Cretan smackdown
This week is on Titus 1:10-16:
The letter to Titus is kind of a crash manual in church ministry, written by Paul, who started a lot of the early New Testament churches. At that time, there were a bunch of people going around telling people that they still had to obey the letter of the Jewish law, basically turning Christianity into nothing more than a bastardized version of Judaism, but with more laws. Obviously, for a religion based on grace, more laws and more law-enforcement isn't a good thing. So what do you do, if you see something like that? Just wring your hands and watch family after family getting led astray?
It's a difficult question, because on the one hand you want to be graceful and tolerant of others' faults, but on the other, you don't want to allow a disease to spread through the body unchecked. And that's where Paul's distinction comes in.
The people Paul is talking about aren't your typical brother and sister Christians. These are people who have set themselves up as authorities and who have influence over others, while refusing to accept the message of grace that Jesus died to bring us. They want to be lords and masters, worshiped and respected by all whose lives they touch. They're wolves in sheep's clothing, because they produce the appearance of sharing Jesus' message, but what they're really looking for is to feed on the body for their own edification and glory. They're in it for themselves. These aren't just Christians making honest Christian mistakes. These are people who fundamentally misunderstand the gospel, and who are actively working to destroy the understanding of others and place them into bondage.
Paul says to rebuke these people sharply. That seems fairly unchristian. We always hear about the doctrine that prophesies and rebukes should always be gentle and constructive. Anything sounding negative is supposedly never from God. But here is a guy saying to shut down someone who is going around preaching the law and to do it sharply. That doesn't sound gentle and edifying at all!
In this case, Paul's statement makes sense. He's a shepherd over his flock, and he wants to keep predators away. A shepherd does that with a stone, when making noise fails to keep them away. A sharp rebuke cuts through the pride that comes with legalism. It says "No, you are not sacred. You are not set apart and placed on high to judge those you see as beneath you." Better to offend them, even to make them look foolish in front of those they would prey on, than to stand idle and allow them to devour the innocent. Maybe you'll even be lucky and they'll repent of their malignant religiosity. Bonus!
For most cases, though, it's always better to be patient and gentle. If the person you'd love to rebuke is not hurting anyone, give them time and patience. If you're angry, give them time and patience. Pretty much the gospel is glued to the practice of grace and tolerance, except when it comes to those who would try to replace Jesus' pure gospel with one of their own selfish creation. At that point, you've got to stop it before it spreads and hurts others.
Better yet, don't be that kind of person yourself. Don't seek to control others and make them in your image. Don't seek to condemn others to raise yourself up. Don't try to acquire followers. Make it your business to introduce others to Jesus directly, serving them as they go through that process. Don't insert yourself between others and Jesus, making them go through you and your laws and traditions. That's not our job. It's toxic. If it's not the gospel Jesus brought us, it works against him.
For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
The letter to Titus is kind of a crash manual in church ministry, written by Paul, who started a lot of the early New Testament churches. At that time, there were a bunch of people going around telling people that they still had to obey the letter of the Jewish law, basically turning Christianity into nothing more than a bastardized version of Judaism, but with more laws. Obviously, for a religion based on grace, more laws and more law-enforcement isn't a good thing. So what do you do, if you see something like that? Just wring your hands and watch family after family getting led astray?
It's a difficult question, because on the one hand you want to be graceful and tolerant of others' faults, but on the other, you don't want to allow a disease to spread through the body unchecked. And that's where Paul's distinction comes in.
The people Paul is talking about aren't your typical brother and sister Christians. These are people who have set themselves up as authorities and who have influence over others, while refusing to accept the message of grace that Jesus died to bring us. They want to be lords and masters, worshiped and respected by all whose lives they touch. They're wolves in sheep's clothing, because they produce the appearance of sharing Jesus' message, but what they're really looking for is to feed on the body for their own edification and glory. They're in it for themselves. These aren't just Christians making honest Christian mistakes. These are people who fundamentally misunderstand the gospel, and who are actively working to destroy the understanding of others and place them into bondage.
Paul says to rebuke these people sharply. That seems fairly unchristian. We always hear about the doctrine that prophesies and rebukes should always be gentle and constructive. Anything sounding negative is supposedly never from God. But here is a guy saying to shut down someone who is going around preaching the law and to do it sharply. That doesn't sound gentle and edifying at all!
In this case, Paul's statement makes sense. He's a shepherd over his flock, and he wants to keep predators away. A shepherd does that with a stone, when making noise fails to keep them away. A sharp rebuke cuts through the pride that comes with legalism. It says "No, you are not sacred. You are not set apart and placed on high to judge those you see as beneath you." Better to offend them, even to make them look foolish in front of those they would prey on, than to stand idle and allow them to devour the innocent. Maybe you'll even be lucky and they'll repent of their malignant religiosity. Bonus!
For most cases, though, it's always better to be patient and gentle. If the person you'd love to rebuke is not hurting anyone, give them time and patience. If you're angry, give them time and patience. Pretty much the gospel is glued to the practice of grace and tolerance, except when it comes to those who would try to replace Jesus' pure gospel with one of their own selfish creation. At that point, you've got to stop it before it spreads and hurts others.
Better yet, don't be that kind of person yourself. Don't seek to control others and make them in your image. Don't seek to condemn others to raise yourself up. Don't try to acquire followers. Make it your business to introduce others to Jesus directly, serving them as they go through that process. Don't insert yourself between others and Jesus, making them go through you and your laws and traditions. That's not our job. It's toxic. If it's not the gospel Jesus brought us, it works against him.
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