As you already know, this morning we make a start on a short series of talks on Paul’s letter to Titus. It is known as one of the ‘Pastoral’ epistles because it deals with a situation in the life of certain local churches in Paul’s day. It is addressed to an individual, one Titus, commissioned by Paul to care for those churches: and as such, because human nature has changed little if at all since Paul’s day – perhaps we have become a little more sophisticated in our attempts to avoid sound doctrine and sound living – it is hugely relevant to the life and well being not only of local churches but also of the Church as a whole, as well as to those who hold positions of authority and leadership within it.
At the heart of Paul’s message we will discover this guiding truth: that there can only be healthy and effective churches where there is sound doctrine and sound living. The idea that we can have a healthy and effective church which is lacking in either of these respects is nonsense. And of course we can see this today: where sound doctrine and sound living are in some measure deficient, the church is weak; that is to say, it is both unhealthy and ineffective. It’s a plain fact of life and experience today; which is why this letter, and Paul’s letters to Timothy, the other ‘pastoral’ letters, are so important in what they have to teach us about what it really means to be ‘church’.
Titus seems to have been a kind of troubleshooter for Paul. He played an important role in representing Paul at Corinth: here we find him commissioned to sort out the Church in Crete. The pastoral letters were written at a time when the leadership structure of the Church was still in a state of development, but the Church did not lack for authority; and while there continue to be endless arguments over when it was ‘bishops’ came into being or began to be distinguished from local ‘elders’ of churches, it is clear that for Paul what constituted the grounds for holding authority in the Church was the preservation and promotion of sound, i.e. orthodox doctrine, theology, faith accompanied by sound, i.e. healthy and holy, living.
Also, we learn very quickly that already in the early Church, Paul and his companions were having to fight against unsound doctrine and unhealthy practice. And this really was an issue; a huge problem. Why? Well because human nature being what it was, and still is, there is a strong tendency for some people to take advantage of others for their own benefit or ends and, sadly, for others to be taken in and led astray with the result that the principal purpose of the Church, which is to share in the work of the effective proclamation of the Gospel in both word and deed, is undermined, and the people whom Jesus came to save from their sins and reconcile to God to be misled in one way or another.
Now I realise that some people and even some clergy today will tell you that the holding and proclaiming of sound doctrine is really not all that important: as long as one is a reasonably good egg and believes just about enough to think that there is someone or even something somewhere up there, then that’s all that one needs to get by. But the trouble with such a minimalist view of ourselves - let alone of God! - is that it inevitably leads to errors both in belief and practice, that very soon lead, in turn, to ineffectiveness in discipleship, which is after all our calling as Christians. It leads too to an unhealthy individualism – the belief that I know what I believe and it suits me, whatever Paul, Jesus, or even the vicar says. It leads, sadly, to tolerance of others – of what they believe and what they do with their lives, rather than to genuine love; and it leads, not surprisingly and most disturbingly, to the appearance and the rise of ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ in the Church.
So with this in mind, let’s turn to these first nine verses of this letter to Titus and see what they have to teach us today. As I mentioned, Titus has been left by Paul on the island of Crete to organise the church there and to deal with a crisis situation of false teachers who had infiltrated the church.
Notice in verse 1 how Paul describes or defines his role and purpose in life. He is ‘a servant of God and an apostle (messenger) of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that is appropriate to godliness.’ So what he is saying here is this; that his work, his service, is to promote and preserve correct, that is orthodox, belief: the faith that the Christian is to have is not just a subjective feeling about God but, rather, one that is informed, constrained, and guided by ‘knowledge of the truth’ or ‘true knowledge’, if you like.
Vague faith is not enough; it needs to be founded on true facts, both spiritual and historical. The Christian faith is grounded in the facts of experience and in the experience of facts. Indeed, the knowledge of truth about Christianity is ‘appropriate to’, that is, leads to or brings about, ‘godliness’ – behaviour that is ‘appropriate’ to someone who genuinely loves and serves God. Genuine godliness requires a genuine foundation of truth. False teachers lack both; however attractive, spiritual, or plausible they may appear – which they often do!
In verses 2 and 3 Paul tells us that the ground or basis of this faith and knowledge rests on the hope of eternal life, a promise not only revealed, verse 3, in the ‘word’, that is, in the ‘gospel’ of Jesus, but also ‘promised before the beginning of time’.
What is of very special significance to note here is this, that we can now understand that the coming of God into the world in the person of Jesus was not some afterthought or knee-jerk reaction to mankind’s disobedience; rather, it had already been allowed for, planned, ‘promised’ before the creation. And it is clear why.
When God created mankind, because He is love and can only operate according to the law of love – that is, in accordance with His character – he had to give us free will, the capacity to respond to or to refuse His love. And because he was willing to run the risk of love, he knew that His perfect love would not be perfectly requited by us, he knew that there would have to be a redeemer, of necessity. There could not not be a redeemer built in to the plan of creation because God is love. He could not, because He is love, not do everything he possibly could – not without taking away our own free choice, that is - to win us back. Paul had fully grasped God’s dealing with Israel and mankind, God’s salvation history: first, He gives a promise to Abraham, then He gives the law to Moses; then He sends the prophets to remind them of the promise and the law; and finally He comes in person – but as one of us and in all vulnerability and humility.
And so Paul has been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s chosen method of reconciliation, which he must not only proclaim but ensure is kept to and proclaimed appropriately i.e. faithfully and in a godly manner, in the Church founded by Jesus.
Paul greets Titus in verse 4, and in verse 5 we learn of Titus’ commission in Crete, ‘to put in order what remained to be done’ and to ‘appoint elders in every town as I directed you’. (Interestingly, before Paul goes on to remind Titus of the qualities required of an ‘elder’, we should note that he does not describe them as priests or bishops. Certainly priests are a much later invention of the Church, later even than bishops, where ‘bishop’, a Greek administrative term, was adopted as a term for co-ordinating or senior elders. It seems that priests as such gradually came into being as a result of human organisation and social custom; certainly the early Church fathers tell us that it was not a divine institution, given that Jesus’ sacrifice effectively did away with the need for a priesthood.)
Verses 6,7 & 8 go together, ‘elders’ and ‘overseers being if not synonymous, then certainly identical in terms of their responsibilities and expected characters. Not only is it a high and tough calling but notice how it extends to his family and in particular his children. Paul starts with a list of desirable negatives in verses 6 and 7, and then proceeds to a list of desirable positives in verse 8.
I think what we all need to realise here and to take to heart is that whilst this is a list of requirements for those in positions of leadership and authority in the Church and which ought – whether it does or not – to keep the House of Bishops on their toes, what Paul is advocating here is surely a model for every Christian man and woman who aspires to be a well-rounded person who will not disgrace the Lord and His Church. Let’s face it; it is not a good testimony or example for any of us of the transforming power of the Gospel if we can be accused rightly of all sorts of consistent wrong-doing, of allowing our children to run riot, of getting drunk or violent, etc, etc. Equally so, the positives of verse 8 are life-enhancing and liberating. Of course we never get it right all the time, but these are surely things worth either avoiding or aspiring to as the case may be; and we need to remember that we can avoid or accomplish none of these things without God’s help, God’s grace freely welcomed and freely operating in our lives. All the while we try to avoid or accomplish these things in our own strength we shall be disappointed: but God is able to do what you and I think is impossible; we just have to give Him some space, some time, in our lives.
But we cannot leave this excellent set of criteria for both leadership and ordinary membership without recognising the importance of verse 9 with its call to sound doctrine. The reason why holding firmly to sound doctrine is so important we see here is ‘to encourage others’ and to ‘refute those who contradict it.’ Next week we shall be looking at the heretics poor Titus is having to face but I just want to finish by stressing how important a part sound doctrine, orthodox faith, plays in encouraging faithfulness and growth in our own spiritual lives and the lives of our fellow Christians.
It may, in today’s climate, sound boring just to hold firmly to orthodox Christian teaching when there are so many imaginative, innovative, brilliant minds around, and certainly within the Church.( I remember one TV pundit telling her interviewer what her ideal bishop would be like. ‘A man with flowing grey hair who can quote Shakespeare and poetry, who never preaches for more than five minutes and who never mentions sin, especially my ones.’)
Well that quote in a way pretty much sums up why Paul has commissioned Titus to choose elders who are faithful to the faith rather than fascinating followers of fashion - or worse! Next week we shall discover the circumstances of the Church on the island of Crete. In the meanwhile, let us ask God to keep us faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, alert to unsound doctrine, and always desiring to become more like Jesus which, in His love and by His grace we indeed may through sound doctrine and sound living evidenced by effective discipleship.
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