Titus Titus 1:1-4
The Bible gives us a lot of information about Jesus, but it gives us a lot of other info too, Paul’s letters are full of information that is good for us. I didn’t read much of this letter of Paul’s even though it’s a short letter. We are however, going to work through the whole letter because on its whole Titus provides a framework which a Christian can use to see the work of God in individuals and in the world.
Just some background: Paul wrote this letter about AD 63 shortly after his release from his first Roman imprisonment. Paul wrote this letter to Titus; verse 4, “To Titus, my true son in our common faith…” Titus was a Gentile who was led to faith by Paul. Paul sent him to Crete to continue to strengthen the church there and to lead its members to sound doctrine. Because this letter was written to encourage and direct Titus, it is a good letter for us and the entirety of the Christian church.
The first thing that is addressed is how a good Church for Christ is to be set up and led; chapter 1, verse 5, “The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town.”
A good church must be led, led by representation from the very people that make it up because they will have emotional and spiritual ties to the church. But not everyone is capable of this responsibility, Paul reminds Titus that these representatives must be mature in faith. Chapter 1, verse 6, “An elder must be blameless…” Anyone blameless? No, no one’s life is blameless. Paul means a leader of the church must be one who is blameless in the eyes of God, that is one who has accepted Christ into their life. What this is pointing to both 2000 years ago and today is people come to church for many reasons; maybe they want to learn more, maybe they come because their spouse does. And they may be a great administrator but in God’s church, one who has not taken that step of welcoming Christ into their hearts should not have authority over those who have.
As Congregationalists we know not everyone comes to Christ the same way. We accept whatever way they come to faith, but because of this, how do we ascertain if someone is among the faithful? The first and simplest way is simply ask. But Paul also instructs Titus to watch how they live to determine if they hold to Christian ideals; chapter 1, verse 7, “…he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.”
Let’s look at these. We already know what blameless means. Not overbearing; a church, like every other organization, is made up of people from different backgrounds and with different ideas and priorities. You may remember from when we looked at the Tower of Babel, diversity is how God planned mankind. Each different person, each different idea is important to the health of a fellowship. Paul is telling churches across time that our leaders must be able to navigate all these differing opinions without a preconceived notion of what is right and what is wrong. Each idea must be given equal and just consideration for the health of God’s church and the furthering of his kingdom.
Paul warns of being quick tempered. If we are quick to anger, we will be dismissive and will not be contemplative.
Not given to drunkenness, not violent. Leaders must be in control of their actions,
Not pursuing dishonest gain. Why are we church leaders? Is it for influence over the church, prestige in our fellowship, or is it to create a welcoming and educational place for people to come and get to know Jesus?
Chapter 1, verse 9; “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so he can encourage others by sound doctrine…” Romans 3 verses 22 & 24, “Righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe…and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” This is the core and the rock of our faith in two sentences. Paul is telling us that if you hold any other belief about salvation, you should not be a church teacher because any other doctrine is not Biblical. If we teach that you are saved by faith but you still must do … then we are taking salvation away from the cross and out of God’s hands and placing it on our work and in man’s hands. When we do this we place stumbling blocks in front of people because we set them up to always question if they did things well enough to be saved.
As leaders, if we see someone teaching other than salvation through faith and grace, we must approach them. We must demand that they stop bringing a false message to our fellowship. And if they don’t? We may have to ask them to leave.
I was a member of a church where this happened. Someone new came and over several weeks started to get people aside and tell them the minister was wrong. After several conversations with the pastor and other church leaders this person refused to stop and was asked to not come back. Asking someone to leave is hard but it may need to be done, but it should always be the last resort. Chapter 1 verses 10-11, “For there are many rebellious people…full of deception. They must be silenced because they are disrupting whole households…”
Each group, each denomination, has different interpretations of scripture and we must be careful not to banish someone over minor differences. Service on Saturday night or Sunday morning, baptism in the church or in the river, communion once a month or every week; these all fall under what Paul writes later in Chapter 3 verse 9, “But avoid controversies and arguments and quarrels about the law because these are useless.”
So how do we know if someone is a deceptive doctrine? For me, I question when they teach requirements other than faith for salvation. I question if someone preaches against love God and love your neighbor. If someone preaches injustice, hate, prejudice, or the inability to be saved because of what we do, I walk away.
Chapter 2 now addresses what the church should be teaching in addition to salvation, how to live according to Christ’s teachings and Christian ideals. These include self-control, respect, reverence, and integrity.
Jesus tells us to love our neighbors, Paul is telling us how to do that. I love my neighbor by exorcising self-control during disagreements, by treating them with reverence, by offering respect and acting with integrity during interactions. We do this because of what we’re told in chapter 2 verse 11, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” We treat each other with these Christian ideals because we are all the same. No matter our family, country, lifestyle, hopes or dreams; we all are equal in a sinful nature. And the same way, we are all equal in God’s offer of salvation. No one born is excluded from the offer of salvation given through the cross. Jesus, by his death for sin has made us all equal so we should treat each other as equals all for the sake of the Gospel.
In chapter three Paul reminds us that at one time we were disobedient and subject to the pulls and desires of the world. He reminds us we lived in malice and envy; both hating and being hated by others. Chapter 3 verses4-5, “But when kindness and love of God our savior appeared, he saved us, noy because of the righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy…”
We are saved because God wants us to be with him for all eternity. How glorious, but this is not all. We are saved so we will interact with others while absent of hate, envy, pride, or malice. We are saved so we will interact with others with the same mercy and forgiveness we are given by God. Chapter 3 verse 8, “…so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.”
Titus asks us the question; how seriously do you consider your belief in God in the overall reactions of your life? Sometimes each of us can find it difficult to see how the person, nature, or doctrine of Christ should be infused in all aspects of our life.
Paul writes how a church that preaches sound doctrine will see results in the lives of its people. So as Paul taught Titus, we are also taught. As Titus shared the message and faith of the gospel with others, so we must share them too.
As Congregationalists, as Christians, to maintain a healthy church each individual and their ideas must be given due and proper consideration and contemplation. We must accept that salvation is through, and only through Jesus and the cross. This is and must be the core of our doctrine. We are given salvation to spend eternity with God and so we will turn and treat others in the same way God treats us. We are given salvation so we will know we are all equal in sin, and all equal in God’s offer of salvation. We are given salvation so when we engage with others, we will replace envy and malice with respect and reverence.
And last, through his letter to Titus, Paul teaches his colleague, the church, and the ages that our beliefs, our doctrine, impact every decision, and are infused in every aspect of our lives.
Amen.