Titus is still on the holiday island of Crete, although he’s not there for a holiday. There’s work to be done when he receives this letter from the apostle Paul. Last week, we saw some of that work - the appointing of suitable church leaders, elders and overseers, men who believe and live out the trustworthy word, who can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Now, maybe when he had done all that, Titus might have been ready to lie down on a sun lounger for a while. But there’s more to be done. Titus isn’t a church consultant, brought in to troubleshoot the problems in the church and then ride off into the sunset. Titus is a pastor, a church leader, with responsibility for the churches on Crete.
And so Titus is called to teach, not just the elders, but everyone. And, as you’ll see, it’s all very practical stuff. This is what it looks like to live as a Christian - good living, if you like. Now, I choose that sermon title cautiously. You see, round Dromore, and maybe around here as well, when someone becomes a Christian, then people talk about them, saying, oh, she’s become good living now. He’s good living, he doesn’t do all the things he used to.
Now, when I hear someone say that, I want to say, it’s not just good living, it’s the best living! But the focus is just on what they do. So, if someone is good living, then that means (in the wider community) that there’s a big list of things you don’t do.
Don Carson (a famous pastor and preacher) remembers a rhyme from his youth:
We don’t smoke or drink or chew
And we don’t go with girls who do.
Is that it? Is this what Paul is urging Titus, and every Christian to do (or not do)? But the focus is only on behaviour. And so some people think that Christianity is just a list of dos and don’ts. A new set of rules to keep. As if, if you keep all these rules then you’ll be all right in the end. But it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Look at verse 1. Here, Paul sets out what he’s bringing Titus to - his second major work besides appointing leaders. ‘You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.’ So what follows isn’t an arbitrary list of dos and don’ts. No, what’s spelled out is what godliness looks like. you don’t start with the behaviours; you start with the sound doctrine.
Recently, the news has been filled with the talks between the United States and North Korea. They’ve been on and off more times than your living room light. But hopefully, the two sides will be able to make an agreement - an accord. And it’s as if our lives and our doctrines are in this tension - do our behaviours match our beliefs? Are we consistent in what we believe and how we behave?
They don’t always match, but that’s the aim. So that our lives match our sound doctrine. Now, if you’ve been with us already in the Titus series, then that shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s what we’ve already seen in the leaders’ lives, and from 1:1 ‘the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness.’
So if you’re a Christian, how should you be living? What will it look like as you live out your faith? Paul gives us some guidelines for good living. And as he does so, you’ll notice that they are divided into different age groups and categories. Now, I’m not going to say which one you fit into - you can work that out yourself. Let’s work our way through the various groups, and to see how the gospel should be lived out in each age and stage.
First up, is the older men. Titus is to: ‘Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.’ (2)
So if you’re an older man, here’s what it will look like for you. The combination of words portrays a well-respected, reliable member of the community. Self-controlled. Both the temperate word and the self-controlled word suggest being sober, restrained, moderate. Important qualities, given the natural state of the Cretan - always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons (1:12). So here’s how they’re to be different, how the gospel brings good living. They’re to be known for faith, love and endurance - keeping going even when things are difficult.
Next, Paul turns to the older women. ‘Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.’ (3)
Here, Paul gives some positive behaviours to live out, as well as some to avoid. A bit like you’d sometimes see in a magazine - what’s hot and what’s not. So yes to being reverent, honourable, respected; no to being slanderers (or gossips) or addicted to much wine. (once again, do you see how this contrasts with what Cretans are like?). And finally, they’re to teach what is good.
So who will the older women be teaching? They’re to train the younger women. Notice that Titus isn’t told to teach them directly as such - it’s the older women who train the younger women. So, if you’re an older women, who are you training and mentoring and encouraging? or if you’re a younger woman, which of the older women are you looking to, being trained by? Or who are you being mentored by and who are you being a mentor to?
So what will it look like? Paul tells us in verse 4: ‘Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands.’
Older women who have been there, done it and got the t-shirt are to train and help the younger women in every aspect of their life. How to love husbands and children in those moments when it feels hard to do that. Being self-controlled and pure in thought, word and deed. Being kind. Now, Paul isn’t here saying that women should only stay at home, but that they’re to be productive in all that they do in the home and beyond.
Next up are the young men. They get just one word, one instruction, but this might just sum up the struggle and challenge of younger men - ‘self-controlled.’ To not be led astray by passions and desires; to control yourself. (Did you notice that almost every group were told to be self-controlled? Perhaps it’s the bigger challenge for young men).
But they have a model of what this will look like. Verse 7 is addressed to Titus: ‘In everything set them an example by doing what is good.’ Titus is to model this kind of lifestyle himself.
But more than that, Titus’ teaching is also under scrutiny - ‘In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned.’ It’s not just what he teaches, it’s also how he teaches.
Next up, Paul turns to slaves - now, these days, this would be workers, employees. So what will it look like when we’re at work? ‘Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted...’ (9-10).
So what’s your witness in the workplace like? Are you different in work than you are in church? Are you showing yourself to be trustworthy?
So, whichever category you find yourself in, there will be something here for you to work on. Because none of us could say that we’re already doing these things perfectly. Each of us need to hear God’s word about God’s way and God’s plan, and then try to put it into practice, more and more, day by day.
The question is - why? Why should we be doing these things? Why should we pursue this good living? You might have noticed the reasons that I’ve skipped over so far. Each of them starts with a so (not, that’s not s-e-w, as in a stitch - it’s s-o, so). Let’s look at them briefly. the first is at the end of verse 5:
Younger women are to live in those ways, ‘so that no-one will malign the word of God.’ That is, so that no one can say anything against God’s word.
The second so is found in verse 8 relating to Titus’ teaching: ‘so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.’ People might not like us, might oppose us, but they shouldn’t have anything they can say against us.
And the third so is there in verse 10: ‘so that in every way they will make the teaching of God our Saviour attractive.’
When we hear the good news of Jesus, about God our Saviour, and we believe in Jesus, something must change. We want to turn away from our sins and live the way God wants us to live. Other people will watch us to see how we live. To see if believing in Jesus really makes a difference. You might be the only Bible some people will ever read. You might be the only Christian they know. And they are watching carefully.
She says that Jesus is her Saviour - is it true? Does Jesus make a difference? He goes to church on Sundays - but how does he live the rest of the week? Does it change him? The way that we live can make the teaching of God our Saviour attractive to people, or it can turn them off entirely.
So that’s what Titus was to teach. It’s what we’re called to live out. But just as we saw this morning, when God tells us to do something, he also gives us the power and encouragement and help to do it. We’ll see that next week, that wonderfully amazing grace that God gives us. For now, though, in whichever category you find yourself, let’s live out our faith, what is in accord with sound doctrine.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 3rd June 2018.
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