Management Material

“For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach” (v7).

Org charts are important. You need to know where you fit into the big picture. In your company. In your organization. It’s not different in Jesus’ church. In the first part of verse seven, Paul instructs his man Titus as to the role of the elder. The Big T gets a memo from the home office telling him what it looks like in God’s view to be management material. The Lord places these spiritual leaders in critical management roles. But they aren’t there to get the corner office or the company car. He selects these managers to on the lookout for the welfare of His people. They are all accountable to ultimate Overseer. That’s what it means to be God’s manager.

If you’re not familiar with the situation Titus is facing, let’s set the scene. It’s the first century and he’s on the island of Crete just off the coast of Greece. The Good News of Jesus has just washed across the island like a supernatural tsunami. Followers of Christ are in every city. But when it comes to spiritual leaders, there’s a big fat zero. The Apostle Paul tells his buddy Titus to look for mature believers to fill the leadership void (Titus 1:5). He’s not just looking for a body slightly above room temperature. He’s not desperate. The Big T is scouting for men of integrity. Men who are “above reproach” (Titus 1:6-7). 

A big part of being an elder in the local church is remembering your place in the org chart. First of all, an elder is an “overseer” (v7). This simply means that he is to keep an eagle eye out for the spiritual welfare of the folks in the congregation. Secondly, he’s “God’s steward” (v7). An elder isn’t the boss. He’s not the one in charge. No, the overseer is a manager for Jesus. Paul uses the Greek word oikonomos. It’s a compound word that literally means the “law of the house.” 

In its most basic sense, this is a manager of a household. One trusted with the management of another’s affairs. Someone placed in charge by one in higher authority. It’s a person in authority but under authority. In this case, that authority is the Highest Authority. Jesus. So instead of an elder/overseer being the big boss man, he’s actually middle management at best. But in the world of the local church, he’s a servant-leader. He serves his Savior by serving Jesus’ people. It’s about humility. It’s about putting others first. It’s about putting your needs on the back burner. That’s what it means to management material in the eyes of God.

There are several times we see stewards or managers (Gr. oikonomos) in the New Testament. Paul lists the city manager of Rome as a member of the church in that city, “Erastus the city treasurer (Gr. oikonomos)” (Rom 16:23). The apostle tells the folks in Corinth Jesus has placed him and the other spiritual leaders in the position of “stewards (Gr. oikonomos) of the mysteries of God” (1Cor 4:1). Twice, Jesus gives examples of good managers (Gr. oikonomos) as what it looks like to be one of His followers (Lk 12:42; 16:1). So in one very real sense, EVERY believer is a steward of the resources and gifts given by God. How are you using what the Lord has given you? You do realize that they aren’t just for you, right? You do understand that He’s blessed you to be a blessing to others, right? Pete writes that each of us as followers of Jesus is use our spiritual gifts wisely, “use it to serve one another, as good stewards (Gr. oikonomos) of God’s varied grace” (1Pet 4:10). Are you a wise manager of what He’s given you?

While Paul is certainly talking specifically about the office of elder in the local church, every person saved by Jesus is a spiritual leader on some level. You exercise influence on the people you interact with. Are you a faithful steward of what God has given you? Are you a good manager of the resources the Lord has blessed you with? Are you leveraging your relationships, your job, your place in society to the glory of Christ’s kingdom. Are you loving and serving Jesus by loving and serving people? Our Savior said Himself that we keep God’s commands when we do that.

Are you management material?

You Can't Get Greedy with Grace

The stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you (Eph 3:2).

Grace is a crazy thing.  I certainly don't deserve it.  I certainly didn't earn it.  But our God has placed me under the waterfall of His amazing generosity.  Here's where it gets crazy.  While His goodness is His gift to me, I'm not supposed to keep it.  Paul understands that perfectly.  He reminds his friends in Ephesus that "the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you" (v2).

God's grace is kinda like manna.  You remember manna.  That funky bread that Yahweh dropped from heaven to His chosen people after sprung them out of slavery in Egypt (Ex 16:4).  This heavenly bread was like a nourishing Krispy Kreme doughnut when fresh.  But when folks try to save it, things got ugly.  The next morning it stank with maggots.  Sounds tasty, doesn't it?  Well, grace is kinda like manna.  If you try to hang on to it, it spoils.  It's no longer grace.  Grace is only grace when you give it away.  You can't get greedy with grace.  When God's goodness really gets ahold of you, you can't keep it to yourself.  You have to give it away.  Grace.  You can't stop it.  You can't hope to contain it.

You can't get greedy with grace.

As Paul writes to the Ephesian church from his cell in Rome, he's pretty sure that everyone there is familiar with his story.  He's "assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you" (v2).  The man from Tarsus can't separate the Gospel from the miracle Jesus has performed in his life.  Everyone in Ephesus knew about it.  And why wouldn't they?  Paul hit town during his second world tour.  Dr. Luke gives us a great play-by-play Jesus used His apostle to turn the big port city upside down (Acts 19).  After getting the stiff arm from local Jewish leaders at the synagogue, he took his teaching down the road to Tyrannus Hall.  In many ways, that's the Ephesian game changer.  That's when non-Jews began hearing about the grace of Jesus toward them.  Paul extended his engagement in the city to three years.  He made sure that everyone knew how Christ did to him what He was doing to the city.

The apostle reminds us that he's on divine assignment.  Jesus has him on mission.  He calls it a "stewardship" (v2).  This is the Greek word oikonomia.  It's where we get our term economy.  It means an administration of other's property, the management of a household, a responsibility, a task, an assignment or a job.  Paul never claimed to be the boss.  He's simply on assignment.  He told the folks down the road in Colossae the same thing.  He "became a minister according to the stewardship (Gr. oikonomia) from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known" (Col 1:25).  Paul was accountable to Jesus for how he handled this divine assignment.  Do you realize that we're accountable to Jesus for how we handle what He's given you?  As Mike Lee says, "Jesus is our direct report."  He's your boss.  He's going to ask each one of us what we've done with our stewardship.

So what exactly is Paul's responsible to pass along?  "God's grace" (v2).  God's overwhelming and overflowing goodness.  Grace (Gr. charis) is an undeserved benefit, unmerited favor, merciful kindness or unexpected goodness instead of punishment.  The apostle wants us to realize that our salvation is God's generous gift.  Grace is a HUGE mega-theme in this little letter.  The apostle uses this term specifically 12 times in Ephesians.

God showered Paul with His amazing grace so he could pass it along.  It was "given to me for you" (v2).  Jesus specifically handpicked Saul of Tarsus, the superstar Pharisee, to be in charge of telling non-Jews everywhere that they are invited to the party.  Christ gave him that assignment one day outside the city of Damascus.  Saul and his black ops team were headed into the city to take out a cell of Jesus' followers.  But before they could pull off their raid, the resurrected Jesus ambushed their team leader and knocked him off his horse (Acts 9:1-5).  Let's just say it was a unexpected change of assignment.  Christ transforms Saul the spiritual terrorist into Paul gracious evangelist.  Jesus says, "He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15).  Instead of hunting down and killing Jews who followed Jesus, Paul becomes God's number one spokesman to Gentiles around the world.

You can't be greedy with the grace of God.  If so, then His grace really hasn't gotten ahold of you.  Grace is meant to passed along.  Pay it forward.  Don't let it go stale.  Don't let it rot.  Pass it along.  Keep it moving.  When God's goodness really gets ahold of you, you can't keep it to yourself.  You have to give it away.  Grace.  You can't stop it.  You can't hope to contain it.

You can't get greedy with grace.