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| Source: BocaWatch |
Titus 1:10-16
For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
Today's media is constantly telling us we must do something, or we must take up a deal before it is too late or that we desperately need the next device to make our lives easier. Using a series of key action words, producers of adverts have got the spoken and written language down to a perfect tee, in order for consumers to buy into their product (whatever it happens to be!). Likewise, people who tell you that it is OK to do things that are clearly wrong know how to encourage us to do these detestable things, whether by general 'egging-on' or through a series of perfectly timed phrases (akin to what the serpent did in Eden).
Many of our young people feel the pressure of their peers to smoke, consume alcohol or drugs or worse, to have sex. Our young people (and in some cases our adults) are strongly influenced by what they read in magazines or watch on T.V./Internet. There are lots of people out there in the world that know exactly what to say or do to get you to follow them.
Many people are lost to the wills of those who say there is no God; you can do whatever you want; life is what you make of it; its OK to explore yourself; its OK to try just one; its OK not to honour God. The list could go on - this is what people are being bombarded with constantly every day. A seemingly harmless cartoon that teaches our children it is OK to fight or a film that paints a picture of adultery being normal behaviour.
I guess we can take some encouragement, therefore, when Paul writes about this very thing here. He has just finished advising Titus on the characteristics of those he should appoint as church leaders. He tells them to be faithful by holding onto Jesus. Now, he identifies the urgency of why Titus must chose these leaders with such characteristics. This is a stark warning to Titus that he will have to deal with people who are dead against him and his teaching. In fact, people who teach other things to people, messages that are not of God, but of worldly gains and pleasures.
These people are 'insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers', they refuse to submit to the authority of God and his trustworthy message. They work to 'turn away [people] from the truth' in what they say and how they live. They 'deny him by their works'. They go out of their way to persuade you that their way of thinking is correct, and in turn, the Scripture's way of thinking is wrong.
Why?
They want you to be the centre of the universe. You are the human being, the pinnacle of the animal kingdom, the most advanced species of animal on the face of the planet and, indeed, the known universe. You are the only animal that alters the surrounding environment to suit yourself, you are the centre of all that is. God is just a figment we have created, a deity to explain something Science cannot. Even then, it is only a matter of time before Science will have the answer to everything important. They are causing problems with not just our young people, but everyone. 'they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.'. You only live once, so why bother worrying about how you live - have fun, as the Bible says, "Eat, Drink and Be Merry!"
Paul says, this is wrong. So called, 'empty talking'. We must hold onto Jesus, he says in order to silence them and 'rebuke them sharply'. He says these people are 'defiled and unbelieving'.
Society would have you believe that morality is what we, the people make of it. We are in control of our lives, we decide what is right and wrong, we decide what is acceptable and what is not. But Paul, declares that morality is not a matter of rules about things that are pure and impure by nature or decree, but a matter of the disposition of the heart.
We have forgotten the true Emperor of the Universe. We have forgotten who the creator is. We have all turned away and fallen short of the Kingdom of God and time is running out! Christ will return again, we must be ready, we must hold onto the truth, the real truth and nothing but the truth - God's truth not our perceptive truth.
There is a sense of urgency here - we must hold firmly to our faith in Christ Jesus, stand firm against the Devil's lies and love our neighbour in order to lead them to 'be sound in the faith'.
