INTRO.- The importance of teaching.
ILL.- Teaching the child. As a crowded airliner is about to take off, the peace is shattered by a 5-year-old boy who picks that moment to throw a wild temper tantrum. No matter what his frustrated, embarrassed mother does to try to calm him down, the boy continues to scream furiously and kick the seats around him.
Suddenly, from the rear of the plane, an elderly man in the uniform of an Air Force General is seen slowly walking forward up the aisle. Stopping the flustered mother with an upraised hand, the white-haired, courtly, soft-spoken General leans down and, motioning toward his chest, whispers something into the boy’s ear.
Instantly, the boy calms down, gently takes his mother’s hand, and quietly fastens his seat belt. All the other passengers burst into spontaneous applause.
As the General slowly makes his way back to his seat, one of the cabin attendants touches his sleeve. "Excuse me, General," she asks quietly, "but could I ask you what magic words you used on that little boy?"
The old man smiles serenely and gently confides, "I showed him my pilot’s wings, service stars, and battle ribbons, and explained that they entitle me to throw one passenger out the plane door on any flight I choose."
I guess this shows that there is more than one way to teach a child about life or how to behave.
ILL.- Most of us were taught in school by teachers like our Miss Billie who had a paddle, a Bible and no telling what else on her desk.
I still laugh to this day when Billie told me about a boy who ran away from her class at school and climbed up a tree. And Miss Billie went up the tree after him!
Don’t you wish teachers taught the way they used to teach? And don’t you wish they taught the old curriculum that we were taught? And don’t you wish they taught the old way, demanding discipline from their students?
And the same principle applies to the teaching and preaching of the Word of God. Much of the old way of preaching and teaching may be better than some of the new stuff.
I’ve heard many young preachers who went everywhere preaching the word. You couldn’t understand where they were going and some of what they were saying.
1 You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
The important thing for all who teach and preach is that our material must be sound. It must be based on scripture.
PROP.- Paul tells Titus what must be taught to various groups of people in the church.
1- Teach the older men
2- Teach the older women
3- Teach the young men
4- Teach the workers
I. TEACH THE OLDER MEN
1 You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
Teach the older men. What older men? How much older? That’s debatable. Personally, I think an older man should teach the older men. And I’m getting there.
I think most of us would agree that it might be hard to listen to someone who is a lot younger than us teach us the Word of God. This may depend on his sincerity and how he comes across in his teaching.
If he’s an arrogant, know-it-all, then we won’t listen well or at all. But if he is humble, admitting his own need and error, we might be willing to listen to him.
2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
Why would you teach older men these things? In this particular case, they probably needed it. If older men are not temperate, not self-controlled, not worthy of respect, and not sound in faith, in love and endurance then they would need to be taught about these things.
ILL.- Let me illustrate. You probably know the 54 year old, American born actor, Mel Gibson. Mel produced and/or directed the movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” which millions of Christians went to see. It did a lot of good in the hearts and lives of many people. It humbled us and made us appreciate even more what Christ suffered for us.
Even though Mel’s movie “The Passion” accomplished a lot of good, in some ways, Mel has not accomplished much good in his personal life.
In 1980 Mel Gibson married Robyn Moore in a Catholic wedding. In 2009 his wife, Robyn. filled for divorce after 29 years of marriage and after having seven children. Why did she do that? Because Mel was unfaithful. They had been separated for three years prior to the divorce. And Catholics frown on divorce. Of course, they cited irreconcilable differences.
Gibson’s girlfriend, Russian pianist Oksana Grigorieva, has a son with former boyfriend, actor Timothy Dalton. On October 30, 2009, Grigorieva gave birth to their daughter, Lucia. On April 14, 2010, People magazine announced that he and Grigorieva had split. On June 25, 2010, it was announced that Gibson had filed for a restraining order against Grigorieva.
I would say that Mel Gibson has a problem, and perhaps a big problem. He has admitted before on national TV that he has been addicted to almost everything.
He needs to be taught self-control. He needs to be taught about being worthy of respect, and being sound in faith and true love.
Teach the older men but be careful what you teach and how you teach.
II. TEACH THE OLDER WOMEN
3 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. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to 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.
Teach older women. I think older women should probably teach older women, don’t you? This leaves me out.
Whoa! Wait a minute. Teach older women to be reverent, etc. I thought most older women were reverent. They are but some apparently are not!
ILL.- I don’t think anyone would have accused our Miss Billie of being irreverent. Funny, but not irreverent. However, 89 year old Helen Thomas, Journalist, White House Press Correspondent, might be accused of being somewhat irreverent.
On May 27, 2010, outside a Jewish Heritage Celebration Day event at the White House, an exchange took place between Thomas and Rabbi David Nesenoff. During that exchange, Thomas was asked for comments on Israel, to which she replied, “Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.” When asked where they should go, she replied, “home,” to “Poland, Germany ...and America, and everywhere else. Why push people out of there who have lived there for centuries?”
After that episode, Helen Thomas retired or was asked to retire. Throughout her career as a correspondent, Thomas earned a reputation for being relentless and demanding.
She is probably an example of an older woman who needed to be taught to be more reverent and respectful of others. In her business, she probably felt she had to be demanding.
Older women must not be slanderers or addicted to wine. Why would they be? Some older women who are left alone (never married or widowed) may be tempted to imbibe more than they should and talk more than they should.
Instead, they need to do good stuff. They should be engaged in ministering to others. They should teach children’s Sunday School classes, VBS, etc. They should be involved in various types of service.
ILL.- Marian Griffin, widow of Ben Griffin, told me that her mother, Epha Burton, never drove a car but was a faithful pianist at the Walnut St. Baptist Church when it was located on Walnut St. Her mother never missed a service. Also, Marian said that every Monday morning her mother would walk to visit the shut-ins and take them flowers.
How was that for a ministry for an older woman? God give us more older women like her who are interested in serving others!
Older women who have been married and raised children should teach younger married women.
4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 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.
Based on this text, I would say that some young married women need to be taught about loving their husband and their children. This should be a priority with them, but it isn’t with every young wife and mother.
New Living Translation reads: Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. When young wives don’t take care of their families they bring shame to God’s Word. They disobey God’s Word and dishonor Him.
Nevertheless, the older women who have been faithful wives and mothers should teach the young women about these things.
III. TEACH THE YOUNG MEN
6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
ILL.- The cop got out of his car and the kid, who was stopped for speeding, rolled down his window. "I’ve been waiting for you all day," the cop said. The kid replied, "Yeah, well I got here as fast as I could."
When the cop finally stopped laughing, he sent the kid on his way without a ticket. Lucky kid.
ILL.- One lady said: Our son was constantly wandering in and out of the house, leaving the front or back door wide open. "Once and for all, will you PLEASE close that door!" my exasperated wife pleaded one day. "Were you born in a barn?"
"No, I was born in a hospital," he replied, smirking, "...with automatic doors." Smart alec.
Teach the young men to be self-controlled. What’s this business about being self-controlled? Would a young man ever be guilty of not being controlled? Absolutely.
What’s the worse thing that your young son (teen or otherwise) did at home or failed to do at home that indicated his lack of self-control?
Was he:
- We he too lazy to get out of bed? Did you have to wake him several times?
- Did he do his household chores? (carry out garbage, etc.)
- Did he throw his dirty clothes in the floor instead of putting them in a clothes hamper or some other appropriate place?
- Did you have to nag him to get him to do his homework?
- Did he help to keep his room clean?
- Do young boys do any of these things at all today?
Young men need to be taught self-control so they will do what is required of them in school, at home and out in the working world.
And I’ve always heard that if they don’t learn to obey at home then they won’t obey in school, at work, and they won’t obey God either! Obedience and self-control must be taught in the home to our kids and perhaps to young men more than any.
Boys tend to be more rebellious when it comes to obeying mom and dad. Haven’t you found this to be true? It was true in me and true in my home.
7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
Titus was charged to set a good example for young men and all others. We all are examples to others whether we want to be or not. We are either good examples or poor examples.
IV. TEACH THE WORKERS
9Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
The workers in this text were slaves but the only application I can make is to people out in the working world. They should be subject to their masters/bosses/managers.
They should do what they are told to do, like it or not, and not talk back. That was the way I was taught. I was told by my dad, “Do what you’re told to do.” That’s the way to get along with your boss and also keep your job. It’s also commanded by God! The Christian person should be a good worker, not a shirker of his or her duties.
ILL.- "The hardest thing about milking cows," observed a farmer, " is that they never stay milked." That’s true for most things: cleaning house, doing laundry, preparing meals, mowing grass, and it’s true for what we do for a living at work.
Our work is never done, consequently, we must keep at it. If our work is done then we’ll be out of work. And I know that most people would prefer to work for themselves but most of the time it doesn’t happen. MOST OF US HAVE HAD BOSSES OVER US. And we’ve had to do what they told us to do. Period.
We are told “not to talk back to them.” Why would you ever do that? Probably because you had either a bad boss and a dumb boss. And haven’t we had such at times in life? It’s hard to work for people like that.
We are told not to steal from our employers. Yep, I saw that done at Safeway where I worked.
ILL.- Back in the 1960‘s several of us stocked the store at night. We went to work at 10 p.m. and worked until 7 a.m. We were locked in the store all night long and couldn’t leave. We got two fifteen minute breaks and an hour lunch break but what did we do for lunch? Some of the guys either brought something to eat or else they got something from the store and ate it. Of course, we were supposed to pay for the food we got but some didn’t pay. THAT’S STEALING.
10and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
Christian people need to be taught to work hard, be the best employee he or she can be, to be honest, and by doing these we will make God look good to those around us! But what if we are poor workers, etc.? WE MAKE GOD LOOK BAD.
CONCLUSION-------------------
What must be taught. Teaching has always been important in life and in the church. We teach by teaching and we teach by example. And both must be done in order to glorify the Lord.
Steve Shepherd, Jonesboro Christian Church, AR
jonesborochristianchurch@suddenlink.net
