DISCIPLE MAKING LEADERSHIP - WHAT DO I DO? - PART 4
You may be thinking that this is a bit heavy for Disciple-making leadership because that can be confrontational. You're right! Sometimes, it just has to be because altered precepts afflict people.
To make good progress, you need a good PLAN; and Paul offers one for Titus. If there was ever a theme verse for Disciple-making Leadership, then Titus 2:1 is it! Let me produce it below from a couple of different translations and one paraphrase: Â
​ESV - BUT AS FOR YOU, TEACH WHAT ACCORDS WITH SOUND DOCTRINE
NKJV -Â BUT AS FOR YOU, SPEAK THE THINGS WHICH ARE PROPER FOR SOUND DOCTRINE
MSG:Â Â YOUR JOB IS TO SPEAK OUT ON THE THINGS THAT MAKE FOR SOLID DOCTRINE
​First, note the intensely personal nature of DmL. Paul leaves no doubt for Titus as he clearly states "But as for you." Titus has one job - just like a person initiating Disciple-making Leadership. It is a personal duty. It is a personal opportunity. This is not something that you can put off to another because we all should be involved in discipleship.
Second, that job can be summarized this way - talk the truth up to terminate the tumor. Let's break this down in a bit more detail for understanding.
Talk - we see an obvious command to use the physical construct to make a speech. Discipleship-making leadership uses words - not just actions or just leaving a tract here and there. It is an intentional sharing of something.
the Truth up - this is less clear but stay with me for a moment. Speaking requires a subject and Paul references things that accord or are proper. That Greek word is based on a root that means "to tower up" so we would not say these things are inconspicuous - they can be obviously seen. Titus was to do just that - speak the truth in such a way that it was plainly seen and understood. In other words, we do not hem and haw in language but we are precise and clear with the truth.
to Terminate the Tumor - in going back to something mentioned in an earlier blog, the Greek word for sound is where we gain our modern term of hygiene. It specifically refers to "everything being in balance" and "free from debilitation." My mom battled cancer and its tumors, but the doctors never could remove all of them, meaning their spread continued. Paul is telling Titus to make the truth so prominent that error is easily noticed and avoided.  ​
​You may be thinking that this is a bit heavy for Disciple-making leadership because that can be confrontational. You're right! Sometimes, it just has to be because altered precepts afflict people. Think about it this way - if a daily vitamin is soaked in poison, does the vitamin still work? No! The poison is overpowering and alters the vitamin's state which gravely afflicts people instead of giving them benefits. Disciple-making leadership must talk truth to elevate its standing and banish error.
I will close with a wonderful quote by Pastor Stephen Davey that expounds upon this one verse and, quite frankly, speaks perfectly to Disciple-making Leadership: Paul wanted Titus "to join the truth of the Word of God with the Spirit of God in bringing about transformation to the child of God so that truth becomes a way of life."