It was a work in progress. Paul, at some point – we don’t exactly know when as this trip isn’t mentioned in the book of Acts – had gone to the island of Crete with Titus. Some historians believe that it would have been after the story of Acts ended because there is evidence that Paul left and later made another trip after his initial imprisonment in Rome.
In any case, regardless of when this happened, we can see that Paul had traveled through Crete, meeting a lot of people, evangelizing and reaching many. But the work wasn’t complete. Yet at the same time, Paul continued on into other locations so that he could continue to reach more.
The work was unfinished because there was more to do in teaching, and as Paul specifically notes, leaders to put into place. Titus would stay there in Crete, going from one town to the next so as to appoint elders, leaders over each of the churches that had been formed.
The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
Titus 1:5
The point here is that there are stages to the work. Sometimes we find ourselves at the point of departure. Other times, we have started because we have shared the Gospel, but there are people with whom we must continue to follow up and make disciples. There are also points at which we need to prepare to leave by working with those who are local so that they can carry on the work that we have started after we have left. And finally, a time comes when we will need to move on, continuing to do the same work in other locations.
Doing the work of an apostle, which Paul both clearly is and whom he has identified himself as in the beginning of Titus 1, we will have different perspectives of the stages of the work, depending on where we stand. Paul knew that it wasn’t enough to evangelize and leave, to share the Gospel and just move on. Instead, he worked to make sure that the local people could continue the work that he had started. This required the formalization of the communities, including discipling the believers and appointing the elders who would lead those communities. This wasn’t easy, nor always a clean process, but as an apostle doing the work, it was the process that Paul was following as he traveled from place to place.
As missional workers ourselves, we should follow his example, both sharing his goals as well as an understanding of the process that we will go through as we do the work that has been given to us.