Authentic Living
Titus 1:5-9
“Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good,
who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” vs. 8
Don’t Do What I Do, __ ____ _ ___!”
Growing up I heard this saying quite a bit and maybe you’ve heard it too; “Don’t do what I do, do what I say!” I never really liked that saying a whole lot; it just didn’t sit well with me. I guess I felt like they were telling me to be more grown-up, more adult like yet they weren’t acting that way. I have seen this coming up a lot in the news lately.
This week we saw this played out in our government. We all have seen how hard President Obama has worked to install a nationwide health care system which is affectionately called Obamacare. We saw Congress pass a bill that says they are exempt from it. They want all of us to join the program and use it yet they have decided that they don’t have too. There are probably many reasons why and we could spend a lot of time guessing what those reason are. But if you heard about this you might have felt like me. Why should I have to join Obamacare if they won’t. Doesn’t it make you just a little concerned about what is in there if they won’t join it? That just doesn’t seem fair; it feels wrong.
Recently we also saw actor Matt Damon attending rallies to “Save the public school system.” Yet, when he recently moved from New York to Los Angeles he enrolled his kids in a private school. One of the headlines read “The Bourne Hypocrisy” a take off on his movie “The Bourne Supremacy.”
You know Paul said in “1 Corinthians 4:16” to imitate him. He said that because he was confident that he was living in a way that honored God and he wasn’t afraid for people to do what he did because it backed up what he said. Let’s see what else he says about this same kind of thing in Titus 1:5-9. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.
Read Passage – Titus 1:5-12
5 The 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. 6 An 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. 7 Since 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. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He 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.
Unfinished Business
In Titus, Paul saw a leader, a pastor, someone who could continue the work of spreading the gospel. Paul was actually the one who placed Titus as a pastor in Crete as he states in verse 5:
“The 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.” vs. 5
Notice that Paul talks about some unfinished business. We saw in the opening verses of this book that Paul was addressing the lifestyle of the people of Crete. The un-churched were known for their gluttony, laziness, and dishonesty. We also know that many in the church were being influenced by Gnosticism, the idea that knowledge is power and that only a few had this “special enlightenment” and they were lording over others. There was this huge gap of separation between the church in Crete and the Cretans themselves. The unfinished business is that Titus has to help fix the false doctrine of Gnosticism and to get the people in the church to be reaching out to those outside the church and sharing their faith.
Discrepancy
There is a second thing to consider her; that those in the church may be struggling with the same issues those outside of the church are; they fall into patterns of laziness, gluttony, and dishonesty. It may sound crazy but Paul wants to put people in place who can be leaders in the church and are trustworthy. Listen again to verse 6:
“An 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.“ vs. 6
Paul encourages Titus to put elders in place. Now before you discount this because you might be thinking “I never want to be an elder,” consider that Paul is not just saying this to those who aspire to be leaders but to all who want to be seen in the world as a true follower of Christ. Paul knows better than anyone that people watch you. People are always looking at your character and integrity. Paul chooses his words carefully here. He talks about faithfulness, and loyalty as in the face of a culture that is being “wild and disobedient.” This isn’t just in the Bible so that we can appoint elders in the church, it’s there to teach us what are real follower of Christ looks like. What he is calling those in the Cretan church to be is counter-culture. Really, that is the call for those who are Christians today as well. We are being challenged to be just like the world and to think like the world; we are being challenged to live and be counter-culture.
Ex. The Light Turned Yellow -The light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, “I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally….I assumed you had stolen the car.”
Living What You Preach
Paul is talking about being an authentic person and one who lives our what they say.
- Character Traits To Avoid
Paul uses a two-step approach to explaining the character traits needed to be an authentic person. He first explains the character traits we need to avoid. He does that in verse 7:
“…he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.” vs. 7
The things that Paul describes here are traits that really don’t add anything to our character but instead put us in a bad light with others. Think about it for a moment; someone who has these traits are not the kind of people that you want to be around. No one likes to be around someone who is constantly angry, drunk, violent, and dishonest. Those kind of people we put up. When you are around people with these traits it makes you feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Listen to two other verse that talk about the same things.
“A quick-tempered person does foolish things, and the one who devises evil schemes is hated.” Proverbs 14:17
“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” 1 Timothy 6:9
These trait s do nothing to add to your character but they do everything to destroy your character. The Bible calls us to live like Jesus. These traits are not ones you found in Jesus. The only one that comes up when we discuss Jesus was anger; but remember, anger was not a trait that define him, it was a trait the came out when there was an injustice, an injustice against God or against others.
Ex. Someone in a restaurant that wanted me to fill their cup with Coke instead of water.
- Character Traits to Invest In
The second step Paul uses is to describe to us the traits that we can invest in. Verse 8:
“…he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” vs. 8
As you read these traits, what runs through your mind? If you think about them, it may occur to you that none of these traits are too hard to accomplish with a little discipline and focus. Probably the most difficult for most of us might be the self-controlled part. Most of us have it in us to be good, upright, and even holy but it all seems to hinge on self-control. Again, if we look at Jesus, these traits describe him.
Here is something to remember about these traits; there is no limit to how much of them you can put into your life. You always have room for more and it will always benefit you to add more of them to your life. In fact, there is a promise that comes with them. It is found in Psalm 25:21:
“May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.” Psalm 25:21
The promise is protection. They protect you from false accusations, they protect you from being called hypocritical, they protect from evil, they protect you from hopelessness, and they protect you from that feeling of being alone and frustrated because…God is with you and in you. These traits are ones that build your character, deepen your walk with God and build your relationships.
Ex. Billy Graham
Living To Encourage
To wrap passage up, Paul gives us the end result of being authentic and putting good things into our lives, that we will encourage other people with our lives, and that when it comes to those who try to discredit us and put us down, we will have God’s backing. Verse 9:
“He 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.” vs. 9
You might say, “How can I do this?” It really is by going back to the basics. It’s remembering that in an of ourselves we will struggle to make these the defining traits of our lives but we can do it when on our focus is on the cross. It’s turning to God and making God our strength. It’s by trusting in his strength, his plan, his Word, and having the focus and discipline that only God can empower in you.
