Titus 1

The little letters towards the end of the New Testament are rarely preached on. Very often this is because their focus is so narrow and specific, usually dealing with housekeeping matters relating to particular problems or issues affecting a relatively small group of Christians in the earliest days of the Christian Church. Paul's letter to Titus is just one such. We know little of Titus - he's not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles - yet it is clear from Paul's other letters that Titus is a stalwart amongst the people Paul trusted to share in his ministry.

It's also clear from this pastoral letter to Titus that he and Paul had been on Crete together - probably towards the end of Paul's life, and had found the state of the Christian church there fairly parlous. The ancient world had a fairly low view of Cretan civilisation, thinking it uncouth and barbarous, but to go about telling the Cretans this wasn't the surest way to winning them over to Christ. Nor was a church in a state of disorganised chaos going to draw people to the message of Jesus.

So Paul leaves Titus on Crete to complete the work that had begun. The work there would demand wisdom and strength of character - to sort out the chaos and to confront those who were bringing the faith into disrepute or openly teaching against it. We learn here that it is essential for the Christian church - any Christian church - that it possesses orderly government. Titus was sent to instil some order and discipline, and to identify people in the local Christian community who had the abilities and qualities of leadership that were felt to be important. It's interesting to note that Paul interchanges the words elders and bishops - in the early church the two were virtually synonymous - differentiation only came later on. People in leadership roles were to recognise that they were stewards of God. They were to set an example in their private as well as their public life of being honest, upright, decent, sociable - as well as being just and holy. They were to be believers in and teachers of sound doctrine - a recognition that faith isn't simply about following tradition, or giving in to our feelings, but something which is also going to engage our minds.

To look at this list is enough to make any minister or elder blanch a little. The perfection that is expected of religious leaders is rarely found. For all that some may have good points, all of us have feet of clay. Yet nonetheless, knowing our frailties and foibles, God still calls men and women to leadership within the church, and where their weaknesses are evident, endeavours to surround them with people who can compensate and assist. Paul's letter to Titus, then is not simply a reminder to those of us in leadership positions about what we should strive to be; it is also an encouragement to others not to judge their leaders by their weaknesses, but to help them and support them and to compensate through their own strengths any weaknesses that leaders may have. Whilst leadership of the church may be entrusted only to a few, the responsibility for the church is given to us all, and each one is called and expected to play their part.

Titus 2

There clearly was a lot of trouble in the Cretan church, with people stirring up doubt, uncertainty and irreligion. People of all ages and both genders. Hence Paul's stress on the need for sound doctrine. Churches that fall prey to people who have one agenda only, whose interests are limited to one area of life - even if it is a worthy one - do a disservice to the breadth and the diversity of the Christian gospel and its message. We are called to provide different opportunities of service, education and worship. Any church should provide a variety of opportunities for members and those coming in from the wider community to encounter the love of God and so respond in different forms of service. This should be open and inclusive, not cliquish and exclusive, which all too often happens in church life, to our shame. When we lose sight of the breadth of God's majesty and the wide sweep of his church, we diminish the opportunities of service and belonging offered to his people.

This is a hard thing to live up to - we have to be clear and focused. We have also to realise that we cannot be all things to all people and that anything goes, but within the gospel message there is breadth enough, for example, to encompass the needs of those who are interested in the social gospel, and peace and justice issues; those whose interests are in music, prayer and preaching; those who wish to nurture the young; those who wish to offer pastoral care to people in need; those who wish to welcome in the stranger through hospitality and fellowship; those who wish to learn more about their faith through study and discussion.

All of this has to do with not simply the teaching but the living out of our faith - because all of this has to do with the ways and the workings of God's living Kingdom. In the living out of God's kingdom ways everyone is expected to play a part.

In this chapter we need to recognise its context - this is first century Crete - so some of the specific allocation of roles - particularly to women - and also the recognition of a society still incorporating slavery - will not sit easily within the twenty-first century context. However, drawing out some of what Paul means here - we find simply his plea to Titus to ensure that the Christians of Crete should be people whose behaviour tallies with their belief. In other words they practise what they preach.

So in relation to the different injunctions that Paul gives to Titus about old men, young men, old women and young women, they shouldn't, in the modern world, be seen as mutually exclusive. To be temperate, serious, sensible and sound in faith, love and steadfastness is something that applies as much to young women as it does to old men. To avoid gossip, a fondness for the bottle, and to play a part in the nurture of children is something that applies as much to young men as it does to older women.

If we saw, in the previous chapter, that much was expected of those in Christian leadership - here is the follow-on. Much is expected of Christians, full stop. What draws people to Christ is not simply sound teaching, important though that may be. Nor even attractive churches and plenty of activity, important though that is too. What is often seen first of all by people who have little or no faith in the wider world is the behaviour of those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. The privilege of being called a Christian is a great one - and each of us can testify to people we have known or still know in our lives whose straightforward, simple example of good live and Christian values has greatly shaped our own way of living and our own behaviour and values.

The attractiveness and call of Christ can be enhanced, and sometimes obscured, by the behaviour of those who count themselves amongst his followers.

Titus 3

It was true in Titus' time in Crete, and it remains true today, that Christian behaviour in contemporary society was of the utmost importance for the furtherance of the gospel. I suppose the call would be to respect authority, and those who wield it, but to be clear in our minds that those who are in positions of power are equally under God as are we, and are expected to use their power for the well-being of all. We maybe have more freedom of movement in this area than those living under the rule of the Roman Empire, and there was always a great fear amongst religious groups that any association with political unrest and agitation would undermine the freedom to worship that was more or less the norm in the Roman Empire. It was what stirred the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem to act against Jesus - almost as much as their objection to his theology. It was clearly an issue on Crete - where Christians were reminded to be sensitive to the fact that they were a minority and as such open to charges of subversion from what was still then the norm.

People living under oppressive regimes have always had to be careful. In the former Soviet bloc, in China, and in the Islamic countries it was and in some cases still is important to "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." But equally Christians are reminded that they are also to render to God the things that are God's. In whatever kind of society we live in, and under whatever form of government, Christians are called not to be separate from the wider community but to be right there in the heart of it. To be the salt and the leaven of faith. How else will people come to a knowledge of Christ if they don't see his love at work amongst his people?

Paul reminds Titus and the Cretans that God had intervened in all of their lives, taking them away from behaviour and attitudes that were unworthy, and leading them to something that was better. Again, the example of this was something that was to be shown to the world, not hidden away. If God can turn people like us away from selfishness, pettiness, spite and so on - then - the message runs - he can do it for anyone. And that is something not to be boasted about but to be celebrated in all humility.

If Christians are to have an impact on the wider community, then the particular community of Christ - the church - must be a model of support, compassion, unity and practical love. It must be a community that does good deeds - flowing from a sound faith.

The more I read Titus, the more I think what a great little letter it is. It contains, unusually for Paul, in short order sound advice and clear instruction about what a Christian community should be like - leaders and led, men and women, in order that that community could be faithful to God, and in order that that community could begin to have a more focused impact on the world beyond.