OPEN: The popular author Robert Fulghum once wrote in the Kansas City Times, “Most of what I really need to know about life… I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but it WAS always taught in the sandbox at nursery school. These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody . . .
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.”
APPLY: Can’t get much simpler than that, can you?
If everybody lived like that, life would be more pleasant wouldn’t it?
And, as I was reading over the passage for today’s sermon, it occurred to me that the things Titus was supposed to teach the Christians in Crete were fairly basic instructions for good behavior as well:
Exercise self-control
Don’t steal
Don’t lie
Don’t gossip
Don’t get drunk
Obey people in authority over you
Be good workers in the workplace
Love your family
I could preach entire sermons on each of those topics… but I shouldn’t have to.
Everybody knows Christians should behave themselves like this.
I mean, these principles are so simple - so basic - that every Christian should live in this way.
ILLUS: There’s a comic strip called “Dilbert” in the Newspaper - he once observed:
“I decided to start a discount religion. The tithing would only be 5% and I’d let people sin as much as they wanted. The only problem is that I don’t want to spend time with anyone who would join that sort of religion.”
The way the Bible teaches us about Christianity, this is a religion that people should want to join because of the basic moral life that is taught. The kind of lifestyle Paul described in Titus 2 should be par for the course with believers. Preachers shouldn’t have to preach those kind of topics in churches.
It should come naturally to all of us… but apparently it doesn’t.
Titus was instructed by Paul to preach about these things in the CHURCHES in Crete. He’s to preach to CHRISTIANS on these topics.
Now, why would preachers HAVE to talk about such topics?
Well, because Christians… tend to forget.
We tend to forget how critical it is for us to live godly lives.
ILLUS: In a recent survey conducted amongst young people, one researcher heard these comments from college students on various campuses:
“Christians go about things in an unChristian manner.”
“They have forgotten the point of what it means to be a Christian.”
“The faith has gotten off track with the teachings of Jesus.”
This was a repeated theme from many of the youth they interviewed.
And it goes to show that many “Christians” forget what it is to live like Christians.
Why do they forget? I can think of two basic reasons:
1st - We live in a pagan world
Titus was preaching on Crete. And the isle Crete was populated by (pause…)“Cretans”.
Paul wrote that “Even one of their own prophets has said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith” Titus 1:12-13a
You see, the Christians living on Crete were surrounded by people were notorious for being pagans.
The men were apparently known for getting drunk, and lacking self-control. The women seem to have been known for gossiping and neglecting their families. Slaves were guilty of lying and stealing.
And everybody showed disrespect for their rulers and authorities.
When you live in a pagan culture, it becomes easy to fudge a little. When you’re surrounded by people who tell dirty jokes, it’s hard not to laugh. When you spend time with people who curse, it’s hard not to pick up the practice. When you’re surrounded by friends who drink, it’s difficult to refuse a glass
When you spend time in a school or an office where people cheat to get ahead, it’s hard not to do the same thing because if you don’t – you might lose out.
And so on…
It’s called peer pressure, and it’s happened to better people than you or I. We live in a pagan world and we sometimes find ourselves being drawn into pagan way of life and we can thus forget the importance of living godly lives.
2nd reason we tend to forget to live Godly lives is that we tend to confuse “good doctrine” with good Christianity.
It’s possible to know all there is to know about good Bible doctrine and still offend God.
You can go to Bible College and graduate the top of your class.
You can have a Masters in Theology and know the entire Bible by heart.
You can even get to be a Bible College professor… and still live like a pagan.
And there are Christians who do just that.
They’ve got all their theological ducks in a row… but they fail to live like Christians.
ILLUS: I remember once being in a board meeting years ago. One of the Elders was a retired preacher. During that board meeting, the ex-preacher didn’t get his way on something – he lost his temper, threw a fit, and stomped out in an angry tear-filled huff.
I was flabbergasted.
When I talked to one of the other Elders about it, he replied, matter of factly, “Oh, yeah, he does that every once in a while.”
Really!???
This wasn’t a one-time event.
This was a continual way this man dealt with conflict.
He knew good doctrine.
He’d been a preacher (I talked with people who had known him)
But he thought his position and his deep knowledge excused bad behavior.
It didn’t.
Sound doctrine should result in godly living.
Paul told Titus “You must teach WHAT IS IN ACCORD with sound doctrine.” Titus 2:1
In other words, he was to teach people that sound doctrine should effect the way they lived.
Sound doctrine should make people live in such a way that “no one will malign the word of God.” (Titus 2:5) “… so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” (2:10)
But Christian too often forget that.
There are churches across America that are littered with the damage done by people who could quote you chapter and verse on any Biblical doctrine… and yet they’ve thrown a fit when they couldn’t get their way and split churches and destroyed the faith of many.
They have confused sound doctrine with good Christianity.
They’d not realized: If you don’t live sound doctrine… you don’t believe sound doctrine.
If your behavior (or mine) doesn’t reflect the God we serve… we’ve failed.
Now, you might say… “yeah I know somebody like that! I know somebody who has behaved badly and they were a real jerks, etc.”
But if you think like that, you miss the point.
This isn’t some spiritual game of “tag, you’re it”.
We should never be into saying “gotcha” when another Christian fails.
Paul told Titus he was to “rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith” Titus 1:13
Even when rebuking Christians who had stumbled Titus’ objective was to restore them to sound Christian living.
You see, sound doctrine should be able to develop holiness in … ME!!! (not that person over there). Holiness is God’s objective here.
ILLUS: Back in 2006, Barna Researchers did a survey to find out what people knew about holiness. To their surprise, they found that “though the Bible talks a lot about holiness, most adults are confused and even daunted by the concept.”
Only one in 4 of the Church goers they interviewed believed they were holy.
And when asked what holiness meant, the most common answer was “I don’t know!”
So, what does “holiness” mean?
(I asked for some answers but even after my having taught on this in the past, very few seemed to remember. Boy, do I feel inept).
There are theologians try to make this a difficult theological concept. They’ll use long deeply spiritual phrases to make it seem “religious”… but holiness is actually a very simple idea.
It can be summed up in two easy words.
Holiness means: “set apart”
ILLUS: For example, Dave (our piano player) was “set apart” from the rest of you as played for our singing. Ben is set apart because he is back in the sound booth. They were both literally “holy” this morning because they were separated from the rest of us.
When we’re saved, God sets us apart from the rest of the world. He sets us apart for special blessings, and ultimately He will give us the best blessing of all – we’ll get to go to heaven. He separated us from the rest of those in this world – not because we’re better than anyone else – but because we made a decision to belong to Him.
In response to God’s kindness in setting us apart for these blessings, God want us to live lives that are set apart from how other people live.
Titus 3:3 says “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.”
That’s how we used to live.
We were driven by own selfishness and ending up being deceived and enslaved by sin and controlled by anger and hate.
Now look at verses. 4-5 “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. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”
God has set us apart to live a different kind of life.
Now, listen to what Titus 2:11-12 tells us: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age”
You see: when we’re saved God’s grace steps in and teaches us how to live. His Grace prompts us to be uncomfortable around ungodliness and worldly passions.
We find ourselves saying “no” to more and more things we used to enjoy.
And then, God’s grace starts showing how pleasing and exciting holy living is. We start feeling good about being good like we never did before.
ILLUS: It’s kind of like the conversation between a man and his boss.
He said his boss finally quit smoking.
“When I asked if he felt better after he stopped, he replied, ‘Definitely. I feel better now when I feel bad than I used to feel when I felt good.’”
That’s what God’s grace does in our lives.
He makes us feel better now – even when we feel bad – than we used to when we felt “good”.
Now there’s another aspect of holiness we shouldn’t overlook.
As I was examining this text, it struck me as odd that the older women were singled out. It almost seemed like they were being picked on.
Older men are told to behave themselves.
Younger men are told to behave themselves.
But the older women… well, look for yourselves:
“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. 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, so that no one will malign the word of God.” Titus 2:3-5
The older women were singled out for much more extensive instruction than the older or younger men. Why?
Then I realized the older women weren’t being picked on… they were being singled out for a great honor.
Just a few verses before this, Paul tells Titus that an Elder should “… hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. Titus 1:9
Now, we read that older women should do roughly the same things with younger women.
They are to 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
God is telling the older women: I trust you to do a very important task in my church… a task that is very much like the one Elders are to do.
Now, here’s my point:
One of the tools God gives us for attaining holiness – being set apart from the world – is the assistance of other Christians in the church.
Holiness is hard to do… if you try doing it all by yourself.
You need other Christians to help you.
That’s why the writer of Hebrews declares: “… let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another— and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25
Now Titus tells us that this is the specific job of Elders and older women in the church.
But Hebrews tells us that this kind of thing should go on church wide.
That’s why it is so critical for you and I to involve ourselves in things like:
Sunday school
Bible studies
Men’s Prayer brkfst
Mission work
Golden Agers
The list could go on and on.
The more you get involved with other Christians in fellowship the more you increase your ability to be holy for God.
Now, I didn’t say “holier than thou”.
I didn’t say your objective is to be “Better than everyone else/ more righteous than the next guy”
This is not about increasing stroking your ego.
This is all about living so that “… so that in every way (you can) make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” Titus 2:10
CLOSE: Paul Thigpen told about one of his college buddies at Yale. The guy was a devout Christian and a member of the campus fellowship. He was also a skilled athlete and was chosen captain of the football team.
It was an old Ivy League tradition that the team captain should be welcomed into a prestigious “secret society” on campus. But the group had a reputation for immorality, so Paul’s friend declined the invitation.
This decision puzzled many in the university community. Once his reason became public, his stand started countless conversations among students about the nature of faith commitment.
“In one bold stroke, (Thigpen explains) my friend had scattered seed all across Yale’s campus.”
Thigpen went on to say: “People notice the coworker who leaves the room whenever the conversation turns to gossip or inappropriate jokes. They respect the person at the office party who politely refuses liquor and still has a good time. Such small but visible acts of integrity born of faith often prompt curious inquiries.
("Evangelism by the Ounce" The Christian Reader July/ Aug. 98 p. 72)
