Titus Connection Volume 20 #9 September 2026
WISE INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
TITUS CONNECTION
Volume 20, Number 9 – September, 2026
Intentionally Developing Multigenerational Leaders
Throughout The World
How often have you considered comparing your life to a plumbline? What is your standard you have set to see if you are doing the right things and how you live your life? That is the paradox discussed in the following article. Mike
Leadership Paradox – Timely versus Timeless
In construction, a worker uses a level to determine whether what is being built is vertically and horizontally straight. If off ever so slightly and that discrepancy continues, you can end up with one very crooked wall or building. Or worse, the structure falls.
In place of a level, people have used plumb lines to determine the straightness of a structure and to determine the distance to the bottom. There may be familiarity with plumb lines from Amos 7:7-8, “Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ I answered, ‘A plumb line.’ And the Lord replied, ‘I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins.”
Amos was shown a plumb line that God was using to determine the morality of the Israelite people. The wall the plumbline was being matched up against, revealed the wall was not straight up and down, signaling Israel was morally failing. There would be significant consequences for Israel because they did not hold up straight to God’s divine standards (the plumbline). He had run out of patience.
Here is a paradox for spiritual leaders. The moral, core values, conduct and character of leaders, timeless plumblines, are placed against opportunities and new ideas that come along in our pursuit of developing and being more innovative.
Centuries ago, maps were used to gain understanding of the known world. Trailblazers dreamt of what could be and then would make history by blazing new trails, creating new maps of the unknown. Maps were made as they went along.
Alexander the Great was a trailblazer as he led his conquering armies over known territories but also into lands where no maps had ever been drawn before. Trailblazers wrestle with relying on the past, maps or in spiritual terminology, morals, ethics, core values, and stepping into the unknown, attempting something no one has attempted before.
In 1982, Johnson & Johnson owned Tylenol that held a good share of the over-the-counter pain reliever medication market. Seven people died after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules sold in Chicago. Initially, the executives had no idea why the people died. Great panic occurred as people wondered who would be next.
Johnson & Johnson top executives knew the timeless values and core values of the company. Despite knowing they would lose a significant amount of money by taking the Tylenol products off the shelves and knowing the company had not done anything to cause the deaths of the people, they followed their morals and pulled the product. Yes, they lost millions of dollars but did the right thing. Johnson & Johnson, and the Tylenol brand did recover.
Recently, about 15 years ago, CVS Health drugstores sold cigarettes. The purpose of CVS was to help make people get better. Cigarettes were contrary to CVS’ purpose, but cigarette sales brought in a great deal of money for this company.
CVS’s leadership determined that even though selling cigarettes was extremely profitable and brought people into their stores, they would no longer sell that product. It did affect sales somewhat but today, CVS stores are more prevalent than 15 years ago.
The plumbline of one’s morals was placed against what is popular or cutting edge thinking and philosophy to determine the next steps. We face it now as the discussions on “AI” are heavy. Modern inventions and technological developments must be plumb lined against a moral standard, the paradox of timeless versus timely that Tim Elmore has delved into.
What is your moral plumbline? Is it Scripture? If so, when that plumbline is placed against the newest, most innovative mechanism or method, what wins out if there is a lack of consistency between the mechanism/method and Scripture?
Is the Bible my standard for everything I do and encounter? It is easy to say yes until the opportunity to compromise just a little bit tempts you and me. Am I willing to compromise my moral plumbline for gaining more money, more people to be involved in the idea or model I have come up with, status, fame, success, or a sin like immorality that is fun for a season?
When the moral plumbline is not compromised by a new idea, great opportunities develop from old products and their original usages. Here are some examples, Super Glue, Post-It Notes, microwave ovens, Teflon, Play-Doh, Bubble wrap, Coca-Cola, Listerine, frisbees and chainsaws. Zoom became very useful because of COVID.
As spiritual leaders our moral and ethical plumbline uncompromisingly must be scripture (1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Peter 1:15-16). Having that plumbline allows us to keep our consciences clear as we attempt new opportunities, try new methods and use new technology. Leaders delve into territories that have not been stepped into before.
In Romans 15:20, Paul wrote he would not preach the gospel where others had already been preaching, building on someone else’s foundation. He was a trailblazer but never compromised his standards.
Youth Ministry Insight – – Who Do You Admire?
I sat in a plastic chair that collapsed after sitting in it for a while. Prior to sitting down, I did not ask the chair for its history of dependability or how many people sat in it before me. I trusted that the chair would hold me up. I am a big guy but have sat in thousands of chairs and they all held me up.
What went wrong with the chair? Why did it collapse when I was the one that sat in it? Somewhere in the legs of the chair the integrity or structural stability failed.
When we interact with people, almost always we do not ask the person for their history of dependability or if they have always told the truth. We observe and little by little we begin to develop deeper trust in the person. If the person consistently is deemed reliable and trustworthy, we sense they have a good developing level of integrity, of wholeness, that is what they say, they do. Or another way, the person is the same no matter the circumstance or situation.
Why can a person trust Jesus, that He said he is God and the Savior of the world? Because He has never lied, never gone back on a promise, and His nature is truth and 100% dependable. If He said to totally rely on Him for forgiving our sins, we can accept that truth and forever never question His integrity.
In Matthew 14:22-32, Jesus walked on the water. Seeing Jesus, Peter got out of the boat to meet Jesus on the water. “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water’. ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?””
The truth of who Jesus was at that moment did not fail. Peter simply did not trust Jesus at His word and began to sink. Trust is very important not only in our relationship with Jesus but with one another. Trust is giving someone something that is valuable to you and that person respecting that value and caring for it. You believe, put your faith in the reliability, ability or strength of someone. It is the basis of quality relationships.
Who are trustworthy people in your life? Why are they trustworthy? Along with Jesus, I trust my wife Ann because she has proven herself over time that what she says she will do, she does. She keeps her word and confidences. Why is trust important?
Though you may not always agree with that person, that person is not going to burn you. You put your faith in that person that what he or she says or does will carry through. The reason why you cannot follow someone who is not trustworthy is you don’t know how they are going to react, how they will treat you, if they will compromise your confidence or not carry through on what they say, a lack of integrity.
To build trust, develop in your integrity as you are consistent with your words and actions. Show by doing things that you can be trusted. That is doing the right thing, not things right. Treat people with dignity and respect, valuing others. When you are honest and open, you indicate the value of the other person. This shows being humble that you are truly interested in another person. None of this occurs quickly. Time is needed to show others our true self.
What if you broke your trust with others. Seek forgiveness. Make reconciliations that need to be made. Over time prove yourself. Unfortunately sometimes you will not regain that trust or not to the degree you had it before.
Can you recall how you feel when someone has broken your trust? Betrayed, leery, angry, frustrated, unforgiving or not very cordial to the person? You question everything the person says or does.
After the plastic chair collapsed, the next plastic chair I sat in, I surveyed it to make sure it looked sturdy and gingerly I sat down. Even to this day, I survey plastic chairs a bit differently than before my plastic chair incident.
Are you trustworthy, a person pursuing a life of integrity?”. What evidences in your life prove your trustworthiness? Are you honest? Do you show up on time? Do you walk your talk? Do you hold yourself personally accountable for exceeding expectations? The biggest question is, “Have you trusted Jesus with your life to forgive you of your sins?”.