Titus: Doing What is Good

Titus 3:1-5

Paul continues in his letter to Titus, a letter full of instructions on how to live a Christian life in a decidedly non-Christian environment. It’s kind of ironic that while I’m in the midst of a series on a book of the Bible I’d never really even studied before, the theme of our Bible Studies at Camp Sychar was Holy Living in an Unholy World. Sounds pretty much like Paul’s theme to Titus.

Titus chapter 3 starts with a reminder: Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good… This is hard in a culture of “I have the final authority in my life,” which is exactly what Titus was dealing with on Crete and pretty similar to the conditions we face here. Remember that there is a higher authority than you. Ultimately we all follow God, but God has placed each of us under authority.

For a moment, let’s consider the situation to which Paul is writing. Crete long held out independence against neighboring invaders, including the Greeks. It took Rome three years to “colonize” Crete, even with a pro-Roman leader in place. Crete was a fiercely independent nation. It’s no wonder that they had authority issues. The Christians in Crete were not only under Roman rule, but they also had to deal with the culture of Crete, a dishonest, indulgent culture. Paul is telling them that they have a duty as Christians to be subject to rulers and authorities, including Roman rule. Why would the Bible tell someone to be subject to pagan rule and authority? It’s the same reason that Paul told slaves to be subject to their masters, to work hard for them and try to please them. It’s not that Paul is somehow “for” Rome. It’s a lot bigger than that. I have a lot of issues with the idea of being subject to evil regimes. I look at the late Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was involved in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler: should Bonhoeffer just have been an obedient Nazi? After the war, most Nazis parroted the same “just following orders” line. How far do we take this?

Unfortunately, this is a smokescreen. The problem in Crete was not a “how far do we go along with an evil regime?” problem. It’s much more like the problem we have. I understand that our country seems to be heading in an increasingly secular direction, and I encourage Christians to be involved in the political process to do everything possible to protect our civil rights, but the real problem is often that we simply want to do whatever we want to do. We don’t want anyone telling us what to do. Obedience does not come naturally. There is a reason we have terms like “Terrible Twos” – toddlers begin a life of asserting their independence, independence that usually comes at the expense of obedience.

When I came into the United Methodist Church, I was already ordained by another denomination, but I was told that I would have to participate in the “supervised years” program that our conference has for incoming pastors. I’ll let you in on a little secret: it was the last thing I wanted to be a part of. But two good things came from that process: first of all, I met Pastor Rob Turner, who is now one of my closest friends. But the biggest thing that came from the supervised years process was that I learned obedience. I do not simply answer to myself. I answer to a district superintendent and to a bishop. In the process I came to better understand God’s call to obedience.

We say to God, “I will go where you want me to go,” but the reality is, most of us will go where we want to go, and we will stay where it’s comfortable to stay. We do what we want to do. Think about it. My main objection to raising taxes is that I don’t trust the government to use my money better than I would use it myself, and I don’t want them telling me what to do with the money I’ve earned. I see the same thing when it comes to tithing. Tithing doesn’t just mean giving some money. It means giving 10% to God. There is a reason we talk about tithes and offerings – because the tithe is what God requires, and anything above and beyond a tithe is a way to express your love to God. A good way to check your obedience level is to look at your checkbook. How do you spend your money? Or, better yet, how do you spend God’s money? It’s really all his. We are just stewards of it; God lets us use it. If you’re not willing to give God the portion that he asks for, then you are not obedient to God. Jesus was clear when he addressed the subject: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24) If you haven’t learned obedience, you can start with being obedient to God with your money.

Not only are we to be subject to rulers and authorities and obedient, but we’re to be ready to do whatever is good. Sometimes you’re ready, but sometimes you’re ready. I’ve coached various soccer teams, and you never know when you’re going to need a substitute. Once when I was coaching Andrew’s U4 soccer team, it was time for a substitute (I pretty much switched players every 2½ minutes). I looked around for the little guy who was off the field and called over to his parents, and there he was… he had crawled into his baby brother’s stroller and was sucking on a pacifier. He was anything but ready to get on the field.

One of the problems with modern American Christians is that instead of being ready to do whatever is good, we are in the baby stroller with the pacifier. I hear people complain that “I’m not getting fed.” Well, take out the pacifier and feed yourself! You’re never going to be ready to do whatever is good if you’re constantly requiring people to do everything for you.

This shouldn’t be new; even the Cretans knew this already, as Paul was telling Titus to remind them of it.  He also was to remind them to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to be gentle toward everyone. (Titus 3:2)

This is not an exhaustive list of how to live life, but these are powerful commands. Don’t slander anyone. I’ll summarize that one in one phrase: don’t talk bad about anyone. Words have power. Finish this saying: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but…” Whoever came up with that saying is full of it. Words have power to create or to destroy. Unfortunately people in this church continue to use their words to hurt others. If you don’t know the story first-hand, or if you don’t have permission to share it, don’t pass it on. But worse than this is that some of you intentionally spread lies. There are people in this community who want so desperately to be in the “in crowd” or to be liked, or for whatever reason, you’ll hear something and pass it on. Don’t. And when you hear something, consider the source. Was it first-hand? In other words, did you hear it from the person involved? If not, don’t pass it on. Do you have the whole story? If not, don’t pass it on. Do you have permission to share? If not, don’t pass it on.

Be peaceable and considerate. Be gentle toward everyone.I know people who seem to live to stir up dissent. This is not the life of a Christian. Consider others before you speak and before you act. The key here is to live out what we call the Great Commandment: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39).

Jesus goes another step – identifying the neighbor as the hated enemy. There are people who have intentionally gone out of their way to hurt me. I am praying for you. I don’t always want to, but God is giving me His heart for the people whom He loves. I know some of you have been hurt by church people, and that’s the worst kind of hurt, but your response, if you are a Christian, is love. Treat others with compassion and consideration. Be gentle. Not a bully. Not itching for vengeance.

Paul recognizes that this is a hard command, but he acknowledges that he and Titus have “been there, done that.” At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. (Titus 3:3)

“Foolish” here doesn’t mean “goofy.” It means living a life that does not acknowledge or follow God. Psalm 14:1(and 53:1) tell us: The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. If “vile ways” or “corrupt” describes you, you are a fool. Paul knew that this described his early life. We’ve already talked about obedience; our nature is disobedience to God. Paul then describes his early life as deceived. One of the biggest lies of our culture is that as long as you are sincere, then you are OK. You can be sincere and be sincerely wrong. When I was little, I really thought “they” was spelled T-H-A-Y. It sounds like it should end in “a-y” instead of “e-y.” It rhymes with “play.” It should be spelled like I thought it was spelled. But it isn’t. No matter how sincere I was, I was wrong.

And Satan, also known as the Prince of this World, is the Father of Lies, and his whole purpose is deception. He’s going to Hell and he wants to take you with him. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, and his usual method is deception. He has deceived our culture to the point where we don’t know we’re deceived. We think everything is OK. One of his main techniques is to take something good and make us think it’s the best, thus distracting us from what God really has for us.

We have a really good church. We have a pretty nice church building. We have nice worship services. And Satan loves that because, while many things are good, we are not the best we can be. Satan loves it when we settle for “good” instead of “the best.” Satan deceives us with phrases like “good enough.”

Satan deceives us by telling us lies like “You already served admirably. Now it’s your time to retire from Christian service.” Check your pulse. If you are dead, then this doesn’t apply to you, but if you are alive, you can serve Jesus. Satan deceives us by saying, “I heard this information and I really care, so I need to pass it on.” Satan deceives us by saying, “You work hard for your money, so you’d better guard it with your life.” The truth is that it’s all God’s, and, as Job recognized, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21) Satan deceives us by saying, “You’re not qualified. You’re not equipped for this.” The truth is that God doesn’t call the equipped; God equips the called. I could go on and on about the deception that hangs over us like a cloud, but I don’t have the time to hit everything. The only way to counter deception is to know the full counsel of God’s Word. Not just little snippets here and there.

And when Satan has us deceived, he enslaves us. He’s got us where he wants us, slaves to sin. We were not created to be slaves; God created us for freedom. And we are only set free by accepting the gift that Jesus Christ gave us on the cross. Galatians 5:1 tells us It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Until we accepted Jesus, we were all slaves to sin. We didn’t have any choice but to sin. But now that we have been set free, we no longer have to sin. This is why it’s not just a matter of trying really hard. We don’t need to try harder: we need Jesus. Jesus is our only ticket to freedom. Not Jesus plus. Not Jesus and anything else. Only Jesus.

We weren’t meant for a life of slavery to our passions and pleasures. God didn’t create us to live in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. (Titus 3:3) We were created by God for God.

This is why it’s vitally important to get to verse 4. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. (Titus 3:4-5a)

God did not save us because of the righteous things we did. It’s never about us being somehow good enough. It’s all about God’s mercy. Again, salvation is never Jesus Plus. It’s all God’s doing. As we continue into Communion, let’s reflect on God’s mercy.