LOVER OF THE GOOD
We have seen the many things that a leader should not be.
Paul then shifts gears and tells us what he should be:
- a lover of hospitality
- a lover of good men
- sober
- just
- holy
- temperate
- holding fast the faithful word he has been taught
First in this list is “a lover of hospitality.”
So many church leaders think they fulfill this one by
accepting every invitation to eat, but hardly ever inviting anyone into their
own home.
The phrase, “lover of hospitality”, translates a compound
word made up of φίλος (G5384) and ξένος (G3581)
[philos and xenos] = “lover” and “stranger.” If you click on the links
provided, you will see that “stranger” can also mean “guest” or “host.”
The idea of being a lover of hospitality is similar to
Heb. 13:2—
“be not forgetful to entertain strangers…”
Sadly, many in the church today have followed the ways of
the world and are either too busy or too cautious to have strangers over to
their homes. This is true from pulpit to pew to public.
There was a season in my lifetime when the front door was
always unlocked and we never knew who might show up at dinnertime. (Before you
throw “times are different now” at me, that was in a crime-ridden,
drug-infected ghetto of a major city.)
While I am not calling for that kind of hospitality, I am
calling out the pastors and leaders whose homes are shut to all but their
closest friends and staff members.
When was the last time you invited someone other than
those to your home on an individual basis? (I’m not talking about the Christmas
party gathering.)
You, reader, when was the last time you invited a
first-time visitor to your church to have dinner with you at a local
restaurant after service?
If your home is not open, then you are not qualified to
be a leader in the church or to become a leader.
Secondly, a leader must be a “lover of good men.”
Again, the phrase translates a compound word. This is the
only place in the Bible where the word is used. “Men” is added by the
translators. The word has the basic meaning of “lover of good” or “goodness.”
Putting “men” in the phrase seems to make the beginning of the passage
redundant.
The 2015 version of the Amplified Bible renders Titus 1:8
as
“And he must be hospitable [to believers, as well as strangers], a lover of what is good, sensible (upright), fair, devout, self-disciplined [above reproach—whether in public or in private].”The 1954 version of the same translation reads:
“But he must be hospitable (loving and a friend to believers, especially to strangers and foreigners); [he must be] a lover of goodness [of good people and good things], sober-minded (sensible, discreet), upright and fair-minded, a devout man and religiously correct, temperate and keeping himself in hand.”
This particular qualification—loving what is good—is
probably not violated too often.
To be sure, there are those who feed on the gossip within
their church in order to control the flock, but, hopefully, they are in the
minority. Those groups where the pastor is informed of everything that is going
on or said are usually borderline cults soon to be full-fledged prisons.
These are those who, rather than lovers of good, are
lovers of evil, feeding on the faults and foibles of the undiscerning.
In summary, then,
- Are your leaders given to hospitality?
- Do they love what is good?
- Is the person you are considering for leadership hospitable?
- Is he or she comfortable in a crowd without being the center of attention?
As we will see a little further on, these are not just
nice things to have, but are essential to a high quality of leadership and
protection for the flock.
this article shows us what kind of a person a leader should be and it also shows us what qualities should a leader possess, thanks to practicalbibleteaching.com for such an inspiring article.
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