Titus 1:9-16

“9 He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong. 10 For there are many rebellious people who engage in useless talk and deceive others. This is especially true of those who insist on circumcision for salvation. 11 They must be silenced, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money. 12 Even one of their own men, a prophet from Crete, has said about them, “The people of Crete are all liars, cruel animals, and lazy gluttons.” 13 This is true. So reprimand them sternly to make them strong in the faith. 14 They must stop listening to Jewish myths and the commands of people who have turned away from the truth.15 Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.”

Paul now reminds us of the responsibility of Elders to refute the rebellious. It’s here that Paul deals with the tough topic of those who claim to be Christians but are actually living carnal lives. Paul reminds us that we have a duty to deal with the disobedient and that we shouldn’t try to skirt or shy away from this tough topic. This is not a fun topic and unfortunately because most churches care more about comfort than conviction they tend to avoid confronting the carnal because it could lead to conflict. Paul wastes no time describing those whom the Elders are to deal with as he reveals how to:

1. Recognize the Rebellious

The word “for” at the beginning of verse 10 links it to verse 9. The reason Elders are to be men of the Word is because there are many who are not. This is a widespread problem today and not just something that was isolated to the island of Crete. Unfortunately many people today are basing and building their life on their wants instead of God’s Word. As we talk about recognizing the rebellious Paul reminds us to pay attention to two things, people’s lives and people’s lips. If you want to recognize the rebellious just look at their life and listen to their lips. Paul reveals several things about their:

1. Life

·       Rebellious – This word refers to those who were literally “uncontrolled,” and unwilling to submit to authority. It’s also translated as “unruly” and “insubordinate.” It’s the same word that is used to describe rebellious children in verse 6. So let me ask you who is the authority in your life, are you submitting to scripture or to self. Is it based on your wants or God’s Will? Instead of giving control to Christ many of us fight to be in charge and call the shots. But I want you to notice that a rebellious life always results in ruin. But it’s not just our lives that are ruined but whole households. Our desire to do what we want to ends up ruining our relationships, we end up running over people and instead of reinforcing truth we end up removing and trash the truth.

Titus 1:5-9

“I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you. An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious. A church leader is a manager of God’s household, so he must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or dishonest with money. Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life. He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.”

2.         Hospitable instead of Hostile – Vs 8

This is the coming together of your Father and family focus, because its seeing your home not just as a house but as a hospital for the hurting. Many of us are very selfish with our homes we don’t see them as ministry centers we see them as MINE. Who are you opening your home to? Some of you are tempted to say yeh but I’m not a very gifted host, but I want you to notice that this is not about your ability it’s about attitude. We are called to enjoy providing a place for people to feel loved.

3.         Love what is good instead of being a lover of Greed – Vs 7-8

Our world values money but the Word values morality. It’s not about riches it’s about doing what is right. In America we judge the health of our nation by our economy instead of our empathy. Why because we are looking to Wall street instead of the Word to gauge our success. Look our success as a society is not dependent on the Dow its dependent on doing what’s right. It’s not about the riches it’s about our relationships and doing what is right. Your success is not found in your salary but in your service to the Savior. So stop looking to a pay check as proof of a productive life because if you make it about the money you are going to have a miserable ministry. Don’t look for a church with lots of benefits look for a church where you can be a blessing. Are you controlled by caring or converting? Are you in it for the people or the paycheck?

4. Devoted and Disciplined instead of drunk – Vs 7-8

What you put into your life will be what ultimately propels your life. The point here is that leaders should be controlled by the Lord not liquor. We need to talk about alcohol today because we are living in a community that is caught up in alcohol. Now for those of you who do drink can I ask you this question, when was the last time drinking a beer made you feel more Christlike? One of the problems with the church is that Christians have become more concerned with defending their wine than their witness. Look do you really think that the world associate beer with Christian behavior? Why are we fighting so hard for something that doesn’t point people to Jesus, has the potential to poison our lives and doesn’t enhance our testimony? Several years ago I got a call at 1 am on a Saturday night from a desperate dad, his son was drunk and he had a gun. So I drove over to his house and hauled him back to my home. He slept on my couch and then went to church with me after church we went back to my house where he ate dinner with my family. As he looked at my family and listened to us laughing together and loving each other he realized he wanted what we had. Never underestimate the power of hospitality. He sobered up surrendered his life to Jesus and started to serve. Since then he has helped many others stuck in alcohol come to freedom.