Unlocking The New Testament

Timothy & Titus 1

David Pawson begins by explaining why these letters to Timothy & Titus differ from others by Paul. Paul wrote from the condemned cell; he is older and so were the churches. We learn more about Paul from these than any other letters. We see both the pattern and the purpose of Paul’s life. Though trinitarian, Paul has God in priority position. David Pawson objects to these being called the pastoral epistles because they don’t have all the instructions needed for pastors. Rather than dealing with how to run the internal matters of a church, Paul here focuses on the external responsibilities. Paul’s method of follow-up was three-fold – a second visit, or a letter or he sent one of his team back to do the follow-up. David shows that Timothy & Titus were not sent to be pastors but rather troubleshooters. He sees the two as ‘timid Timothy’ and ‘tough Titus’ as Paul spoke differently to them. He also says that there is danger in one-man ministries and apostles need to plant a church, reach the point where it has elders and deacons, and leave it. His work there is done. David discusses the process of salvation, the need to persevere.

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Timothy & Titus 2

David Pawson says, though these letters were addressed to individuals, they were all about the churches they were trying to help, and these were quite different. Titus, in Crete, had the task of appointing elders and Paul’s concern was about the quality of membership there; whereas in Ephesus, the membership was good but they had the wrong elders and Timothy was given the task of replacing them with the right men. The important thing at the beginning of a fellowship is to have quality leadership and membership before numbers expand. David says that confrontation is an important part of church leadership. If you neglect a problem, it just gets worse. Ultimately, the best safeguard of a church is constant good teaching. With the Spirit and the Word of God, you grow up. With a plurality of leaders, they will contribute more strengths and balance each other out much better, whereas one man will communicate his own strengths and weaknesses to the church he leads because people do follow unconsciously a leader’s manner of living, rather than what he says. Character is of prime importance. This teaching can help us in choosing those to serve our churches.

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