Paul to Titus (Titus 1)

Paul left Titus in Crete to manage the church.  In this epistle, Paul gives advice of what he wants done.

Paul gives guidelines of the characters of the elders.  They should be even-tempered and the husband of one wife.  This is similar to the instructions that Paul sent Timothy in 1 Timothy 3.

Here, Paul also adds that they should have believing children.  (v. 6).  This is an interesting thing to say because I have seen a number of church leaders who had children grow up and then leave their particular faith.  If we read this portion of Titus to mean that all church leaders of all time should follow these instructions as rules and not guidelines, then church leaders should have to withdraw from leadership if their children are not Christian.

Paul explains why these guidelines are necessary for Crete.  In verses 12-13, he affirms that the reputation of Cretans that they are liars, evil, and lazy gluttons is actually true.

A few other things we learn about Titus from other books:

2 Timothy 4:10 - Paul felt abandoned by Titus at his hearing in Rome.  Titus did not come to defend Paul.

2 Corinthians 8:17 and 12:18 - Paul also sent Titus to Corinth, but Titus wanted to go.

Note, an electronic search does not show Titus appearing in 1 Corinthians.  So, we can presume that Titus went to Corinth during the interlude between the two letters.

Galatians 2:3 - Titus was Greek and became circumcised anyway