Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness, in the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began— in due time he revealed his word through the proclamation with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior, To Titus, my loyal child in the faith we share: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you:

someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.

Reflection by Lillian Daniel

Maybe this is why, in the United Church of Christ, we don’t have bishops.

After all, have you ever met anyone who could fill this job description that Paul left behind for Titus? Who is blameless?

Now, certainly that long list of attributes is a solid one. Of course, we want our spiritual leaders to be devout and self-controlled. But blameless? That is a slippery slope.

One reason our church has avoided hierarchies is that we do not believe a church official can be blameless. We do not believe the Pope is infallible, not because we have anything against the Pope, but because no leader is perfect.

We put more faith in the workings of the Holy Spirit in community. When two are three are gathered in Christ’s name, we have a much better shot at getting it right. Based on the law of averages, there will be more spiritual wisdom in the group than in any one isolated individual.

Sometimes, when people from other traditions join our churches, they are surprised at the lack of hierarchy. They want to know what we all believe, as if it is a message handed down from headquarters. But if they stay, they come to appreciate a church where the minister is not up on a pedestal, and where we don’t even have any bishops.

But I’ll tell you what. Being a good ecumenist, I’m willing to revisit our denomination’s stance on all these issues. Just as soon as I meet someone who meets that job description.
Until then, let’s keep it real.

Prayer

God, you alone are blameless. Bless all our leaders. Be with our ministers, with our lay leaders and all those who step up to serve, lead and teach. Keep holding them to a high standard, not because they are perfect, but because you are. Amen.

About the Author

Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of the First Congregational Church, UCC, Glen Ellyn, Illinois and the author of Tell it Like it is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony.