Day 213

Titus 3

Never shun good deeds

Key Verses: 3, 5, 9, 14

When Christ is in charge of our lives, some things get surrendered. It is like when we go through an international border and pass through customs. Some things can’t go through; you must leave them at the border or you can’t come into the new country. Some things are incompatible with the Christian life. They aren’t requirements to get in, grace is what gets us in, but grace washes and renews us. Grace gives us the strength to leave some things at the border.

So what does this mean in practical terms? Jesus loves us enough to change us. Jesus loves us enough to work the dysfunction out of our lives. We have eternal life; now we need to live like we do. We are citizens of heaven; now we need to incorporate our new citizenship into our daily routine. As Paul says other places, we must put off the old man and put on the new man. We must devote ourselves to doing what is good.

To carry the customs image a little further, we declare what we have at the border. We confess our sin as part of our entry into the Kingdom. Some people spend a long time at the border and some move quickly through customs. For some it can take months, or even a few years, to really come clean with God and others. Remember, they are still standing in the new country when they are at the customs station. They don’t get to enjoy all the benefits that come, but they are still standing on Kingdom soil. When we don’t come clean, we are the ones who suffer. Confession really is good for the soul.

One of the things that Paul warned his young son-in-the-faith about was getting sidetracked with arguments about theological non-essentials. Some people major on minors, and minor on majors. They spend all their energy figuring out something that really doesn’t matter, and then they are bound to defend and justify their expenditure of energy. Some people today get wrapped around Jewish roots of our faith, and that Jewishness becomes what is important rather than Christ. Others carry the “once saved always saved” banner to the exclusion of all other Truth. Or maybe “King James only”, or the “Baptist” banner. Put them all down and center on Jesus crucified and resurrected. Do those things matter? Yes, about as much as the color of the border guard’s eyes.

When someone becomes divisive, always wrapped up in arguments, Paul says we should take steps to correct them. We don’t try to correct their theology, but warn them about their divisiveness. After two failed attempts we cut them off. Paul says to have nothing to do with them. It is almost like we treat them as if they are still at the border crossing, as if they never properly entered the Kingdom. That is because being divisive is incompatible with the Christian life.

Walk away from such arguments, and those people who continually argue about non-essential matters. Warn them, and then walk. We don’t want to be unproductive. Let’s not argue about whether planting seed with your right hand or lift hand is correct. Plant the seed! Get on with God’s work. Make a difference. Do what God has called you to do.

Doing good will provide for those with urgent needs, the poor, widows and orphans, and cause us to be productive. We won’t be focused on ourselves. We will focus on the Lord and on the needs of others.

Day 212

Titus 2

Order life to doctrine 

Key Verses: 2, 3, 7-8, 12

Some issues in life don’t change over the millennia. Self-control, addictions, and rebellion plagued the ancient world. They plague our modern world as well. What is different is that Paul tells Timothy to point these shortcomings out to his congregation. Corrective teaching is important. We shouldn’t let sin ride, in other’s lives or in our own. I am pointing them out to you. Get control of yourself. Don’t let self be the driving factor in the way you conduct your life. Think of others first. Do what honors Christ.

We have many more addictions than the ancient world. Paul focuses on alcohol because it was so readily available. Oh, alcohol seems to be readily available and culturally acceptable today. Maybe alcohol consumption is an issue for us in our day and age. Frat parties never seem to get out of hand. Date rapes don’t seem to happen when alcohol is consumed. We don’t have drunk driving fatalities. We don’t wake up in the morning regretting our evening’s activities. Or do we?

Having lived the last 35 years sober, I can tell you I don’t miss the buzz. Or the after effects. I have learned to relax, to enjoy people’s company, to have fun, and all without alcohol! I know it sounds crazy, but it is true. You can have fun without it. You can take the edge off without “just one”.

But not drinking will mean you have to learn to deal with life! Pain, sorrow, suffering, unanswered questions, sins, regrets, obligations… joy, exhilaration, ecstasy, peace, calm, contentment, fulfillment. Alcohol flattens our lives. And being a depressant, it pushes us toward experiencing the darker emotions more, the very emotions we are trying to avoid! We are caught. Catch 22!

Read those first eight verses again. Don’t they sound like something we need in our culture, maybe even in our own lives? Verses 7 & 8 have been a driving force in my life for the first thirty years of my walk with Jesus. I guess I will have to find a different verse, since now I am no longer young! Maybe you could adopt these verses so I can let them go! Someone needs to live them out. Memorize them. Chew on them. Apply them. Don’t be satisfied with your life until your life matches the ideals laid out here.

God’s grace teaches us that there is something better, something worth reaching for, worth giving some things up for. Grace opens the door to more grace. Grace opens the door to Christ’s Second Coming, and our participation in that event. Grace opens heaven and the total fulfillment that heaven will bring.

Will you make the choice today! Will you follow wholeheartedly!

Day 211

 Titus 1

Sound doctrine silences error 

Key Verses: 5, 9, 13-14, 16

Every group of Jesus-followers needs structure. They can exist for a short period without structure, without leadership, without an acknowledged leader, but not for long. When small groups are connected to a larger group, say flowing out of and tied to a large church, they can work, and work well. But in the absence of that connection to a larger structure, they often disintegrate. OR they grow to the point that structure emmerges.

Human beings are wired for structure, and God designed structure into the Church. So those who say, “I can be a Christian without going to church” are sorely mistaken. We need to be connected, under authority, and accountable. Paul shows this my telling Titus to set up just such a structure in Crete. It was part of his unfinished business that he wanted completed.

Now the character of a leader is important, if we are being asked to join the structure, and so Paul lays out briefly some qualifications. I think this is where people get side-tracked. They have been part of an organization with unqualified leadership, and that leadership failed to live up to their expectations. And so now they reject leadership. Or the pervious leaders came a little too close to home with their preaching, and conviction caused them to run rather than to repent.

Paul faced a group of people who decided to gather followers to serve themselves and not God. They saw leadership as a way to get rich. Their particular teaching centered around the need to keep the Jewish ceremonial rituals as a means to gain God’s favor. Of course this is contrary to the Good News, that Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection brings God’s favor. But that didn’t matter to them. They just wanted to be in the limelight.

Paul has some very harsh words for these deceivers, doesn’t he! Sometimes strong words are needed, getting right to the heart of the rebellion. Sometimes we leave churches because we don’t like what the preacher has to say. Perhaps they were speaking to our heart, our rebellion, and we didn’t want to listen to the Spirit. And so we switched churches. I am sure we came up with a good reason, one that sounds good to those who ask, something spiritual.

But the real reason is that didn’t want leadership in our lives. We want to be in charge of our own destiny. But have our actions improved since we threw off the “poor leadership”? Is our life more in line with the character of God? Or are we slipping, slowly into self-deception and disconnection?

Sound faith includes structure and connection. Don’t try to be a lone ranger. Even he had Tonto!

Day 211.00

Titus 

1. Sound doctrine silences error 

2. Order life to doctrine 

3. Never shun good deeds

Acrostic Theme: Son

Author: Paul the Apostle

Date Written: 63-66AD

Audience: Titus

Key Verse: 3:8

Outline:

Introduction (1:1-4)

I. Instructions Concerning Church Organization (1:5-16)

II. Instructions Concerning Christian Conduct (2:1-3:11)

Conclusion (3:12-15)

http://executableoutlines.com/ti/ti_00.htm

30Aug 2011 Titus 2:2

²Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

One of those milestones came to me recently. I had a birthday! When I was young, I couldn’t wait for a birthday. I have a young friend who is 6 ½ and is so happy not to be just 6 anymore. We rush toward the next birthday with abandon. At my age, I am not rushing anywhere! This verse points out the general change that age brings; we should become more evenly tempered as we age. Some of the rampant enthusiasm dies with age. I miss it! But I also like the more even ride my life is taking at this moment. I don’t have all the vicissitudes of youth. My life is not changing as radically moment by moment as it did when I was young with on again, off again relationships and hormones. Paul is encouraging leaders in the Church to reflect godly character. As I become an elder, both by age and by position in the church, my life needs more stability in order to lead by example. We need leaders who are stable, not moved by sudden shifts in culture or temperament. We need to know our leaders have stood the test of time, that this “isn’t their first rodeo,” that they have made it through other difficult times. I miss the days of no aches and pains, but I wouldn’t give up the lessons learned and the wisdom gained for lack of aches and pains.