Jump Start # 1601

Titus 3:1-2 “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.”

Preaching isn’t always teaching new truths, in fact, there isn’t anything really new. The old, old story must be told over and over. In doing this, some lessons, some truths must be repeated to the same people. Sure, we’ve heard this before, but we need to hear it again. This is the idea behind our verse today. Remind them.  Peter uses the same thought in his epistles.

We need reminders because we forget. Living in a world that is disobedient to God we can get caught up in that spirit and forget that we are to be different. We are to be submissive, obedient and gentle.

We need reminders because life can get ugly and we often feel like fighting back. We can only take so much and when we have reached that limit, we so easily can forget all that we are. Remind them.

We need reminders because walking with Christ is a choice. These actions, submissive, obedience, gentleness are all choices that we must make. The natural thing to do is often not the direction of Christ. So we must always be thinking. We must always understand the choices. Remind them.

The Common English Bible words our passage as: “They shouldn’t speak disrespectfully about anyone, but they should be peaceable, kind, and show complete courtesy toward everyone.”

Paul is teaching what Christ lived. Jesus wasn’t disrespectful to anyone. Samaritans? No. Lepers? No. Tax collectors? No. Gentiles? No. Jewish leaders? No. Respectful. Not misquoting them. Not putting words in their mouths. Not taking things out of context to make them look bad. Not lumping them all together. Not ridiculing them. Jesus wouldn’t make it in the political arena today. Mud slinging has become normal. Trash talking, mean spirited, misquoting and making the opponent look bad is the means to win votes and elections. As elections draw near, the commercials become more numerous and more offensive. The public tires of them. Once the elections are over the politicians are not heard of again until the next round of elections.

We do well to follow the steps of Jesus. These verses can easily be summed up by the golden rule. Treat others as you would want to be treated. That would manifest our verse today. Malign no one. Peaceable. Gentle. Considerate. These choices and characteristics build bridges of communication with others. It’s the rude, harsh, “my-way or the highway” attitude that shuts doors and leaves a person feeling like they have been pressured or bullied into something that they did not want to be.

I expect most of us do pretty good with these. It’s hard not to if you are learning from Jesus. Our troubles usually are found when we disagree with someone. When a conversation becomes controversial then our tone gets louder. Our speech is faster. Our words are not gentle, they become rough. We have less patience and less consideration for the other person.

Consideration for all people does not mean look the other way. It is not the New Testament’s version of tolerance. It’s not those at all. It’s understanding where a person is coming from. Not everyone sees truth as quickly as you did. Not everyone understands. Some have decades of error that they must work through. Some have been told things that can not be supported Biblically. That’s a journey they must work through to discover the truth of God’s will.

Here’s one tough one for many folks. In the New Testament, the church sang. There are 9 verses in the New Testament that shows the early church singing. Simple truth. Many understand this. For many, this is normal. This is the way they grew up. But for tons of others, they have never even thought about this. They grew up with churches using organs and today the church has a full band. The music is lovely, exciting and a huge part of the worship experience. Some places have full time music directors whose job is to keep the music lively and cutting edge. To tell these folks that the church never used instruments in the N.T. is so radical, foreign and odd, most can’t believe that you’d even bring up that subject. It praises God, doesn’t it. That’s how many see it. Why fuss about something so insignificant as this? Don’t you have anything better to do?

But it is a matter of worshipping the N.T. way. If one is to follow God’s will, they must follow it. God never told the church to make music, He said sing. We understand the difference between band class and choir class. A student that shows up with a trumpet at choir class is laughed at. But the guy who goes to band class without an instrument is also laughed at. Band and choir are two different classes. One plays and the other sings. We get that. We know that. In the N.T. the church sang. But how about all those Psalms, like 150, that names specific instruments and it says to praise God with those instruments? Right. It certainly does. That’s not the church. Back in the Psalms they were still sacrificing animals, waiting for the Messiah, and traveling to Jerusalem three times a year. Different law. They worshipped on the Sabbath, not Sunday. To be like that early church, to imitate the churches of Judea as the Thessalonians did, a congregation will drop the instruments. History agrees with the N.T. The use of instruments in worship did not become a part of the church until hundreds of years later.

All of this is to remind ourselves what Paul told Titus to remind his people to be considerate of others. Learning truths takes time. Don’t be ugly with those who do not get it. Teach. Show. Illustrate.

Some will say, “there is no passage that says you can’t.” Right. God doesn’t have to say “Thou shalt not, for something to condemned.” He tells us what He wants. You will not find a passage that says, “Thou shalt not have soft drinks for the Lord’s Supper.” It’s not there. What is there, is what Jesus used. Following Jesus will lead us to doing what He did. God doesn’t have to name every beverage in the world for it to be condemned. He states what He wants. We understand this in life. We go to get our oil changed in the car and it’s understood that is what we want done. If the guy, on his own, decided to change our headlights, wiper blades, change the transmission fluid and presents a bill of over $400, we’d flip. We’d declare “I never asked you to do those things.” He’d say, “You didn’t tell me not to.” Oh, we’d have issues then and there. We get this in life. It works the same with God. The Lord never said “make music.” The church was told to sing. They did. Is it wrong to include instruments with our singing? Is it wrong to add things to what God says? Where do you stop? Who decides? Is it wrong for the guy to add things done to our car when we want an oil change? Cain worshipped different than what God wanted. Was God happy with him? Aaron’s sons, used a different fire for the sacrifice. Was God happy? They died because of that. Remember in Revelation, we are told not to add to nor take away. It’s a fact the early church sang. Now, can I be content with that, or must I start adding and changing that.

This is just one simple illustration. What music did the church have in the First Century? The answer is singing hymns to God. Anything different than that is not what was done in the original church. Now, given that fact, what am I to do with that? Fuss? Argue? Be submissive and obedient? Ignore the facts? Do what I want? Do what everyone else wants? Do what God wants?

Be considerate is kindness in action. It’s not tolerating things that are wrong but neither is it busting a guy over the head with the Bible. Show. Teach. Illustrate. Prove. Let the Bible work on a heart. Let a person see the pattern of God in the Bible.

Be considerate…great words for us to live by.

Roger

Jump Start # 1492

Titus 3:1-2 “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing consideration for all men.”

  Our verse today comes from the pen of Paul. He was writing Titus, a preacher. Here he gives a list of things that Titus needed to preach on. These are the things that the apostle felt the brethren needed to know. This list opens a window that so many of us have wanted to know and see. What was worship like in the first century? What kind of sermons were preached? Here, we get an indication.

Paul’s list includes eight topics. These are reminders. These are things that they ought to have known, but needed to be encouraged about. We forget. We get busy. We put the important things on the back burner. From these topics, we assume that Titus preached his sermons.

There are some thoughts from this:

First, the list is practical Christian living. Doctrines concerning resurrection, deity of Christ, fulfillment of prophecy are not in this list. Neither is contextual sermons. Paul didn’t list, “Teach Isaiah.” Those things are important. But here, we find the very application of our Christian lives. Our relationship with others seems to be a running theme through all of these topics. And topical, seems to be what these things are. There are some who downplay topical sermons. There is a thought that going through a book of the Bible, verse by verse, or chapter by chapter, is far superior preaching. Some even look at topical preaching as fluff and simplistic. I find those thoughts odd when I see Paul’s list here. There is a place for contextual studies and preaching but at the end of the day, how one lives their faith is most important. Here in this list are the concepts of subjection to others, obedience, attitudes such as gentleness and peaceable. Very topical. Very practical. Very needed, both then and now.

Second, it would be good if one looked at their congregation and came up with a list of what these folks need. This would be a great exercise for the shepherds of a congregation. Our people need to be reminded of what? Paul’s list makes one wonder if some of the brethren were becoming rebels, or rising up against the government. The response is to be subject, obedient, peaceable, gentle and not malign anyone. This list sent to Titus, would not be the same that the Corinthians needed. Each congregation has a unique makeup and problems that need to be addressed.

Third, Paul included in this list, “Be ready for every good deed.” That topic seems to come up often in this short book. In chapter two, Paul wrote, “who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” Then, later in the third chapter, “Our people must learn to engage in good deeds…”  Paul was sure interested in the brethren doing good deeds. Idle Christians, lazy Christians, are not a asset to the world or the kingdom. Get busy. Get busy doing things for others. Serve others. Devote your life to helping others. Shine your light that God has given you.

It seems helpful for the leaders of a congregation, the shepherds, to give a list of things that they feel need to be preached to the preacher. Let the shepherds and the preacher work together as a team. Help one another in the work for the kingdom. Some of us preachers like to preach about what we like to preach about. That may not be what the congregation needs. The team concept goes a long way in developing unity, peace and love within the congregation. Everyone has a role. The preacher and the elders are not two separate avenues within a congregation. They ought to be so close together that there is a wonderful spiritual partnership in growing and developing the congregation. When the elders and the preacher are not on the same page, conflicts and mixed messages can result.

We are not told how Titus felt when he read this passage. Did he sigh and think, “I don’t want to preach on these things?” Did he ignore what Paul said? Was he thankful for the suggestions and then got busy working on ways to present these ideas?

Practical Christian living is so important. The issues that keep folks up at night are not the differing theories of Christ’s return. People are worried about their kids and their jobs. They feel stretched and strained. Their schedules are full and life seems to be racing on. Priorities get mixed up. We don’t have much time for one another any more. Our souls are given quick little bites here and there and we hunger for more. We worry about safety. Fear is what keeps people awake at night. Worry is what keeps folks awake at night. Faith building lessons that deal with the storms of life will help us.

Looking at Paul’s list of what he wanted Titus to teach and preach, comes the thought, what do you need to be reminded of? That’s not the same as asking, “What do you want?” A study of mid-evil Christianity is fascinating to me, but not very useful today. What do you need? Have you thought about that? Have you looked at your life as Paul looked at that congregation? Paul came up with a list. I believe the list was determined by knowing what was going on. What list would you have for yourself?

Once you make such a list, then you now know what you ought to be studying and working on. Your list are the things that will help you the most. Give it a try and see what you come up with.

Remind them…we need to do the same.

Roger