Titus 2

Introduction
 
Last week we began our journey through the Epistle to Titus.  In the introduction I asked three questions… Can churches be led effectively in a day and age where so many spiritual leaders/Pastors of churches have fallen into sin by either abusing their power and authority, living secretive and sinful lives, or depending solely on their abilities, personalities, and gimmicks?   Then I asked can a good church exist in a culture that so clearly and willingly embraces and celebrates all things ungodly and anti-Christian?    Lastly, I asked is there such a thing as good Christians who live in a highly secularized and sexualized world that is continually vying for you affection, minds, and loyalty?  I addressed the first question last week as we looked at Titus chapter 1.  Today, I will address the second question as we look at Titus chapter 2.
 
The Apostle Paul addresses these questions in his letter to Titus.  Now it is important for us to keep the context of this letter at the forefront because we need to be continually reminded who Paul is addressing when writing to Titus.  At some point Titus was chosen to appoint elders to the churches in Crete.  This was a challenge because Christian followers on the Island Crete were having difficulty living Christ- honoring lives.  Their commitment to Christ meant changing the way they lived as they transformed into the image of Christ and this was not the case.  Unfortunately, Paul receives a report that the Cretan Christians were looking and acting more and more like the pagan god Zeus than they were Jesus. In addition, these young churches in Crete had come under the destructive teaching of some so-called Christian leaders—who were Jewish born Cretans.  They claimed to follow Jesus, but they also demanded gentile Christians become circumcised in order to be true followers of Jesus Christ. These leaders were also engrossed in Cretan culture, and ended up endorsing the immoral values of Crete and ultimately creating and teaching bad doctrine which led to churches and their congregations looking more Pagan than Christian. 
 
Titus 2:1 - 8
In Chapter 1 Paul talks about the qualifications of a leader in the church. He concludes by calling out and contrasting the bad leaders and false teachers in the Cretan Churches.  Now, Paul turns his attention to Titus, the one chosen to appoint elders, and exhorts him to teach what is sound
 
Vs 1: Paul gets very personal in this verse and Titus cannot take this task very lightly.  As a leader, if he is going to identify, appoint, and train elders, he must also be above reproach in his speech and teaching.  Thus, Titus is commanded by Paul to promote living lives that reflect wholesome teaching or as some versions read, sound doctrine or sound teaching.  What are these wholesome teachings and sound doctrine?  They are teachings written and approved by the apostles.  These teachings are intended to protect the church from heresy and point churches in the right direction as how they should function in Christ-honoring ways. Paul most likely refers to the teaching of Salvation by grace through faith and the importance of living God-honoring lives that reflect the gospel they proclaim.
 
Vs 2:  Keep in mind that what we view as older men today, was probably not the same age group as we would consider old today.  Life expectancy was much shorter in the Roman empire.  So, there is evidence that Paul had in mind the age of about forty or fifty and upward.
 Paul begins by telling Titus to teach older men to…

• Be temperate – Live restrained lives, to not give in to temptations of sin and the flesh.  The word temperate suggests soberness or freedom from intoxication, but in a wider sense means wise restraint in matters that sinful humans commonly pursue to excess.
• Be honorable – Live as godly men who are well respected. Their lives should mark or line up with their character as they shine the light of Christ. 
• Be prudent – Indecisiveness, unfettered passion, argumentative, and impulsive living are all things that should be things of the past for men in this stage of life.  Since they have made Christian confession and are engaged in Christian life and service they must live self-controlled lives.
• Be grounded in sound doctrine – They are to live healthy lives, in three central Christian graces: faith, love, and patience.  These are three domains that comprise sound faith and doctrine. Titus must find, stabilize, and confirm the oldest and most mature elderly men in these congregations in all three domains so they may be immoveable in response to deviant faith and practice that Paul writes to counteract.

 
Vs 3:  Titus must address the elderly women in the same pastoral manner that he does the men. So, he says, “Similarly” or “likewise” the older women are to display Christ in their behavior and character.  In instructing, Paul points to the aspects of a Christian woman’s demeanor and presence, in both public and in private life.  They must honor God in all they say and do.  Thus, Titus is to instruct the women to honor God in their…

• Speech: They are not to be slanderous in their speech.  The sense of the word is to accuse, or to speak against maliciously.  Their speech is to be God-honoring, and edifying, not divisive and cutting.  This would include not gossiping, defaming, and speaking ill against someone.
• Character: The elderly women are not to be excessive drinkers of alcohol.  It is believed that drunkenness was a recurring problem among older women in both Hellenistic and Jewish circles. These elderly women are to honor God in the way they conduct themselves.  They are to have no part in excessive drinking or drunkenness.  Note, this does not mean one cannot partake of alcoholic drinks, it speaks to the abuse and excesses of drinking.  
• Teaching: Elderly women have a call to discipleship in the congregations. Paul speaks about this in vs 4 & 5.  We must be reminded that Jesus’s call to be and make disciples is for everyone in the church, not just for men and it is not just a few specially called and gifted persons.

 
Vs 4 - 5: Paul declares the calling and purpose for the older women of the church as they are called to teach and instruct younger women in their congregations.  This is a call to mentoring and discipleship.  Elderly women are to train and teach the younger women.  Now, some people may think that what they teach is out-of-date and archaic but let us remember who Paul is writing to.  The women of Crete were not your typical submissive, quiet, and subservient women.  They were “liberated”, carefree, and promiscuous.  Paul is encouraging Titus to exhort the mature Christian women on how to teach to respect the institute of marriage, to love their husbands and children, to be faithful, and to honor God in all they do.  When they do this, they are displaying a transformed Christian life to the outside world who does not and cannot fathom or understand why someone would choose to live this way in a “liberated” free society and culture.
 
Vs 6 - 8: In the same manner the older men are to encourage the young men to live wisely and with integrity.  Titus is to teach and live in the truth.  He is to let everything he does reflect the integrity of his teaching… practice what you preach.  Titus is commanded to let the truth speak for itself, so that nobody can criticize him and call him a hypocrite.  
 
Titus 2:9 - 15
Vs 9 - 10: It is important to note that Paul is not promoting slavery in verses 9 & 10.  Keeping in context the commands are to be looked at in the setting of ordinary daily life in the first century. The reality was that slavery was a fact of life and there was no point pretending it wasn’t. According to theologian N.T. Wright, “You could no more abolish slavery overnight in the first century than you could invent space travel. The fact that you might hope it would happen one day, and wished it would, wouldn’t justify giving slaves the impression that now they were Christians they could disobey their masters—any more than a futuristic fantasy about space travel would have justified Paul in selling tickets to Mars. The early Christians worked within what was possible at the time, while constantly lodging protests against abuses within the system and, where they could, against the system itself.”

The reality was that slaves, even though Christians, should not consider themselves as above the law. Again N.T. Wright says, “Some might think, ‘Because my master isn’t a Christian, and I am, this gives me a right to tell him what’s what—after all, I’m a servant of the King of the World and he isn’t!’ What message would that send to the watching world of Crete or anywhere else? It would indicate that this new cult was simply making trouble and ought to be stamped out. No: Christian slaves, like Christians in every walk of life, must be good advertisements, good ambassadors, for the teaching of God our Savior.”  I am not going to address the issue of slavery in the Bible, other than to say that slavery was not promoted in the NT as much as it was a reality of the time.   We will look at the issues of race and racism in a few weeks.
 
Vs 11 – 15: Since the Cretan’s have heard the gospel of grace and have been saved, they are called to live changed lives.  However, they are not called to disconnect from the world, but they are called to live in a culture and in a manner that is godly, wise, and in devotion to God. They are to influence culture, not be influenced by culture.  They are to live in the hope for their future glory when Jesus is revealed.  He gave his life so we can live our lives for his glory, he has cleansed us from all unrighteousness and he has made us his children, so we can live committed lives for Him and doing good deeds for His glory.  
 
Paul concludes chapter 2 by reminding Titus that he MUST teach the truth and encourage the Cretan Christians to do them.  He then tells him that he has the authority to discipline as necessary so do not let people take what he says lightly.   
 
Application
As we conclude today, I would like to touch on four qualities of a Church that does good according to Titus Chapter 2.  A church who takes on these four qualities not only makes an impact in the community, but it also impacts the culture and all within it.  So, I want to conclude by answering the question, “Can a good church exist in a culture that so clearly and willingly embraces and celebrates all things ungodly and anti-Christian?”  
 
A Good Church is effective in a secular culture when…

1. It is Multi-generational.  A healthy church has a mixture of older and younger members.  It is unfortunate that some churches cater only to young people.  They want to be young, relevant, and progressive.  They think a youthful church is a church that is vibrant and alive, but often churches that are oriented towards young people often lack spiritual depth, maturity, and biblical understanding.   
   
   In the same sense there are many churches who cater only to the older generation.  These churches value stability, tradition, and familiarity.  I have heard it said, and have said, “A church that consists of only elderly members is a dying church.”  
   
   A healthy church is multigenerational.  It is a church that has all age groups represented.  My hope and prayer for Southside is that we are and remain a multigenerational church.  Children, youth, young families, middle age, and elderly worshiping our Savior together is a beautiful and God-honoring church.
   
   
2. It Equips.  A church who promotes godly living is a church that is rooted in the Word of God.  One of the calls of the church is to equip the people to go and make an impact in the world for the glory of God.  This church has leadership that leads by example, has integrity, and teaches sound doctrine.  In response the church equips its member to evangelize, support missions, go on missions, values discipleship, and serves its neighbors is a healthy church, that brings glory and honor to God.   
   
   
3. It Mentors:  Just as Paul exhorts Titus to train the older men and women to mentor the younger, the church today is called to do the same.  In a healthy God-honoring church the younger members learn from the older members as they mentor, train, and disciple the younger men and women.  In the same manner the young men and women learn from, honor and mature as they are mentored by the elder.  There is a fallacy that many elderly promote that has been going around for some time and I have heard for years, these are elderly men and women who say, “I am old, and I cannot contribute anything to the church.” Or I hear some say, “I have served in the church my whole life and I am tired.  I don’t want any responsibilities in the church because I have already paid my dues.”  This is untrue and a thought that needs to be purged from the church.  To overuse a phrase that we have heard multiple times in the past year, “We are all in this together.”  I do not say this in response to a pandemic, I say this regarding the elderly and the young in the church.  We all have something to offer and we all can benefit from God’s gifting of his children, regardless of age.
   
   I was a youth pastor for about 14 years.  One of my philosophies of youth ministry has been that teenagers and children do not necessarily need young, cool, and fun youth leaders who relate to them and hang out with (although there is certainly a place in ministry for them).  They need mature men and women who have life experiences, are grounded in their faith, and who love God’s youth and children.  When I see elderly people, I do not see graying hair or diminishing hair lines I see people who have stories tell, life experiences to share, and wisdom to impart.
   
   When I think back to my time as a youth pastor in NY and PA there are some who come to my mind.  You don’t know these individuals, but I am thankful for Pat Matters, Kim Faulkner, Lee Faulkner, Dennis Wagers, Greg and Susie Hooper, Sharon Hamilton, Darlene Nygren, and Dan and Judy DeHaven.  Most of these people were in their mid to late 40s, early 50s.  I had many talks with some of these individuals because they felt they were too old to work with youth.  They felt they weren’t cool enough, they felt outdated, and irrelevant to be effective in youth ministry.  My response was ALWAYS, kids don’t need cool, they need people like you who love Jesus and love them.  I say this to you today.  We are a small church, but we have children, youth, young couples, middled aged, and elderly (we are truly a multi-generational church), so let’s all do our part by training, equipping, teaching, and growing together in Christ.  
   
   
4.  It influences: The church should influence the culture it lives in without embracing the ideology of the culture.  We live in a secular world, but this should not affect us at all.  We live in this world, there is nothing we can do about this.  We are in the world; this is where we dwell.  God has placed us here, right now.  So, as we dwell in the world, we must not take on the characteristics of this world.  We are told multiple times that we are not to be conformed to the world but be conformed to the image of Christ.  As we dwell in this world our jobs are to be salt and light.  This means we are to be influencers in the world for the glory of God and not followers.  Psalm 37:3 – 4 says, “Trust in the Lord and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”   
   
   

So, as we have seen, the answer is yes, a good and healthy church can exist in a culture that so clearly and willingly embraces and celebrates all things ungodly and anti-Christian.  It can and does continue through churches like Southside who are multigenerational, equipping, mentoring, and influential churches.  

 My challenge today is twofold, 
1.     Elderly men and women, look around… There are many young people in this building.  Pray about how you can invest in their lives and help disciple and mentor these young people to become grounded believers who live their lives for the glory of God. 
2.      Young people, look around… There are many elderly in this building who love you and pray for you.  Pray about how you can be a recipient of the life experiences, values, wisdom of the elderly in our church.