The Reproach of Christ = Riches

I have a friend who inflicts punishment on me by forwarding emails decrying the state of our nation. A recent email focused on difficulties followers of Christ are experiencing in academic settings, lamenting the discrimination to which they are subjected.

Now I don’t for one moment question whether or not discrimination of this nature is occurring, of course it is. I’ve personally known folks who have come up against a brick wall in academic settings because of their faith in Christ. Nor do I reject the notion that we ought to do what we can to alleviate these things when they do happen; to try to change policies, to try to reason with the unreasonable and those with an anti-Christian bias – after all, these represent opportunities to share Christ.

On the other hand, rejection and discrimination and persecution are what we are called to when Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives – we are called to be identified with Him in rejection, reproach, and death; if not physical death, certainly death to self (sorry Joel Osteen and company…well…not really sorry).

This this leads me to Hebrews 11:26, where we are told that Moses considered, “the reproach of Christ of greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

Why is it that the emails referred to above don’t rejoice and glory in the opportunity to suffer for Christ? More importantly, why is it that the Western Church fails to value suffering and rejection for Jesus?

Consider the text of Hebrews, Moses didn’t just reject the riches and luxury of Egypt; Moses considered the reproach of Christ as a treasure, as a great treasure, as greater riches than what Egypt had to offer.

Whatever Christians may lose in this life because of fidelity to Jesus Christ doesn’t compare with what they gain, as Paul writes in Romans Chapter 8, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.”

Why then do we not emphasize the glory of rejection, the glory of discrimination, the glory of reproach for the sake of Christ? Certainly that is the Biblical emphasis, the Biblical trajectory, the Christocentric perspective in such circumstances. Consider Peter’s words, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

Peter also writes, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously…”

We might also think about witnessing. Few Christians witness. Why? The common answer is fear of rejection. Yet, I am unaware of any witnessing curriculum that explores, let alone emphasizes, the fact that we are called to share the reproach of Christ and that that reproach is of far greater worth than anything this world has to offer.

Do I consider the reproach of Christ of greater riches than anything this world has to offer? What about you?

Meditation On A Puritan Prayer – August 20, 2010 Part V

May I view all things in the mirror of eternity, waiting for the coming of my Lord, listening for the last trumpet call, hastening unto the new heaven and earth. 

There are no doubt people who are “so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good”, but I have met few of them. I have met many people who struggle to translate their idealism into action or to make their abstract thinking concrete to the general population – a population not disposed to think in the abstract; but I have met few people who are so focused on heaven that they have little impact on earth.

I have heard people branded as being so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good by others who don’t know what they are talking about because they don’t know the people. Often the people in question do their good works so that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, and so the one who criticizes is not about to know what is taking place. I am often disgusted when I hear the Pietistic movement criticized as being so heavenly minded that it was/is no earthly good – the people who make that statement, including some popular authors (including as I recall dear C.S. Lewis) don’t know what they are talking about – the European Pietists  were leaders in education and social services, not to mention spiritual renewal. Some of my holiness acquaintances continue to work with the socially disenfranchised in ways that are not designed to draw publicity but which are designed to change lives.

When I hear the Quietist movement branded as being so heavenly minded that it was of no earthly good I again marvel at the slander (not that most people who write or talk about the so-called Quietists really know much about them). Once again, these men and women were often working for political and social reform – often at the highest levels of government and often at great personal risk.

On the other hand, I have seen many who live not in the mirror of eternity but in the mirror of earth, and I know from personal experience that when we live in the mirror of earth that we cannot help those who live on the earth – for the ultimate way to help those who live on the earth is the guide them across the threshold of living in the mirror of eternity. It is as I live as a citizen of heaven that I can best help those who lives as citizens of earth. It is as I draw on the wisdom of heaven that I can serve those who live on earth. It is as I sit in the heavens in Christ Jesus that I can walk out life on earth for the benefit of those around me.

Most (all?) of us take one last look in the mirror before leaving for work or school or for a social appointment. We want to make sure we don’t have spinach in our teeth. Do we look into the mirror of eternity before leaving home each morning? Do we look into the mirror of eternity before work, school, or a social appointment? Do we keep that mirror in our hearts and minds throughout the day?

Often that last look in the mirror at home is to ensure that we will appear presentable to others; do we look in the mirror of eternity before we leave the house to ensure that at the end of the day that we will be able to present that day…not to man…but to God?

Meditation On A Puritan Prayer – August 20, 2010 Park IV

May I view all things in the mirror of eternity, waiting for the coming of my Lord, listening for the last trumpet call, hastening unto the new heaven and earth.

Would we be angry at many of the things that evoke our anger were we to view them in the mirror of eternity? Perhaps we would know righteous and godly anger at other things were we to view those things in the mirror of eternity?

Would we have anxiety and care over many things were we to view them in the mirror of eternity? Would we have a different value system were we to view our values and priorities in the mirror of eternity? Would our eyes behold different entertainment, our lips speak different words, our feet go to different places – were we to view entertainment, words and places in the mirror of eternity?

Would our Sunday morning gatherings, in those places we call churches, look different were we to view them in the mirror of eternity? Would the style of music seem that important, the color of carpet so vital, the dress of the people so critical; the socioeconomic backgrounds, colors of skin, education and tastes of others – would these and many other things look different to us in the mirror of eternity?

Would hardship and toil and rejection and suffering for the sake of Christ – a suffering which our Western Church teaches us to avoid – would it cast a different hue in the mirror of eternity?

Would the substance of emails we forward look different in the mirror of eternity? The emails we read?

Is there anything in your life that would appear differently, and that you would respond to differently, were you to view it in the mirror of eternity?

Meditation On A Puritan Prayer – August 20 2010 Part III

Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands. May I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain. In needful transactions let my affection be in heaven, and my love soar upwards in flames of fire, my gaze fixed on unseen things, my eyes open to the emptiness, fragility, mockery of earth and its vanities.

I look forward to a new heaven and earth. Not so much in a literal sense, but in an interior sense. After all, what good is a new physical universe without a new interior universe? It isn’t what’s “out there” that is my problem, but rather what’s inside me. How cruel it would be to place us in a new physical realm without transforming our interior heavens.

 

And so we have a Biblical emphasis on our thought lives and on the life of the heart. We are transformed by “the renewing of our minds” that we might know the perfect will of God.

 

Just as evil polluted the realm of the unseen, and just as it moved from the unseen into the physical universe; so evil pollutes our hearts and minds and soils that which God created in purity. One of our problems is that evil and pollution are normative, we are accustomed to it, and therefore it is often difficult for us to identify it.

 

We applaud the things the world applauds; even though Scripture teaches us that “the whole world lies in the wicked one.” We laugh at the things the world laughs at, seek the things the world seeks, teach our children to be successful in the world’s eyes – and all the while Screwtape and friends mock us and no doubt ridicule our stupidity. How often I have played the fool for their amusement!

 

Solomon wrote that all is emptiness, vanity, and that the rich man ends up like the poor man; and yet we ignore his words and heap accolades on the rich and pity and distain on the poor. Christ says that the widow gave more than all others who were casting in their money – but we don’t really believe Him. Paul teaches that we ought to let those who are least esteemed in the church judge matters – but who in their right mind would actually do that?

 

It has occurred to me that followers of Christ need not apologize for what they do not know about evil and impurity. It has also occurred to me that perhaps we should repent for some of the things we do know – for we know many things through volition and not by accident. There is nothing wrong with not knowing what people are talking about if what they are talking about is impure. Of course if one is Pharisaical that is another matter, and the wise man or woman will fear that temptation; the wise woman or man will know that outside of Christ she or he is capable of all forms of evil – but oh the greatness of our salvation in Christ and of our security in Christ – the Great Renovator of our interior heavens.

Meditation on a Puritan Prayer, August 24, 2010 - II

Almighty God, As I cross the threshold of this day I commit myself, soul, body, affairs, friends, to thy care; watch over, keep, guide, direct, sanctify, bless me.

Incline my heart to thy ways; mould me wholly into the image of Jesus, as a potter forms the clay; may my lips be a well-tuned harp to sound thy praise; let those around see me living by thy Spirit, trampling the world underfoot, unconformed to lying vanities, transformed by a renewed mind, clad in the entire armor of God, shining as a never-dimmed light, showing holiness in all my doings.

Do we commit ourselves to our heavenly Father each day; or do we commit ourselves to our agendas and plans?

How is my heart inclined today? How will it be inclined as the day progresses? Is the image of Jesus what I seek in the midst of the vicissitudes of life? Do I see myself as clay in the hands of the Potter; or do I see all around me as clay in my hands?

What shall we say concerning our lips? Are they well-turned harps sounding His praise? What are they when traffic is bad? When there are delays in our desires? When things do not go as we planned?

Am I aware of lying vanities; or am I a proponent of them? Do I acquiesce in the values and ways of the world? Is my mind transformed into the image of the world-system; or is it transformed into the image of Jesus? Will I trample the values of the world underfoot; or will the standards of the world grind me to dust?

Will I show holiness in an unholy world? Will I show purity in a world of filth? Will I not be ashamed to be innocent in the face of wicked wisdom and nuance?

Will holiness of peace attend my ways? Will holiness of thought and deed clothe my life? Will I live as if I reside in the Holy of Holies? That is, after all, where Christ has called us – to live there and to live out from there; to live in His Presence and to live out from His Presence.

Our world needs to see the innocence of holiness, the innocence of life on the Potter’s wheel; our world does not need us to be as it is, but to be other than it is – and at the same time sharing its sorrow and grief while ministering life and hope in Christ.

If Christ is incarnate in us; then we are to be Christ to those around us – individually and as His many-membered Body; will we commit ourselves to Him as we cross the threshold of each and every day?

Meditation on a Puritan Prayer, August 24, 2010

I want to share some thoughts on this prayer which is dear to me, but first let me share it in its entirety:

Almighty God, As I cross the threshold of this day I commit myself, soul, body, affairs, friends, to thy care; watch over, keep, guide, direct, sanctify, bless me.

Incline my heart to thy ways; mould me wholly into the image of Jesus, as a potter forms the clay; may my lips be a well-tuned harp to sound thy praise; let those around see me living by thy Spirit, trampling the world underfoot, unconformed to lying vanities, transformed by a renewed mind, clad in the entire armor of God, shining as a never-dimmed light, showing holiness in all my doings.

Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands. May I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain.

In needful transactions let my affection be in heaven, and my love soar upwards in flames of fire, my gaze fixed on unseen things, my eyes open to the emptiness, fragility, mockery of earth and its vanities.

May I view all things in the mirror of eternity, waiting for the coming of my Lord, listening for the last trumpet call, hastening unto the new heaven and earth.

Order this day all my communications according to thy wisdom, and to the gain of mutual good. Forbid that I should not be profited or made profitable.

May I speak each word as if my last word, and walk each step as my final one. If my life should end today, let this be my best day.




To be continued...

Meditation On A Puritan Prayer – Aug 20, 2010

“Compassionate Lord, Thy mercies have brought me to the dawn of another day, vain will be its gift unless I grow in grace, increase in knowledge, ripen for spiritual harvest.”



Is this how I view each day? What about you? Do I realize that a day without growth in the grace of Christ is a wasted day? Am I ripening for harvest?

Our tomatoes this year aren’t ripening well, it is good for grass to be green; it is not good for tomatoes to remain green. Am I a tomato that never ripens? Or shall I ripen out of season, long after I can be sustenance for others?

“Let me this day know thee as thou art, love thee supremely, serve thee wholly, admire thee fully.”

It would indeed be something to know the Lord as He is, rather than as I and others have portrayed Him. What a surprise it will be when I see Him after the “great change” as He is – oh how foolish my perceptual follies will look! What else is there but to know Him?

“Through grace let my will respond to thee, knowing that power to obey is not in me, but that thy free love alone enables me to serve thee.”

Well, I guess if we believed the above many authors, preachers, and publishers would be out of business. I guess if I believed the above my days would be less stressful, my self-strivings diminished, my focused turned from myself to Christ.

As the prayer moves forward we come to these lines:

“Defend me from assailing foes, from evil circumstances, from myself. My adversaries are part and parcel of my nature; they cling to me as my very skin; I cannot escape their contact…My enemy is within the citadel; come with almighty power and cast him out, pierce him to death, and abolish in me every particle of carnal life this day."

When I have the misfortune to receive popular “Christian” emails they always portray our enemy on the outside. The country is going to hell because of others. The church is decaying because of others. Every foul and evil occurrence is because of others. Ah – how foolish we are to define ourselves by what we are opposed to; how foolish to define ourselves by our opposition to others.

Christ has delivered me from Satan and He will continue to deliver me from him. Now I need Christ to deliver me from myself, from my pride, my vanity, my ego, my selfishness, my materialism, my carnality. The enemy is within the citadel, and no amount of self-effort will deliver me from him, only Christ can do that – only Christ can deliver me from me.

Oh that Christ would abolish in me every particle of the natural life, the earth life, the life lived in earth’s gravity – oh that He would annihilate  every particle of the carnal life – this day, and the next day, and the day after that.

I am my own “fifth column”, I need not look elsewhere for the origin of it; I am the headwaters of the problem. And the outside? What about what is outside me? Well, whatever is outside me is something I can only redemptively engage as what is inside me is the Kingdom of God ruled by the Prince of Peace. We think (or at least I think) that if we can change the outside that we’ll have peace inside; nay, as Christ changes the inside, as we allow the peace of Christ to rule our hearts – the peace to which we’ve all been called – then perhaps we can minister peace to the outside; but without first being a people of peace on the inside we need not delude ourselves into thinking that we can be lasting agents of change in the outside world.

Didn’t Jesus Christ tell us in the Upper Room that He was leaving His peace with us? And yet rather than being a people of peace we are too often a people of agitation – we agitate ourselves and we agitate others. Do we not believe the words of Jesus Christ?

And so will we pray along with the Puritan who first prayed this prayer, “Come with almighty power and cast him out, pierce him to death, and abolish in me every particle of carnal life this day,”?

The Profanation of William Wilberforce

Poor old William Wilberforce, if he only knew the brand of Christianity that would be marketed under his name. His name is invoked to debate health care, capitalism, immigration, national defense, the Presidency, politics, and who knows what else.

Now I’m not saying that the Bible does not inform our thinking on some of these matters, but I am suggesting that neither the Bible nor Mr. Wilberforce provide the political coloring that certain Christians use to paint many of these issues.

To place the issue of slavery on the same level as economics, health care, immigration, and the like can be to demean the horror of slavery and the life of Wilberforce – especially when these issues are primarily framed in economic and nationalistic terms. Now if we want to focus on the moral dimensions of health care and immigration – well then, perhaps we can do the gravity of slavery some justice – but even then, as serious a matter as decent health care is, at the end of the day is it really as serious as slavery? (I do view health care as a moral issue.)

It is difficult for me to see William Wilberforce engaging in the reactionary rhetoric that certain people use who invoke his memory with regularity.

It reminds me of the way a certain deceased leader invoked Paul at Mars Hill; this leader spoke of his “Mars Hill ministry”. The leader’s Mars Hill Ministry was political. Since the leader was the founder of a university and seminary you would think he’d realize that Paul was preaching the Gospel of Christ on Mars Hill in Athens, not engaging in political debate – but why let facts get in the way?  This particular leader’s attacks on the President were as vitriolic as I have ever seen – hardly a mirror of Paul’s ministry.

William Wilberforce, from all I’ve read, was a man of peace – something those that do political battle in his name might do well to consider.

The Last Great Change Of All

From a Puritan prayer:

Do thou be with me, and prepare me for all the smiles of prosperity, the frowns of adversity, the losses of substance, the death of friends, the days of darkness, the changes of life, and the last great change of all.

My I find thy grace sufficient for all my needs.

The contemplated last great change of all helps to put both prosperity and loss in perspective – neither is permanent, neither is of lasting value in and of itself. Their value is found only as we allow our heavenly Father and Lord Jesus to use them to mold us into their image and draw us into the koinonia of the holy Trinity.

We make too much of prosperity and loss. Yes, easier said than done, easier written than practiced; but Paul writes that he knows how to be abased and how to abound – there is something worked within us as Christ transcends loss and prosperity.

James writes, “…the brother in humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation…” Yes, I think we make too much of prosperity and losses of substance, we forget that we are in the foyer.

Why do we measure ourselves and others by what we have or don’t have? Why do we have poster children of prosperity in the church but no poster children of humble circumstances? Why no books and biographies of men and women of humble circumstances? (Other than those we don’t consider normative, such as Mother Theresa.)

I think I’d like to see a football coach speak at a Promise Keepers type gathering who has a last-place team. I would be interested in hearing as a guest speaker a man who has been a faithful janitor for 40 years. Maybe these folks would be a means of deliverance for me – maybe they would give me courage to say “no” to a culture of appearances and success.

Well… one of many things I look forward to when that last great change of all comes is my deliverance from pride, vanity, materialism, and participation in a culture of appearance. Until then I will try to learn to trust in His grace to preserve me from my foolishness.

Are you looking forward to that last great change of all?

The Country of Everlasting Delights

In my devotions recently I prayed these lines from a Puritan prayer:

Keep me walking steadfastly towards the country of everlasting delights, that paradise-land which is my true inheritance….As I pursue my heavenly journey by thy grace let me be known as a man with no aim but that of a burning desire for thee, and the good and salvation of my fellow man.

This puts me in mind of Hebrews Chapter 11 and also Hebrews 13:14, “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”

I want to have no aim but that of a burning desire for Jesus and the good and salvation of my fellow man – but how far short of that aim I fall.

Yet, if this life is but a foyer of our entrance to heaven, then should not this be our aim and desire? And yet, how intentional am I concerning the salvation and good of my fellow man? How intentional are you? Is Christ my burning desire – or are religious things, good religious things, my burning desire? Patriotic things? Economic things? Social things?

Oh that we might desire Jesus Christ with all that we have and all that we are – and that we might share His wonderful grace and love with others.

Titus – Reflections IV

The hinge of Titus is 2:11 – 14. Preceding this passage Paul addresses individual categories of Christians; on the other side of the passage we have:

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.

Peaceable deportment, and true humility are linked to Christian attitudes toward rulers and authorities. The ungodly attitudes of 3:3ff, including malice and envy and hatred are in such close proximity to our commanded Christian attitudes toward rulers and authorities that we can either acknowledge that they specifically inform Paul’s admonition to be subject to rulers and authorities or at the least acknowledge that they are to inform our attitudes toward rulers and authorities as a general command, teaching, and precept of Scripture.

This then is the picture: The church in Crete was in a society that was sensually driven, a society in which personal pleasure ruled the day and self-control was out the window. This personal pleasure was not confined to physical hedonistic pursuit, but was also manifested in slander, rebellion against authority, religious speculations, and the like. That is, sensuality is not simply physical, it is total – from the head to the foot, from the mind to the heart to the loins – it is to dwell on the earth –to borrow an image from John’s Revelation.

One of the particular expressions of this sensual society was rebellion against authority, not martial rebellion but rather a rebellious and slanderous attitude – and this is, after all, but an extension of sensuality, for sensuality must push against all authority of whatever kind in its downward spiral of self-seeking pleasure.

Paul throws Titus a lifeline for the church in Crete; godliness, self-control, obedient subjection and respect to rulers and authorities. Without this lifeline, without an understanding that Christ came to redeem us from all wickedness (and make no mistake – what Paul is writing about and what we are speaking of is wickedness) and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

From the elder to the slave we are to be a people of godly self-control. As a people we are to be known as those who respect rulers and authorities. Hopefully we know that to slander is to partake of the enemy, the source of all slander – including slander masked in Christian-self-righteousness. Hopefully we know that all rebellion in attitude and heart is from Satan, the source of all rebellion – including rebellion hidden (it can never be truly hidden!) beneath layers of Christian moralism, Christian nationalism, and Christian power-politics.

Whether it is an individual professing Christian living a hedonistic life pursuing the American dream, or a collective Christian political movement with vitriolic rhetoric, or a Christian tribe which has adopted its doctrine and practice against all other Christians (a circumcision group of 1:10) – we are called to be the people of Christ, His very own people, eager to do what is good – and we are to have eyes for no one but Him.

Titus – Reflections III

Paul’s emphasis on self-control and good works (see previous post) is in contrast to a Cretan society that is ruled by passions and pleasures (3:3), manifesting itself in malice and envy and hatred. Consider 1:12 – 13:

Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith…

Obviously Paul was ignorant concerning sensitive evangelism and discipleship – even if the saying he quoted was true, how could he be so insensitive as to affirm its truth? Ah, if only we could travel back in time and educate the Apostle how much better the New Testament would be.

There is a link between sensuality and rebellion, between physical appetite of whatever kind, and lack of respect for authority, and slander, hatred and malice. What is in the belly and loins affects the mind and what is in the mind affects the belly and loins. Though we are created to be sons and daughters of the heavenly God; we can quickly learn to slither with the Serpent. The Serpent went on its belly, the Cretans were known by their big bellies – look familiar? We are called to have bowels of compassion; not bellies of consumption.

In chapters 1 and 2 Paul addresses elders, older men, older women, young women, young men, and slaves, and then we have the following in 2:11 – 14:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Note the link between the above passage and the beginning of the letter; note the intro of the letter regarding good works:

…the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…

Titus 2:11 – 14 is a hinge upon which the halves of the letter swing; leading up to 2:11 – 14 Paul addresses the above referenced categories of Christians, on the other side of 2:11 – 14 Paul moves from individual categories with an emphasis on self-control and good works to the church as a whole with the words in 3:1, “Remind the people…”

How important is all of this to Paul? How seriously should Titus take this letter? In 2:15 Paul writes, “These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.”

To be continued…

Titus – Reflections II

Titus consists of about 1,060 English words, two single-spaced pages of Times New Roman 12 font. This is not a Mozart opera such as Jeremiah with 52 Chapters, or a Beethoven symphony such as Isaiah with 66 chapters. Titus is a piece a DJ can play during drive-time with a refrain that can stick in our minds like bubble-gum music – the difference being that Paul finds various yet similar ways to orchestrate the refrain, which separates Titus from Top-40 bubble-gum music and moves it into the genre of Jazz, Paul will call on different instruments to play the same theme and he’ll bring them together at appropriate junctures.

Let’s consider the instruments. Paul writes about elders (1:5); older men (2:2); older women (2:3); younger women (2:4); young men (2:6); slaves (2:9); and the people of God as a whole (2:11; 3:1, 8, etc.). Paul also brings in some counterpoint instruments, such as rebellious people (1:10); foolish, disobedient, living in malice and envy (3:3ff). Consider how many different types of people in the church Paul writes about within two pages:

1. 
   
   elders
2. 
   
   older men
3. 
   
   older women
4. 
   
   young women
5. 
   
   young men (note the chiasm)
6. 
   
   slaves
7. 
   
   the people of God

Now then, are there common points that Paul addresses in each of these groups? Are there counterpoints he juxtaposes in the other groups found in 1:10ff and 3:3ff? Is there a hinge upon which all of this hangs?

Here are some highlights:

Elders: blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, self-controlled, disciplined.

Older men: temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

Older women: reverent in every way they live, teach what is good.

Young women: self-controlled and pure

Young men: self-controlled.

Slaves: subject to their masters in everything, to show that they can be fully trusted, making the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

The People: subject to rulers and authorities, obedient, ready to do what is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate and to show true humility toward all men.

The counterpoint people are described in part as rebellious, talkers and deceivers, foolish, disobedient, and enslaved by all kinds of passions, living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. Do we see the contrast?

Note in 2:14; 3:8 and 3:14:

Who [Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good…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…Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good…

Dearest Pilgrim – do you think that Paul is trying to make a point? Going back to the previous post, what situation might have occasioned such a letter from Paul? What was going on in the church and the surrounding society?

To be continued…

Titus – Reflections

Titus is one of those Biblical books that doesn’t get much press. It suffers from being wedged between 1 & 2 Timothy on the left, and Philemon and Hebrews on the right. When folks talk of a Pauline protégée they will pick Timothy 99 times out of 100 over Titus. It isn’t personal, it’s just that Timothy is the lead-off batter in what we call the Pastoral Epistles; 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. At first glance Titus can appear to be a recapitulation of the two Timothy letters, so why spend much time in it?

I think we often mentally reach the conclusion of 2 Timothy and then leap right over Titus, Philemon and Hebrews to James in order to get on with some practical advice on Christian living. Philemon is a quirky little note, almost an email, from Paul to Philemon, an interlude in the midst of grand important doctrines and crises of praxis. When the Philemon film rolls it’s time to run to the fridge or bathroom – to take a short break.

And Hebrews? Well, what exactly is Hebrews all about anyway? And good gracious, all that Old Testament stuff – it makes my head hurt. Let’s genuflect and get on with the rest of the New Testament. (Little do folks realize when they reach the letter from James that they’re reading a NT version of the OT book of Proverbs.)

I want to put in a plug for Titus; actually, I want to put in more than a plug for Titus, I want to suggest that Titus has some things to say about the deportment of Christians in the increasingly disrespectful society we find ourselves in today – and particularly in the disrespectful church we find ourselves all too often in today.

It also strikes me that Titus and James have much in common – they are both focused on practice, on the outworking and outliving of the Christian life, and they both pay particular attention to the tongue. They also focus on attitudes and deportment. I invite you to engage in your own study of these similarities.

One of the fancy words we use to describe the NT letters is “occasional”. We say, “The New Testament letters were written to address specific occasions in the life of the Early Church.” Hence the term “occasional”.

What were the things that occasioned  the writing of the various letters? Generally speaking the only way to answer that question is to thoughtfully read the letters and pay attention to what the authors are writing about – sometimes they are overt in what they are addressing and sometimes we have to read between the lines. When we have to read between the lines we should acknowledge that our detective work is imperfect at best and hold our conclusions regarding the occasion loosely, what we should not hold loosely is our obedience to the Word of God expressed in the NT letters, whether or not we understand what precipitated their writing.

This brings me back to Titus…to be continued…