Saturday I am presenting a workshop at the Family Bible Conference in Grand Rapids. Titus 1-2 will be covered by Jim Shemaria and Mat Loverin, I have been assigned chapter 3. I started by ignoring verses 12-15 (travel plans), although verse 14 has the same themes as the rest of the chapter. I further narrowed my text by placing verses 1-2 with the end of chapter 3, as a conclusion to the central ethical section of the book. Initially I thought this would make my job easier, but verse 3-8 are a densely packed theological statement which serves as a foundation for the ethical section. Paul is essentially saying “Since we have experienced such a great salvation, we therefore ought to live in this way…” This is my introduction, I will return to this topic over the weekend.
The problem Paul addresses in the letter of Titus is the potential for teachers to arise from within the church who teach bad doctrine and are not living an exemplary life. In order stave off the sorts of which Timothy has in Ephesus, Titus is told to appoint men to the office of elder who are qualified for the position doctrinally, but also men who are of good reputation and will not bring shame to the churches on Crete.
Is this the right way to think about ethical and moral living? We should behave properly because the world watches us and is either drawn towards Christ because of our consistency, or they are driven away because of hypocrisy. One of the biggest factors in the anti-church “Spiritual” movement among younger Christians is dissatisfaction with the structure of church since it seems to harbor hypocrisy. It is not hard to find examples of hypocrisy in every church and denomination, nor is it hard to find people who have rejected Christianity as a whole because of the actions of public Christians.
There is a great deal which is applicable to the church today since modern churches have the same sort of reputation problems as the churches in Crete. The members of the church are urged to live exemplary lives in terms of both the Greco- Roman world and the Jewish / Christian world. The elder qualification list in 1:5-9 begins with “above reproach” – someone who is blameless. Various social groups are addressed in chapter 2 with the same interest in what outsiders think of the members of the church. What runs through all five of these sets of commands is the idea of being “sensible.” There is a derivative of the Greek –sophron– for each of the first four categories of believers. This word has the idea of common sense, which is a cornerstone of Greek virtue. “The Hellenic model is avoidance of extremes and careful consideration for responsible action” (BDAG, citing Aristotle, EN 3.15). Common sense was “a characteristic of persons distinguished for public service,” and is used in 1 Tim 3:2 as one of the qualifications of an elder. For a woman, the word could take on the idea of chastity or modesty, also characteristics which were important to the Greek world. In fact, these words occasionally on women’s graves, praising them for their high moral character (BDAG).
In every case, this section highlights the sorts of things which would appeal to the Greco-Roman world. The moral life of the Christian in Titus 2 ought to be attractive to the outsider, drawing them to Christ not repelling them with hypocrisy. I think this might cause raise some questions, since most people think that the Greco-Roman world was rather sinful and immoral, but that is just the point. Greek and Roman writers often decried the decline of moral values, Christianity called people to reject the “passions of the world” and embrace a new kind of life.
In Titus 3:3-11, we find the reason for our living for the sake of the Gospel. Paul develops a contrast between what the believer was (before Christ) and what the believer is now (in Christ). The person who is “in Christ” has become new, they have been made alive though the washing of the Holy Spirit, and they are in fact now a child of God. Paul’s call to devote ourselves to doing good (verse eight) is simply the natural response to this change from foolish suppression of the truth to our adoption as heirs of God.