Titus 1:7 The supervisor

If anyone is unimpeachable, the husband of one wife, having believing children, not under the accusation of profligacy or insubordinate

We read that Titus was commanded to ordain city-by-city seniors in Crete, of which Paul twice lists seven requirements. A senior is an older person and that refers to experience. The position he is to perform is that of overseer or supervisor, which is a literal rendering of the Greek word “epi-skopos.” As a verb it is also often translated as ’to visit (Luke 1:68,78). God looks after His people, which also means that He has mercy on them.

In Acts 20:28 Paul tells the seniors of Ephesus that they would be supervisors over the ecclesia of God. As a shepherd looks after the flock, so does the overseer look after the ecclesia of God. It also explains Paul’s terminology: “the supervisor”, singular and we see in it the principle of “one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16; Ezek. 37:24). “The supervisor” is the one who oversees “the sound teaching” in one place. Not less, but especially not more. The Bible does not know of a synod, church council or brother council that meets and then takes decisions by majority vote. The Bible is simple and checkmates the whole ecclesiastical system with the pawn of “the supervisor”.

Delen: