Text: Titus 3:1-15 Title: Growing Disciples Living Good Lives Pt.2 Let s open our Bibles to Titus. I m wrapping up the series entitled Growing Disciples. Remember Titus has been left on Crete to strengthen the churches to produce growing disciples. Paul writes to him in Titus 1:5 - The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. There s always unfinished business in our lives and in the church. There are always parts of our lives and our church that can be brought into greater conformity to God s will. The instructions to Titus would be passed on to the elders he appointed in the churches who would be part of the strengthening of the churches on Crete. Part of my motivation in teaching and preaching this series is to prepare us for a very important decision related to our church s leadership structure proposed in our new bylaws. If we are going to make changes to be more effective in our decision making as a church we must make sure we are consistent with Scripture. Many have asked me, Pastor, are you for this? My answer is absolutely yes. As I said repeatedly, I am convinced that the changes we are proposing are consistent with Scripture and will make us more effective in our mission to make disciples. Now look to Titus 3:8. Here Paul starts to wrap up his letter. Titus 3:8 - This is a trustworthy saying. 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. Those who have trusted in God (received the gift of eternal life through Christ) should strive to give help to others to do what is good. That s on Paul s heart all the way through. Right doctrine will lead to right behavior. Believers should be good for something, not good for nothing. We re not to be good in order to be saved. We re not saved by our good works but by faith in Christ alone. We are not saved by good works; we are saved for good works. These good works are excellent and profitable. There s a moral beauty to them that benefits others. They are essential if we are to make a real difference in the world where we live.
In the remaining verses there are a series of commands Paul gives to Titus that fall into two general exhortations for believers to live good lives. The first has to do with 1. DISPUTES WE SHOULD AVOID They are to concentrate on the essentials, but avoid disputes and people that distract them. Read Titus 3:9-11. Back in v.9 Paul is concerned that there s the danger that they might be sucked into these unprofitable and useless disputes. They are described as foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels. And they didn t even have social media as an outlet! They are somehow perverting the Gospel and what Paul calls sound doctrine that leads to godly behavior in believers. We re talking about disputes over secondary issues non-essentials probably stirred up by Jewish false teachers. They liked to tickle peoples ears with their fascinating speculations on matters that were really not important. And Paul tells them to just walk away from discussions like that. Our time is better spent on things that are excellent and profitable (v.8), not silly disputes that are useless and unprofitable (v.9). ILLUSTRATION One Sunday I ran into a guy coming out of his Bible study class shaking his head. I asked him what was up and he said, I ve just wasted an hour. The teacher read one verse of Scripture then we spent the rest of our time talking about politics. The reason these disputes are useless and unprofitable is that they create what someone has called sideways energy. For us to fulfill the mission Jesus has given us our energies need move us forward, not sideways or backwards. ILLUSTRATION One of the most powerful stories I have heard came out of Max Lucado s book, The Eye of the Storm. For months Max, his dad and some friends had planned a fishing trip and the day for them to go finally came. They arrived after dark, unfolded their pop-up tent camper and went to bed. They could hardly wait for the next morning. But during the night a cold front blew in and they awakened to a cold, gray, windy day. There was no way they would be able to fish today. Max s dad said, No problem. We ll hang out here at the camper today play some games, tell some jokes, cook some food. Everything will be fine tomorrow. That day seemed to last forever. They got bored. But they went to bed
with hopes of a better day tomorrow. But the next morning it was worse. Now there was ice on the lake. Then Lucado said that some of the gray had left the sky and entered our camper. Before long they started getting on each other s nerves. They were grumpy. They fussed over things that wouldn t normally bother them.the next day was even colder so Mr. Lucado told Max and his buddies that they were packing up and heading home. No one objected. In his book Max says that he learned a hard lesson that week, not about fishing, but about people and the church: When those who are called to fish don t fish, they fight. When energy intended to be used outside is used inside, the result is explosive. Instead of casting nets, we cast stones. Instead of extending helping hands, we point accusing fingers. Instead of being fishers of the lost, we become critics of the saved. Rather than helping the hurting, we hurt the helpers And, sadly, poor go unfed, confused go uncounseled, and lost go unreached. When those who are called to fish don t fish, they fight. But note the other side of the fish tale: When those who are called to fish, fish they flourish! Paul tells Titus and the churches to avoid these kinds of disputes that create this sideways energy. Our discipleship should not be focused on discussions but on actions. Discussions and disputes distract us from the business God has called us to. Now, these disputes are stirred up by divisive persons. So they are to Titus 3:10 - Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. The KJV translates the word divisive with the word heretic which originally meant someone who divides others over opinions or choices. He decides he is right and everyone else is wrong. His own ideas are the test of truth. These are probably the false teachers that Paul talks about back in Titus 1. Titus 1:11 - They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach and that for the sake of dishonest gain. These false teachers are dangerous and greedy. The Bible addresses the same issue with the church in Rome:
Romans 16:17 - I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. What we have here is a description of what church discipline looks like. We should love the church and love our brothers and sisters enough to confront them when they are hurting the fellowship and the witness of the church. In Titus 3 Paul describes a process that is very similar to the one Jesus set forth in Matthew 18 where we re taught that if a brother sins against us we should go talk to them oneon-one and resolve it there. If they don t listen take someone along with you as a witness and try again. And if they still don t listen Jesus said to tell it to the church. And if the offender still doesn t listen withdraw fellowship from them. Why? Paul said to Titus in Titus 3:11 - You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is selfcondemned. If believers are embroiled in controversial disputes about non-essentials they will not be able to devote themselves to being good witnesses in the community. And that leads to the second exhortation that has to do with 2. PEOPLE WE SHOULD ASSIST Titus 3:12 - As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. So the polar opposite of those contentious people who stir up distracting disputes are these individuals who are living profitable lives for the Kingdom of God. The first two named are Artemas and Tychicus. We know nothing about Artemas. He was apparently just a regular guy that the great Apostle Paul could trust with an important assignment for the mission of the churches. We know more about Tychicus. He s mentioned five times in the NT. He was a trusted fellow-servant with Paul on his missionary journeys. The plan is for Titus to go meet up with Paul at this placed called Nicopolis while Artemas and Tychicus stayed on Crete to continue to set things in order in the churches. So here are men whose lives are making a difference. And there are others. Titus 3:13 - Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need.
We know nothing about Zenas except that he was a lawyer. If this means a litigator-type lawyer then there s at least one lawyer mentioned in the Bible. So they re not all bad! That s all we know about Zenas. If you re familiar with the NT, however, the name Apollos is also familiar. The NT describes Apollos as an educated man who had a great passion for the Lord and a tremendous talent for preaching. God used him to help many of the NT churches. Zenas and Apollos may have been the ones who delivered Paul s letter to Titus. Then Paul tells Titus to do everything he could to help them on their way to literally speed them on their way to their next assignment. From this we learn that we should do everything we can to keep the Gospel moving forward. This includes giving our financial offerings. Let s not spend our time, energy and money on things that distract us from what God is doing in the world. That leads Paul to this summary: Titus 3:14 - Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives. Our people means the rank-and-file believers in the churches. They must learn. We re talking here about producing growing disciples who learn, not just theological matters to fill their heads, but how to do what is good. They are to use their resources to assist the work of God and the workers of God with their daily necessities. They must not live unproductive lives useless, unfruitful lives. QUOTE: One of the most influential books in my life in recent years is John Piper s book Don t Waste Your Life. He writes: I will show you how to waste your life. He recalls an article that appeared in Readers Digest magazine several years ago that told about a married couple who took early retirement from their jobs moved to Florida where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells. At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasnt. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life, your one and only precious, God-given life, and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the great Day of Judgment: Look, Lord. See my shells. That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Over against that, I put my protest: Don t buy it. Don t waste your life.