Titus. A Big Ask
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
Lord, I am yours, I was born for you;
What is your will for me?
Let me be rich or beggared
Exulting or lamenting
Comforted or lonely;
Since I am yours, yours only,
What is your will for me?
St Teresa of Avila(1552-15820 (Book of a Thousand Prayers)
Read:
Titus 1:1-12. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour,
4To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.
5The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9He must 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.
10For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”
(Titus 1:1-12 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Every year the letter of Paul to his apprentice Titus is wheeled out during the Christmas readings. You would not have noticed it because it is lost amongst shepherds, angels and mangers. But this pastoral letter is a tough one and it deals with Titus’ tough assignment. He is being asked to establish a leadership team in a church of newly converted Christians. On top of that, he must deal with the fact that the social norms on Crete are pretty low. Where else would you would it be hard to find an Elder because the requirements were “not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain”?
I get the impression that Paul did not enjoy living among the Cretan community. He has sent Titus to finish the job of stabilizing the new church and helping it navigate what it means to be Christian in this community.
At least for Titus it was clear what a change God makes in our lives when Christ becomes our Lord in ‘Bogun Central’. Is it as clear to you how Christ makes you different to your surrounding culture?
Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash