction of a godly pastor, you are missing God’s design for you. Life is too short to fumble your way through on your own. Eternity is too long to miss out on the blessings God has in store for those who humble themselves and know Him and follow Him.

John 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30  I and my Father are one.

Pastor Bartel