On The Way - Episode 2: Titus 1:5-16

Welcome to On the Way where we walk through Scripture in episodes that are short enough that you can listen to them on the way to your destination and deep enough to help you on the way to becoming who God created you to be. We are being sanctified. We have not yet reached perfection. We are not yet in Heaven, but we are "on the way."

 

Today we're continuing a journey through the book of Titus in Titus 1:5-16. Last week we talked about the island of Crete. It was a terribly sinful places, but the apostle Paul was interested in investing in a network of churches there because he thought it's many harbors and central location made it an ideal place to serve as a church planting hub. The problem is that many of the leaders of the church in Crete had been corrupted by the lawlessness, deception, and sexual corruption that was so pervasive on the island. So the book of Titus is actually a letter of instructions that Paul gave to his disciple Titus about how to turn things around in the Cretan church, and Paul's first instruction for Titus was to appoint new leaders to the church. He then gave some instructions about what to look for when looking for a church leader.

 

We actually still do this today. Kingdom minded pastors are always on the lookout for people who might be called to the ministry. We're always looking for church planters and other people who can serve in strategic roles to grow God's kingdom. In fact, our leaders (in our denomination they're called superintendents) teach us how to identify potential leaders. They tell us to watch for certain personality types, for signs of a calling on someone's life, and for spiritual gifts. Then they teach us how to cast vision to those people. Essentially, we extend the Great Commission to them.

 

Do you remember the story of Eli and his disciple Samuel? When we think of Samuel we think of this mighty prophet, but before he was the prophet we think of today, he was a young disciple of another prophet named Samuel. There's a story in I Samuel three where Samuel hear's the voice of God, and he thinks it's Eli. He runs to Eli and asks him what he needs, but Eli says it wasn't him. This happens three times until Eli finally realizes that Samuel must be hearing the voice of God. Then I Samuel 3:9-10 says, "So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. 10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” This is what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to help people to recognize the voice of God, to recognize God's calling on their lives, and that's what Paul is teaching Titus.

 

So what did Paul tell Titus to look for when looking for Christian leaders, or what he calls elders? They should be mature husbands and fathers whose way of life is totally different than the Cretan culture. They were to be countercultural. They are to be known for their integrity, their self-controlled, and their generosity. They should be good teachers who oppose false teaching.

 

Then Paul said this about the ideal elder: "He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good." This instruction sands out to me. Why do the church leaders need to be good hosts? Well, we have to remember that churches in this times met in homes. This is a very practical instruction. If you're going to lead a church in your home, you should have a hospitable home. Since we don't usually do the home church thing anymore, I think we can translate this instruction to our culture. What does it look like to have a hospitable church?

 

At out church, we use the phrase "welcome home" a lot. That's because the average NewLifer lives more than 1,000 miles from where they were born. We're a very transient community, and most people who come through our doors are searching for a home. Do you have any fridge friends? Those are people who you're so close to that when they come over to your house they don't feel the need to ask permission to grab something out of the refrigerator. We want a church of fridge friends, people who feel at home at the church. We also make sure our facilities communicate the fact that we love each other. When is your house cleanest? When you're expecting visitors. We expect visitors every week, and when the come, our hope is that our posture, our environments, and out attitudes communicate love and grace to them. We think that's why Paul told Titus that the leaders of the church should be hospitable people. Here's our church's mission statement: "We encourage people to come as they are and become who God created them to be."

 

You see the current leaders of the church were circumcised. In other words they were Jews, and they were telling non-Jewish Christians that they would have to follow the Jewish laws in order to become a Christian. They were completely obsessed with Jewish myths and human commands. In other words, the laws they were enforcing weren't laws that were given to them by God at all. Over the years, oral traditions and rules had crept into the Jewish religion, and they added to the rules that God gave them. And to make matters worse, their primary motivation for enforcing these rules was money. They found ways to exploit the laws in order to make money. Titus was given the job of removing these leaders because their teachings were perverting the gospel.

 

Can you think of anyone who does this today? Who is a leader who uses the Christian title for the wrong reason, for power, for political popularity, or for financial gain? In America, politicians can get a lot of votes by claiming to be Christian. A lot of musicians start on a Christian label so they can gain popularity; then they turn their back on Christians as quick as they can. Athletes and actors looking to brand themselves as good guys thank God in acceptance speeches even though they do almost nothing to actually follow Jesus. So pastors and religious leaders have been corrupted by money and totally lost sight of the Christian mission in their pursuit of wealth.

 

Then Paul did something brilliant. He quoted a Cretan poet in order to make his point. It similar to what Paul did on Mars hill with the Greeks when he told them that their unknown God was Jesus Christ. Epimenides was actually a Zeus worshiper. He's the guy who fought with the Cretan religious leaders who believed that Zeus was mortal, and he convinced them all that Zeus was immortal. So this guy was a total Zeus zealot. In fact, he said this about Cretans, "They fashioned a tomb for you, holy and high one, Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies. But you are not dead: you live and abide forever, For in you we live and move and have our being." Does that sound familiar? If it does, that's because Paul quoted him, but Paul used Epimenides' words to talk about the Christian God. He's saying the Christian leaders may claim to be Christians, but their Cretan way of life denies Christ. If the church was going to heal, these leaders would have to be removed.

 

I think we can learn a lot from the fact that Paul quoted a Zeus worshipping poet. A lot of Christians have gotten in the habit of boycotting anything that is wrong or sinful, but the command in John 17 to be in the world, but not of the world, reminds us not to separate from the world. Is it good to use secular movies and music to teach people about Jesus? Yes. Paul did it repeatedly. But that requires Christians to be familiar with secular art, and it is the steps toward that familiarity that so often rubs Christians the wrong way. Is it good to Christian teachers to teach in secular schools? Is it good for Christians to integrate their faith into their work lives? Yes As long as we live in this sinful world, we are called to be a part of the culture we live in.

 

It’s time for Christians to stop boycotting. Christians built idols to “cancel culture” long before Twitter made it mainstream. We just called it boycotting. When I was young we couldn’t shop at Kmart or Target because of a few items they sold in their stores. We routinely stood on street corners shouting about how much God hates abortion. Not too long ago Christians were encouraged to boycott the Muppets because of a joke they told, Star- bucks because they used a red cup, and PetSmart because they didn’t say Merry Christmas. This list goes on and on. The goal of Christianity isn’t to completely separate from a sinful world—the goal is to shape that world.

 

And that concludes the first chapter of the book of Titus.

 

If you're getting together with a group to discuss this episode, we've include some discussion questions in the show notes, and if you have time, spend a few moments in prayer before your gathering. Ask God to use these passage to form you into the person He created you to be.

 

Thank you for joining me for this episode of On The Way. Next week we’re going to go through Titus 2:1-10. Here are the discussion question for this episode: