Enough is enough...

7/29/2012 – Evening Service  –  5pm

“When we grow up”

(Titus 2:1-2)

[2:1] But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

There were some men in the congregations of Crete who were not to be teachers, but Paul wanted Titus to know that he was not one of them. Titus was supposed to be a teacher. He was to be an agent of God in teaching the kind of life that was appropriate for those who believed in healthy doctrine.

It is healthy for people to believe in an Almighty God who saved us through the blood of His Son and who showed us what salvation will fully mean in His resurrection from the dead. That healthy teaching should be manifested in lives of godliness among those who profess to believe. It was the job of Titus not only to teach the beliefs of one who was a follower of Christ, but to instruct others in the life appropriate to those beliefs.

[2] Older men

This one principle, that healthy life should flow from healthy faith, had specific application to various groups within the church. It would be applied somewhat differently to older men than to others in the churches. There may also be some differences that need to be mentioned in one culture or another. We need to see today that men are having a hard time growing up. It is not unusual to meet a man in his 50s who still behaves like a boy. This may be applauded by others, but we need to be those who see that it has some severe limitations. Jesus wants his followers to grow up and to know that they are called to the costly life of sacrificial love rather than the self-focused life of personal entertainment.

are to be sober-minded,

Men should aspire to be sober-minded. The word Paul used means “sober.” Older men should be sober. A man can act like he is drunk by habit without having a drop of alcohol. How can you tell if someone is drunk? Is it just the smell of his breath and the slurred speech? Isn't also a loss of propriety that seeks what one would not seek if he were in his right mind? We need a right mind according to the gospel that we believe, a mind that loves the glory of Jesus Christ, a mind that hopes in the resurrection, and seeks to live out life in mature and humble service of our King. This is sobriety. Best to be filled with the holy Spirit, to rejoice in the Lord, to be continually thankful in the name of Jesus, submitting to one another out of reverence for the only Redeemer of mankind.

dignified,

Older men are to be dignified, not merely in a way that would seem respectable among earthly society but especially that which would be viewed as worthy of honor and even worship among the inhabitants of heaven. The very actions of heavenly worship might seem extreme to those who are lost in the value system of a fading world. In heaven such worship is considered entirely appropriate and dignified. To Michal, David's dancing was unseemly. In heaven they loved it. Actually, to show nothing of the joy and enthusiasm of heavenly life in earthly worship is undignified for one who professes to follow the Son of David, especially if one has plenty of enthusiasm for things that will fade away quickly like extravagant palaces and physical beauty.

self-controlled,

Far from simply fitting in well in the eyes of a world steeped in the temporary, older men are to be self-controlled about those matters that drive most men to distraction or that win the applause of the populace. The man who lives out the doctrine of Christ with a heavenly mind cares the most about things that most people may yawn at, and loves deeply what many in a perverse world have come to view as dangerous. This requires a spirit that is more governed by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God than one that is able to fit well into every social setting.

sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

Jesus did not fit well into every crowd, but He was perfectly healthy in God's eyes in His faith, His love, and His steadfastness. Jesus was genuine and appropriately engaged in that which was of first importance. He was perfectly motivated by what should cause us to be passionate and energetic.

Older men are not to be hypocrites who fit hand in glove around those people who matter most to the world. Older men are to be like their Savior. This is the practical teaching that accords with the best doctrine.

Jesus believed the Word even when the synagogue people in Nazareth were angry enough about what He said to want to throw Him off a cliff. He loved us to the end, dying on a cross for us, when the sensible thing even to his closest disciple was that such a thing should most definitely be forbidden by God. Jesus is still full of steadfastness in His care for His church even down to this present late hour when the love of many seems to have grown cold.

It is time for older men like me to be what we are going to be when we grow up. It is time for us to be like Jesus.