Titus 1, and a brief introduction

 Good morning. I hope all is well with you and you are all enjoying the beautiful- yet hot- days that we are having. Summer is here! Our excitement yesterday was Joseph riding in grandpa's "tractor"; he loves it!

Let's see what today brings!

This morning we start a brief letter (likely) written by Paul to Titus. There is much controversy to the authorship of this letter, but many agree that it is at least written during the time of Paul and if not by him, then by one of his disciples. The date is approximately the same as 1 Timothy (early 50s AD). Titus was a Gentile Christian, possibly from Antioch, brought to Jerusalem by Paul and Barnabas. Titus is currently in Crete when he receives this letter, carried to him by Zenas and Apollos (we will see them in chapter 3). In the early to mid 50s, Paul sent him to Corinth, taking the Corinthians letter with him. Titus was instrumental in the reconciliation between Paul and the Corinthian church. Not much else is known about Titus or his life! I only have a few lines highlighted in my Bible in this letter- so it is mostly new material for me!

Paul opens the  letter in typical style: author's name first, some brief greetings, and then to whom the letter is addressed. The first title Paul mentions about himself is "servant"; the original Greek, he uses the word doulos meaning the lowest of lowest class slaves- but then adds in it is for God. Interesting way to describe yourself! Would you describe yourself as that? Paul tells that he is here to help understand both faith and truth. Faith alone isn't good enough for Paul- he desires people to know truth. Is there a difference between truth and faith?

We don't know too much about Titus. He is mentioned very briefly in Acts and a few times in 2 Corinthians. Based on this introduction (v 4), we get a sense that Titus, like Timothy, was well known and loved by Paul. Titus' mission was to select elders in Crete. After a successful evangelic mission there, Paul had many young Christians that needed guidance and mentors. Paul selected Titus to stay there and search for those elders. He was to help build churches and establish Christianity. The job was tough because the people of Crete were well known throughout the word as a wild and crazy bunch of people that lied as often as possible and were very lazy. Titus was the man to do that. This shows us a look inside Titus and his strength and faith- to be able to control these people  was a great task, so he must have had strength (more than Timothy since Timothy wasn't selected!). The primary tasks was assigning an elder (bishop, authoritative church leader) in every city. There were many cities in Crete- so a big task! Paul gives Titus lots of authority in doing this (rather than assigning a committee).

Paul then goes through a list of qualifications (vv 6-8) for these elders. We have seen something similar in a few other letters from Paul. Titus is looking for good, wholesome, upstanding, faithful men to serve the church. Do we have similar qualifications for church leaders? Are those qualifications being met in the leaders you know? These elder have the awesome task of guiding the faith of their fellow Cretans. I don't know if I fit all the qualifications for being a church leader, but I do feel the awesomeness of leading a group of people in faith (at least I hope I am doing that). It is such a privilege to guide and mold and develop people as they walk closer to Christ. 

Surprise! We come back to Paul's feelings and thoughts about circumcision (vv 10-11)! Paul warns of the people (like we have seen in other letters) that spread false rumors, that are the gossip mongers, of the cities. They have nothing to do but stir up trouble. He is especially concerned about the Jewish Christians that continue to "require" circumcision and obedience to Mosaic laws. For these Jews, the cross of Jesus wasn't enough; the knowledge and acceptance of Hebrew laws and ancestry must also happen. It seems, in several of the things we have read, that the pagan Christians were very willing and able to "forget" their gods and rules of living when they converted to Christianity, but the Jewish Christians struggled with giving up their prior laws. Are there things from our "prior life" That we desire to hang on to?

Paul comments that one of their own (v 12) describes the Cretans people in non-flattering terms! When Paul says that the person is a prophet, I don't think he means a prophet selected by God. Based in this writing, it seems as though there are some character flaws in the Cretans! Even with these issues and flaws, Paul pushes Titus to work in Crete. He could have very easily said "Let's forget about these people." but Paul didn't. What lesson is there for us in this? Are any people too unworthy of hearing of God's love and grace? Paul's order to Titus- tell them when they are wrong and guide them to the stories of faith (kind of what we heard Paul say to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4). Is it easy to guide people in stories of the faith?

Paul ends this chapter with the comment that one reason the Jewish Christians struggle with non-Jewish Christians is that nothing can be pure because of the laws that were set up by Moses, ET AL. The legalism of the Judaic person makes it difficult to find purity in the "new" Christian philosophy. V 16 really hit me hard, "They say they are Christians, but they don't act like one." (my translation, not Biblical). Know any people like that? He ends with some very harsh words against these people- harsh but he means it. They are not doing any good trying to promote Christianity by what they are doing! What does that say about us? Are we in there anyplace? Tough words to end on, but hear them!

I hope you were impacted by these first words from Paul. Some were tough to hear, and some we have read many times!

Enjoy the day!

Shalom+
Pastor Paul