Perspective
The Productive Life, part 5
Titus chapter 3
Wildwind Community Church
April 9, 2006
David Flowers
Today we put the wrap on our series on the book of Titus. I hope you’ve learned something. I’ve learned a lot. Most important, I hope you have realized the importance of right teaching, right belief, and right living. A lot of people would tell you there’s no such thing as right teaching – just pick the teaching that suits you and live by it – or don’t. It doesn’t matter because I don’t want to force my beliefs on you. A lot of people will tell you there’s no such thing as right belief. Pick your beliefs from among the infinite options and then live by them. Or don’t. As long as you’re sincere, that’s all that matters. A lot of people would tell you there’s no such thing as right living. It’s a free country. Live however you want. It’s up to you as long as you don’t hurt anybody else.
But Christians believe in right teaching, that it’s important to be taught the right things. Why? Because as we looked at two weeks ago, right living stems from right teaching. Wrong living stems from what? Wrong teaching leads to what? Right teaching leads to what?
Christians believe that the Bible understands something profoundly true about human nature when it says that we are what we think about, that as a man thinks in his heart, so he is.
Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
What you are taught forms the basis for what you believe, and what you believe will determine how you live, and how you live will determine the legacy you leave. Right now in this moment as you sit here, you are forming what you believe, and thus how you live. That’s why you’re better off being here than being home in bed, or mowing your lawn. Grass is cut down and grows back again. It will always replace what is gone. But in a human life, there is no recovering lost time – what’s gone is gone. So the question is how we use the time we have.
Even for those most diligent about using time wisely, about believing right teaching and living right lives, it’s easy to get off track, to lose focus, to just kind of drift. That’s why Paul starts out chapter 3 of Titus with the words, “Remind the people.” Remind them Titus. This stuff is nothing they don’t already know, that they haven’t heard a thousand times. But remind them. Keep reminding them.” He doesn’t say “force them, guilt-trip them, manipulate them, cajole them, or make them.” Just “remind them.” Isn’t that a huge part of why we come to church in the first place, to be reminded of what we already know? To be taught again what we have already learned. To believe again with renewed enthusiasm; to follow with increased devotion; to serve with greater humility.
In fact, that’s what most of us need more than anything, is reminding. Your greatest need for most of you this morning is not new learning, it’s to be called to remember and live by what you already know. Many of us are educated far beyond our level of obedience. We know way more than we apply. What if I’d said last month, “I’ll tell you what – we just finished six weeks on marriage. I’m not starting a new sermon series until you are applying in your marriage everything that we talked about – until you have – as we discussed – perfected holiness in your life out of reverence for Christ.” How long would it have been until you heard another sermon?
Next week is Easter Sunday. We don’t celebrate any new information on Easter. Most people don’t leave Easter Sunday morning and say, “Holy cow honey, did you hear that? A man was dead and now he’s alive again!” People have already heard that. Hearing or reading something is the first and easiest step in learning it. Believing is harder than hearing/reading, and applying is the hardest step of all. So we come to church to remember all that we have learned – to dig into the well of our knowledge and pray that God will help just a little bit more of that knowledge spill over into application – into our lifestyle. That’s why it bugs me when I hear church people say, “This material isn’t working for me – I’ve been through it before.” The question isn’t whether it has been heard, the question is whether it has been applied and is now being LIVED. Until we have completely applied something and are living it, we DO need to be reminded of it again and again.
So Paul begins chapter 3 by telling Titus, “remind the people.” So as a pastor I want to remind you this morning. Like Paul, like Titus, I want to remind you first of the important place that authority holds in our lives. I say that as one who has never had a very good relationship with authority. I’ll figure out my own thing and do it my way, thank you very much. But what is that S-word Paul mentions again and again in Titus? Self-control. Is there any greater way to learn self-control than being under authority – having to carry out someone else’s orders, requests, vision, or plans? WHEW! That’ll grow self-control in you, because it will constantly put it to the test!
Next we see that Titus is to remind his people to be subject to rulers and authorities. Being subject means learning to see yourself as a person under authority. It’s an identity issue. In other words, learn when you do and do not, should and should not, call the shots. Then he urges obedience. So we not only learn when we do and do not, should and should not call the shots, but we then live strictly in accordance with that. We allow others to call the shots when it is their right and responsibility to do so. We comply with the wishes of those in authority over us, even when we don’t agree. In the Christian life, obedience is a major principle. We must learn to bend our will to the will of God. We do not always like the will of God and much prefer our own. That is why it is spiritually healthy for us to learn to subject ourselves to authority and to be obedient to it. If you cannot accept the authority of human beings in your life who have authority over you, you cannot accept the authority of God. No two ways about it. You either do or do not struggle with the issue of authority in your life and for those of you who struggle with this trust me, I’m with you. The reason Wildwind did not go independent/non-denominational when we started is because I recognized that I needed (and still need) to be under some kind of authority. For me it’s spiritually necessary. If you struggle with authority, you must realize the importance of learning to submit to it.
Ephesians 6:7 (NIV)
7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,
Here I’m almost halfway through the sermon and I haven’t gotten past the first verse yet! Heck, I was seven pages in before I got past the first word, the word “remind.” Scripture is so rich, my friends. When we read it casually we are missing so much. I know not all are called to be preachers (“miners” of spiritual truth), but I want to encourage you to not only get into God’s Word, but allow it to get into you. I’ll bet if I could get seven pages out of the word “remember,” probably almost every one of you could get at least a sentence or two. Pray as you read and realize it is God’s will to show you things.
Verse 3 is one of my favorites here, and I want to get to that now. Paul starts out saying, “Titus, remind the people of who they need to be.” Then what he does in verse 3 is he goes on to remind Titus of the similarity between Titus and his followers in the church.
Titus 3:3-7 (NIV)
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
So Paul reminds Titus of how Titus used to be just like many of them. Paul says, “Titus, don’t forget that we were foolish too once. We were disobedient. We were deceived and enslaved by our passions and pleasures. We were hateful of others, and we reaped the consequence of that in being hated BY others. We played all those games the world plays when we lived by the world’s code.”
I think that the instant a Christian forgets this is the moment he/she becomes likely to do damage to other people. If you sat down in the chair and gave your life to God many years ago, you can never forget what your life was like before that time. You can never forget your own foolishness and disobedience, and how certain you were at the time that you knew everything, and that those wacko Christians just couldn’t have been onto something. Staying in touch with that helps us remember we’re on a journey – that no matter how far we might go, there’s always something over our horizon that we can’t see yet. It gives us deeper compassion for those who are behind us on the journey, and deeper respect for those who are ahead. It helps us place ourselves and our own journeys in proper perspective. It helps us realize the two essential truths:
I don’t know everything.
I do know some things.
If we aren’t aware that we don’t know everything, we will be arrogant. If we aren’t aware that we do in fact know SOME things, we will be useless, for must live our lives on the basis of what we have come to know and understand. That is all we ultimately have to offer the world.
So Paul reminds Titus, “Man – you were just like them once. All those frustrating attitudes you see in them, that potential they often don’t see and don’t fulfill, their tendency to get lost in the details of their lives and not keep God in perspective – that was you, man. That was me.
And then Paul goes on to remind Titus of what it is that took him to the next level.
Titus 3:4-7 (NIV)
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
So Paul begins the chapter saying, “Remind the people how to live. They will tend to forget.” Then Paul goes on to remind Titus first of Titus’s own sin, the condition of his own life not long ago, and then of what it was that got him on a new track. Paul reminds Titus that it was God who changed Titus, God who saved and changed him – it wasn’t anything deserving in Titus, but it was God’s mercy and generosity and grace. There’s a hymn that says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” Paul reminds Titus of the rock on which he stands – that it’s not about Titus and how far Titus has come, but about God and his power to bring Titus to a new place in his life. Speaking of being reminded, do we ever get past needing to be reminded of that – of who has power to save us and free us, to whom we owe our allegiance and gratitude and energies and possessions and livelihood and lives. Of course not. Paul’s a preacher, see, and he knows that it’s not just Titus’s people who need to hear this stuff, it’s Titus himself. In a letter to another pastor, Timothy, Paul writes:
1 Timothy 1:15 (NIV)
15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.
Notice Paul doesn’t write, “I WAS the worst, but now that I have God I’m perfect and never struggle with sin anymore.” Paul says I AM the worst. A spiritual leader must work from this perspective. “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and I am called to preach that news. And every time I open my mouth to preach it, I will be thanking God that it’s true, because no one in these seats today needs what God has to offer more than I do. I am the worst of sinners.”
Paul goes on to tell Titus, “stress this stuff with your people – not only the way they are to live, but who has called them to this life, why they are doing this in the first place, who had and has the power to bring them into a new kind of life, and that all this is not their doing but God’s.” Look at this:
Titus 3:8 (NIV)
8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, SO THAT those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
Why tell them all these things? SO THAT they may devote themselves to doing what is good. Because constant reminders of these things are what is needed to continue to live the life they are called to live. They must remember how they were before they found Christ. They must remember that God has saved and begun to change them by his power, not by their own awesomeness. And interestingly, Paul says, “these things are good and profitable for everyone.” In other words, if everyone focuses on this stuff, everyone will benefit, will live spiritually productive lives.” And after having said that, Paul goes on to talk about things people can focus on that will NOT lead to spiritually productive lives.
Titus 3:9-11 (NIV)
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.
11 You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Avoid foolish controversies. The DaVinci code is coming out as a movie starring Tom Hanks very soon, and the movie will take to new levels the controversies brought up by the book. Was Jesus married? Did Jesus have kids? Did Jesus die on the cross, or did he die somewhere in France, having lived to a ripe old age. Did the church engage in a huge conspiracy to silence women and keep them from being powerful in the church? I would be the first to attempt to honestly answer the serious inquiries of seekers about these questions. But it becomes foolish when? When it’s just an argument, or a quarrel. Why? Because focusing on God and our own sin is productive to us on our spiritual journey, but getting involved in arguments and controversies just helps people remain rooted in denial. It’s just pointless to argue with people. After all, those of you who are Christians did not commit your life to Jesus because he was single or married, a father or not a father. You committed your life to him because you believed he was and is the Son of God and that you need Him for your life to be what it was meant to be. So don’t spend your precious and limited time in endless arguments with people over theological things. The point isn’t whether you can answer all those questions – the point is whether, after having heard the answers, a person would be ready to admit and confront their sin and ask Jesus to be their forgiver and leader. Most of the time the answer is of course not. People aren’t asking and arguing in order to ultimately get closer to God. They are asking and arguing in order to get you further away in most cases. It’s just pointless to spend your time this way.
Paul goes on to say that people who are constantly trying to embroil others in foolish controversies are divisive – that their primary goal is to follow themselves rather than Jesus. He says to warn people like this a few times, then have nothing to do with them, not because you don’t care about them, but because they have to come to a place where they are willing to consider their sin before these conversations can become anything other than counter-productive.
So that’s the book of Titus for you. Paul writes to his pastor friend Titus to tell Titus what to teach to his people to lead them toward a mature spiritual life, or what he calls he calls the productive life. I want you to live a productive spiritual life. I want it to matter in your daily life, and to be a guiding force for you. I want you to know what you can expect of your spiritual leaders, why good leadership is essential, why self-control and surrender are so important in the Christian life, that it is God’s grace alone that can bring you out of a self-serving life and into a God-serving life, and that in order to experience a spiritually productive life you must avoid non-productive distractions and controversies that allow people to continue on without looking honestly that their own sin, because THAT is the issue. Those are basically the things we have looked at in the past few weeks.
Maybe today is your day. Maybe today is the place on your journey where you say, “I’m ready to look honestly at my sin and my need for a Savior. I want God to forgive my sins and be the leader of my life.” Maybe over the last few weeks you’ve gotten a picture of church life and realized it’s not crazy stuff, it’s not ridiculous stuff, but it’s sensible stuff that can meaningfully guide your life and you’re thinking you want to take that next step toward God on the journey by asking Jesus to set you straight with God. If so, that’s great – pray with me in your heart as I pray. If not, stay on your journey. Let God show you new things day by day. Monitor your own heart and see if you are not being awakened to new spiritual realities all around you day by day. And I’d encourage you to just pray that God would show himself to you and help you respond to him as that happens. Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank you for what you did for me, and for every one of these people, on the cross when you died for us. Thank you that next week we’ll be celebrating that you did not stay dead, but are alive right now, sitting next to God and declaring that we are not guilty of sin because you paid a dear price to buy our freedom. For any person here today, God, who understands that they need you to guide their life, I pray you would give them the words right now to tell you they are sorry for the sin in their life up until now, to invite you to forgive their sins and lead them from this day on, and to commit to learn about you and serve you from this day forward.
Father help us learn and know your Word. Most important, help us to DO it. Amen.
If you took the step today to begin allowing God to be the leader of your life, the forgiver of your sins, please fill out a card and drop it in the box in back and let us know. We want to get resources to you that can help you move forward on this new phase of your journey.
