I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Titus and Philemon.

    The core of Paul’s letter to Titus is a description of the qualifications for an overseeing elder in the Church. One thing which I think is often overlooked is that all men should aspire to fit the qualifications given here. If they are married, they should be faithful to their wife. If they have children, they should attempt to raise their children to be believers and to be well-behaved. It was a tragedy of the Church when I was growing up that “preacher’s kids” were known for being wild and disobedient. To the degree that that is still true, it is a tragedy of the Church today. I am not going to list the things which Paul tells us that an overseer in the Church must not be. Instead I want to focus on the positive things he writes that we should require of them. Overseers, and all of the rest of us, should be blameless. They should be hospitable. As Christians we should freely offer hospitality to all that we can. Our leaders should make outsiders feel welcome, and we should strive to follow their lead in that. Paul writes that leaders in the Church must be self-controlled and disciplined. Since that is two different ways of, more or less, saying the same thing it gives us a good idea how important Paul thought it was. Finally, these leaders must be able to encourage others in the Gospel and refute those who oppose it.

    Paul’s letter to Philemon focuses on how a master should treat a slave who is a fellow believer. However, it can also apply to how an employer treats an employee. Paul first recognizes that under the law of Rome, Philemon has authority over Onesimus. However, he also calls to Philemon’s attention that in the Church and the Kingdom of God, Paul had authority over Philemon. However, the entire point of Paul’s letter was that Philemon should treat Onesimus lovingly and as a brother in Christ. So, rather than command Philemon to do as Paul believed that he should, Paul chose to merely ask Philemon to exercise his authority over Onesimus in a manner similar to the way in which Paul was exercising his authority over Philemon. Paul asked Philemon to respect Onesimus as his brother in Christ, just as Paul was respecting Philemon as his brother in Christ. Paul implies that he has instructed Onesimus to obey Philemon even if Philemon does not act according to Paul’s instruction.