Tags
Biblical Spirituality, Controversie, Division, Elder, Factious, Leadership, Ministry, Titus, Titus 3:10
In Titus 3:10, Paul tells Titus
As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him (ESV).
The phrase “a person who stirs up division” or as the NASB has it, the “factious man,” is a notorious anchor for those who want to claim all dissent from their “rule” is such a sin as to warrant ejection from the congregation. But does it really mean someone who asks a question?
If we back up and consider the immediate context, we see that Paul is concerning himself with doctrine:
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Titus 3:9 (ESV)
In the verse 11, such a man is “warped and sinful; he is self-condemned”. Therefore, an examination of the immediate context leads one to think of a false-teacher: which is precisely what we see when looking to overall structure of Paul’s argument.
Beginning in Titus 1:5, Paul lays out the criteria for appointing elders in each town. In verse 9, Paul comes to the element:
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke [elegchein] those who contradict it. Titus 1:9 (ESV)
Note these the elder/overseer must be one who is able (1) instruct, and (2) and is able to rebuke those who do not understand doctrine (ἐλέγχειν, elegchein). This aspect of the overseer’s responsibility parallels the command of Titus 3:10 to warn (nouthein) “an heretick”. The command to “rebuke” will also be given in 2:15.
