Titus 1:10-13
10For
there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of
the circumcision, 11who must be silenced because they are upsetting
whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid
gain. 12One of themselves, a
prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy
gluttons." 13This
testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be
sound in the faith,
False
Teachers
Paul
has greeted Titus (Titus 1:1-4), and has given the requirements for elders
(Titus 1:5-9) and now he is starting a new topic. This section tells us, in great part, WHY the
office of elder is so important, and WHY the word has standards for the
character and equipment/gifting of the elders.
This section is about false teachers.
We must remember that in verse 9 Paul told us that elders need to be
“holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by
sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.” This is to say that elders have to be steeped
in the Word, and well trained in solid doctrine so that they can see the
heresies of the world, of the culture and of other so called “Christian
Teachers.”
The elder needs to be in conflict
with the cultural compromises made towards popular psychology (a man centered
view of life, giving lies about “self-esteem” and “emotional conditions”) , the
church growth movements (popular movements that try to make it seem like the
focus of Churches should be to get more people in the door, rather than equip
those who are already there), and the “prosperity gospel” (the belief that
following God and being a Christian will result in material gain, or any sort
of financial stability.) The elder needs
to have an eye out to dispel these lies, and fight for the truth of the Word of
God. Boldly teaching, not afraid that
some will leave, not afraid of losing his job because he didn’t keep people
happy, but boldly teaching Word of God.
ESPECIALLY when it is uncomfortable!
Verse
10
For
there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers,
especially those of the circumcision,
The
Three Characteristics
Paul
puts forth three common characteristics of these types of men. He says they are:
1 - Rebellious
- This word can mean disobedient or unsubjected. This word is indicating that these teachers
are of the kind of character that does not recognize authority. They are rebellious against the Word of God.
2 - Empty
Talkers - The Greek word here is anupotaktos. This word has the idea of empty, or fruitless
and aimless chatter. Zodhaites writes:
“It is building houses on sand, chasing the wind, shooting at stars, pursuing
one’s own shadow.”[1] There is a self-centeredness implied in
this. These are those who want to have
endless empty discussion or complaint time.
They are not doing anything edifying or constructive; they are only
making a wasteful clamber.
3 - Deceivers
- this comes from the word phrenapates.
It is made up of the two words: the word for “mind” and the word for
“deceive.” So these are people who are
those who will try to lie to the mind of people. In this context it can often mean people who
have lied so much, or been lied to so much, that they BELIEVE the lies that
they are telling. It is possible for
someone to be a deceiver who does not believe that they are lying!
circumcision
“Those
of the circumcision” refers to those who followed Paul around trying to
convince the gentiles that believed in Jesus because of Paul’s teaching that
they had to be circumcised and obey Jewish Law to be saved. These were the people that Paul wrote against
in Galatians and in Philippians 3:2: warning them to “beware of those dogs,
those mutilators of the flesh.” These are the people that were trying to make
Christians who are saved by grace alone through faith alone obey the Law. These people are still in our midst. These days they do not demand circumcision,
but they make new laws and legalisms for the Church to follow, claiming “you
are not saved unless…” or “you aren’t
going to be sanctified until…” Legalism is still, as it was then, one of the
most venomous and lethal influences that can destroy a church body.
Verse
11
who must
be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching
things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.
must
be silenced
This
is an imperative. It’s not, “if you
can…” or “try your best to…” nor is it “please ask them to stop nicely…” This
is like a teacher in a classroom, or a judge in a court of Law, commanding someone
to be silent at once! The word in Greek
here is epistomizo. It is another
compound word combining the words for “over” or “cover” and the word for
“mouth.” So literally it would read
“cover their mouths.” Or “shove
something in their mouths.” Paul is not
using childish language, nor polite language.
This is his charge to elders: not to baby these types of people but to
silence them.
Here we see again that the elder is not to
be a just a “nice guy.” Nor is he to be the passive kind friend to bring your
problems too. He is supposed to be
tough, and tell things like they are, according to the Word of God, regardless
of the consequences. This is also
further evidence that our vision of “tolerance” is not to be accepted in the
realm of different doctrines. Here again
it is clear that the church is not to be a hodgepodge of “some say this and
some say that” but rather to be clinging to God’s truth in a clear and uniform
way.
are
upsetting
This
word in the Greek means literally “to overturn, or to turn upside-down.” These teachers aren’t just causing minor
problems. These false teachers are
destroying groups of people. Many “pastors”
today will take a liberal view of doctrine trying to view it as
unimportant. Paul is very clear: Bad teaching is turning WHOLE HOUSEHOLDS
UPSIDE-DOWN. They are confusing
people. This is something that we take
for granted in our culture. Bad
information destroys people. Legalistic
teaching, if tolerated, will destroy believers and keep them from “growing in
the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is serious about this because it is the
difference between the church fulfilling the purpose of bringing glory to God
in the world through bringing believers to maturity, and believers who fall
from grace and become useless to the Lord.
The elders need to be in conflict with this!
families
The
word translated “family” here is literally “houses.” It could very well mean that families were
being thrown into confusion by these false teachers and idle talkers. However, at this time church meetings were
also held in a person’s house as well.
This could also take on the meaning that entire house-churches were
being thrown into confusion as well, because of the elders’ lack of Scriptural
training (understanding). Notice also
how high the stakes are: these houses are being destroyed, people are being
denied the opportunity to behold the Lord Jesus Christ and be transformed from
glory to glory. Understand now, the
stakes are HIGH. If someone
misunderstands their toaster instructions and thinks that the pictures mean
that it meant to be used in the bathtub there is going to be a serious
problem. The spiritual problems are even
more real, and broken fellowship (not relationship) with the Lord can be the
result.
the
sake of sordid gain
So
they are teaching things that they should not be teaching. Bad things, wrong things, or things that are
not consistent with Scripture, things that are not found in Scripture. They are teaching these things to get
money. “Sordid” here means “shameful and
repulsive.” So it is dirty gain, it is
disgusting profit. There are countless
popular speakers getting paid a fortune to go from church to church with their
popular lies. Their money, their gain,
is forever stained.
The pastor who is preaching to make
his congregation happy should beware of this message. If he is not boldly proclaiming the Word of
God regardless of what the people want, regardless of what gets more people in
the door, then he is merely trying to keep his job. He is not accountable to men, he is
accountable to God. By subjecting
himself to the authority of his congregation he is disobeying the word of God,
and doing his congregation no service at the same time. Any pastor or elder “preaching” happy, non-threatening
little “sermonettes” on Sundays is watering down God’s Word, for the sake of
his own filthy gain.
Additionally, the pastor using
legalism in this form or that, one way or the other arm twist people into
giving more money, or participate in the church is repulsive. This is a great temptation to church leaders
as guilt gets things done, and by way of guilt and coercion the earthly goals
of a pastor may be fulfilled. However,
the church should be concerned with God’s goals, not our goals. Relying on Him, not guilt or shame, to make
things happen.
Verse
12
One of
themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars,
evil beasts, lazy gluttons."
The
Cretan Condition
The
introduction section discussed the character of Crete and Cretans. They were pirates and thieves. They were a whole island of cheats and
liars. Their entire culture was built
upon deception and lifting up the traitor and the cheater. They would pray to their gods to help them to
cheat, lie and deceive better. Paul is
telling us that the culture of Crete is already predisposed for making these
kinds of people (false teachers, idle talkers, deceivers). And that the people would be desensitized to
it, and may not easily recognize these people for who they were.
prophet
By
“prophet” Paul does not mean a Biblical prophet. He is not comparing this poet to Isaiah or
Jeremiah, but in this generic sense it means “wise man” or “philosopher.” Many have sighted him as Epimenides, a Cretan
poet before the New Testament era.
liars
The
meaning is quite clear. The Greek word
here is pseustes meaning “liar.”
It is where we get the English word “pseudo.” We use this as a prefix to mean that
something is false. So a “pseudo-intellectual”
is someone who is only pretending to be intellectually equipped.
evil
beasts
Evil
beasts here means that they are uncontrollable.
The Cretans cannot be tamed, or controlled, they are unpredictable. They are like wild animals.
lazy
gluttons
This
means that they are also the type to try to get out of work. That is the purpose of all of their cheating
and lying. So they can take it easy and
not have to work anymore. They are free-loaders. What hope does the church have with these
types of people around? The hope, as we
will see, is in the continual steadfast teaching of the word.
Verse
13
This
testimony is true. For this reason reprove
them severely so that they may be sound in the faith,
This
testimony is true
WOW! This is shocking! Paul doesn’t water it down, Paul doesn’t suggest
that Titus and the elders he appoints should be “sensitive to their culture.”
It simply says that it’s the truth! The
word for testimony here focuses on verifiable, visible evidence. Saying, “you can go check it for
yourself.” And for this reason Titus and
the elders are told to…
reprove
them severely
They
are to have a nice happy meeting with them?
Are they to kindly ask them to stop?
Are they to leave them alone and hope that they go away? NO!
Absolutely NOT!
They
are to “reprove them severely”! Reprove
means “to rebuke or to censure.” It
means confront them and tell them that they are off the mark. Not simply hope it goes away in time, or hope
that they “get better.” but to rebuke them.
Severely here is a compound word using the words for “from” and for “cut
sharply.” So this is decisive action,
harsh action and serious action. Not
passive action, or “nice guy” action. He
is to act harshly in response to the culture.
He is not supposed to say “that’s their culture, so I should just accept
it.” His supposed to tell them to leave their culture, change their culture,
for it is not of God! Culture is not a
sacred thing! It is the destroyer of
Churches and theology throughout the generations. Culture does not need to me considered, but disregarded.
sound
in the faith
Why
should they do this? Why do we need to
be fighting the culture? Why do elders
need to be constantly on the lookout?
Because the lies of the culture are in opposition to soundness of
faith. They make an unsound faith. They prevent the people in the Church from
reaching spiritual maturity. They are
not to be rebuked sharply to make Titus feel better, nor are they to be rebuked
because elders should like to fight.
They need to be rebuked for their own good. For their own soundness of faith. This term has also been translated
“healthiness of faith.”
What a
beautiful image of the church when it functions like it is supposed to. The result of the church is healthy
faith. Think of the metaphor into
physical health. A physically healthy
person is able to move, work, play, rest and live. A healthy faith is one that provides the
believer with the ability to live a free and healthy life, eat, work, serve,
know and love the Lord in everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment