Anybody had a good reason to write a letter, it wouldn't be to Titus. It would have been to the Roman Senate. And let me tell you a thing or two. Could have been his attitude. I mean, he could have growled at every changing of the Roman guard.
He could have complained all over again every time he got a fresh set to guard him. He could have demanded better treatment as a freeborn Roman citizen. Yet he's sitting in a cell in a place called the Rat's Nest, and he writes, "In everything, give thanks." Thanks for joining us today on Wisdom for the Heart. How do you treat the person who insults you, or the one who makes your life difficult? The world says, "Give as good as you get," but Jesus calls his followers to something higher.
It's the very thing that makes a believer stand out. Today, Stephen continues a message he began last time. It's called "Living in the City of Man." He'll pick back up in Titus chapter three, and he's going to show you how to relate to others. It's the kind of Christianity that the world finds remarkable. It might stretch you today, so let's pick up with Stephen right now.
And don't forget that when Paul is writing this letter, Nero's on a rampage. He's on the throne.
Society is depraved as ever. There were no sexual norms at this time. Heterosexuality was considered prudish by the elite Roman society. The emperor was bisexual. Pedophilia, adultery, idolatry, abortion, prostitution, drug addiction were not only empire-wide; they were legal and openly acceptable.
And this was the century in which Jesus Christ planted the living church, and the church exploded into existence. Why, among among other reasons, because Christians were so remarkably different in this new thing called the church than their culture. That they had respect for authority. These children of pirates could care less. You you got around authority.
Even when authority hated the very ground that Christians walked upon, in fact, Rome will eventually demand that Christians express their allegiance to the city of man by actually offering a pinch of incense and declaring Caesar as Lord. And Christians will die as martyrs rather than attempt to overthrow the emperor. They simply refused to deny that Christ alone was Lord.
So, is it ever right to disobey the law? Absolutely, whenever. Whenever the will of the law demands that you violate the word of God, you stand with the apostles and say, "We will obey God rather than man." Rather than mount an insurrection or instigate a plot to overthrow Nero, Paul is actually delivering rather shocking news that they are to respect and pay taxes to Nero. The authority of the land to keep the law of the land, unless it causes them to violate the word of God, and at that point they are willing to lay down their lives and die. And the Christians did what?
They did that, and they sang on their way to their execution. They'd served the city of Manas bright lights, and they knew now they were about to enter the city of God. According to the will and providence and direction and purpose of God, and the world then could only shake its head and wonder at those remarkable people.
So, before I leave this, let's practically apply it in a few ways. And when it gets too convicting, I'll move on. What's your attitude toward the authority in your life? I mean, we're all under the authority of somebody. Everyone in this auditorium is.
What's your attitude toward the authority of your parents? Man, I can't wait to get out of the house. What's your attitude toward the authority of your teachers, your supervisors, your pastors, elders, your town council, the IRS? As you fill out those forms. When you meet your hunting or fishing quota, when you write out your check for property taxes, what's your attitude when the police officer pulls you over?
I really don't want to go there, so we're going to keep moving on fairly quickly. But but what do you do at a red light at 1:00 a.m. when nobody else is on the street? You're wondering, was he there? Did I see no?
I wasn't there. I just pulled that out of the air. I watched one television show sometime ago where young children in kindergarten, one at a time, it's part of an experiment on how they respond to the authority. were put in a room with toys and a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, and they were told they could play with the toys, but they couldn't eat any of the cookies until the teacher came back into the room, and then the teacher left. Then the the tape began to roll, and the agony was terrible.
Some kids immediately walked over to the plate and just stared at the cookies, just stared and stared. And some started talking to themselves: "Don't eat the cookies! Don't eat the cookies! Don't eat the cookies! Don't eat the cookies!" One kid went over to the corner and just banged his head against the wall.
Well, the truth is, the camera is rolling. People are probably watching. But even if they aren't, what does your spirit say?
Well, what is your attitude? What is it communicating to you as it relates to authority? Anything remarkable there?
Okay, I'll knuckle under. You know the Bible's clear. I need to get with it and obey the law.
Well, that's great. But I gotta warn you. The Apostle Paul is just getting started. You'll notice that he not only has something to say about how we relate to rulers, he has five commands about how we relate to others. Let me give them to you as we work through this quickly.
The first thing he says, effectively in relating to others, is to go the extra mile. Notice the last part of verse one: "Be ready for every good deed." There is eagerness in that phrase. Be ready. It's on your mark. Get set, and you're ready.
You're ready to go out of your way to serve your community. Its leaders, its citizens, as you live in the city of man, with the truth you represent, that's how we're salt and light. Be ready for good deeds. That means that Christianity does not give us a free pass from society, and this attitude is going to be remarkably different from the status quo. The Jewish community on the island of Crete, in fact, throughout the Roman Empire, urged separation.
From local culture, and they all just kind of huddled together. In the first century, Jews who lived outside of Israel formed tight knit communities where nobody got in and nobody went out. Historians say they were slow and reluctant to submit to local laws and authorities. They felt they were above it. One author wrote that they were that they treated the people around them with a thinly veiled Disdain, rather than live among the people and demonstrate the glory and character of God, they kept to themselves and did nothing at all in what they would have defined as secular society.
So now they come to faith in Jesus Christ. We we want to stay in our little community. Let's just hang around each other. You know, let's not let's not in any way be touched by secular society, which means you can't touch it. Maybe you're thinking, well, you know, Paul's telling the church to do that to each other.
Well, certainly that's a biblical principle. Galatians six says, you know, do good to all people, especially those of the household of God. Absolutely should be emphasized above everything here. But Paul isn't just talking about us. In fact, you'll notice he ends his statement here with the clarification: we're to do these things to all men, not just believers.
So, so, what does my heart communicate about this idea of going the extra mile? What, what do my hands communicate? My feet? My spirit? Is it I'm going to let somebody else do that, or I'm ready?
I'm on ready. See at any moment on this occupied island, a Christian could feel the touch of the flat of a Roman spear on his shoulder, and he knew he was immediately by law compelled to carry that soldier's gear for one mile. Everybody despised the practice. The people of Crete, the Jewish community, especially. No doubt, believers.
Why would you want to interrupt your schedule and walk a mile out of the way? A Roman mile was considered a thousand steps, and it's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to imagine that that that person then picks up that gear and that backpack, and they begin. He begins to walk, and he counts one, two, three, four. And just the attitude and the way he's counting five, six, nine hundred and ninety-seven, nine hundred and ninety-eight, nine hundred and ninety-nine, one thousand. Plop.
There's your gear. I'm out of here. And Jesus Christ prepares the way for the church in the preaching of these distinctives all the way back in Matthew chapter five, and he says, "Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him." Two, before we get the phrase going, the extra mile. Can you imagine the surprise of a Roman soldier if you were to say, "Hey, listen, I know I've counted out a thousand steps, but I'm willing because of my obedience to Jesus Christ, my Savior, to carry your gear one more mile." You want to demonstrate remarkable Christianity in the church and in your community. Be ready to go the extra mile.
Secondly, avoid the grapevine. Avoid the grapevine. Paul writes further in verse two: "Malign no one." As that verse opens, "Malign no one." The verb is from the Greek word blasphemeo, which gives us our word blasphemy. To blaspheme. Only in this context, it's referring to slandering another person.
Slander. No one, and note that Paul does not add the loophole. Slander or malign no one if the information isn't true. If it's true, let it rip. No, malign no one.
And his directive for the believer couldn't be any clearer. We can't abuse or insult with our lips. We can't run down politicians. We can't run down fellow believers. We can't run down colleagues at work, or students on the campus, or family members, and ever hope to elevate the reputation of the gospel.
In fact, when we engage in that, we're just like them. We're not remarkable. We're status quo. I mean, that's the kind of activity the city of man has mastered. One historian said of Crete and the first century culture that verbal slander was practiced as a fine art.
I mean, they had it down in that doggy dog world. I mean, they they could they knew how to swing that sword and and cut a path to the top. Verb is here subordinate to the opening. Imperative, which implies then that that Paul is saying, Titus, you're going to have to remind them, remind them, remind them again that remarkable Christianity does not run people through the mud.
So, what does that mean? We take words out of your vocabulary that would be insulting, demeaning words like stupid. Jerk, fool! I never forget talking to a man after a service, who since left the church years ago, moved away. Nobody's here, so don't look around.
His family had evidently been waiting outside and didn't know where he was. He was in here talking to me. The auditorium had just about emptied out when his middle school age son spotted us. And ran up to his dad and said, "We've been looking all over for you, you idiot!" I know. I turned pink.
Just you know, thoughts of capital punishment were becoming clear to my mind. I just stood there silently waiting, and and I watched with amazement as this man never corrected his son. It occurred to me. Later, that more than likely, this was the language of the father in the home, and it never registered. We happen to be living in a demeaning, crass, vulgar, rude society, which is great news because we can demonstrate a remarkable distinction in the way we talk.
Go the extra mile, avoid the gutter of the grapevine.
Next, Paul writes in verse two: be peaceable. It's a word that literally means a no brawler. You are not looking to drop your gloves. You know, just give me an opportunity. I'll put it in another way for your outline sake.
If you are taking this, this is Paul's third command in regard to relationships with others, and you can say this way: remarkable Christianity does not swing back, even if you have what many might consider a good reason to take a shot. You don't do it. Let me help us all to clarify what this would. Mean by way of application, when you simply think of the Apostle Paul's own experience, he's writing this letter to Titus, and he's writing this: "Malay no one, don't take a shot." He said those things. And he has been bound up in the legal culture of his Roman world.
Roman governors, through pride and incompetence, have kept him bound in prison for years. Roman authorities illegally bound him. They've beaten him with rods. They've delayed hearing charges against him. And then, when the charges were presented, even though he was not found guilty, they kept him under house arrest for several more years.
In fact, up until the point where he is eventually executed, if anybody had. A good reason to write a letter. It wouldn't be to Titus. It would have been to the Roman Senate. And let me tell you a thing or two.
Could have been his attitude. I mean, he could have growled at every changing of the Roman guard. He could have complained all over again every time he got a fresh set to guard him. He could have demanded better treatment as a freeborn Roman citizen. Yet he's sitting in a cell in a place called the Rat's Nest, and he writes, "In everything, give thanks." We know he witnessed to these soldiers because in letters he'll remark by name to those within the military and giving greetings to them who are now believers.
And they must have left their watch. Scratching their heads and saying to each other, "That guy, that guy, man, is he remarkable or what?" I recommend to my seminary students. I teach a course a year, usually the small biography of Robert Chapman. I've mentioned him before. Pastor, he was the pastor of a small church in nineteenth-century England.
He was single his entire life. Pastored a very small church. His entire ministry, yet made a significant contribution to his community and those who knew him. Charles Spurgeon, in fact, called him the saintliest man in England. That's saying something, huh?
But not everybody liked Robert Chapman. He had his enemies. A grocer in the community hated him. In fact, he would be—he'd be so infuriated if Chapman ever came near his store, with any kind of open air witnessing or preaching. And on more than one occasion, he walked past Robert Chapman while he was preaching and spit in his face.
He would verbally attack Chapman as he came around. Chapman never retaliated. He never struck back. And on one occasion, some of Chapman's wealthy relatives came to visit him. Since Robert was single, they convinced him.
Look, let us buy the groceries and let us cook for you for the for this week or two that we're with you. And Chapman agreed. They asked him where he would recommend they go to purchase their groceries, and he insisted they go to the grocery of this man, who had insulted him for so many years.
Now they didn't know anything about the drama, but Chapman insisted that they travel to the other side of town to do their shopping in his store, and so off they went. They ended up purchasing a lot more food than they could carry, and so they asked that it all be delivered to the home of R.C. Chapman, the stunned grocer. Asked them to repeat that address, and they did. And then he said, "You must have come to my store by accident." They said no.
Mr. Chapman insisted that we come and buy this from you. When the grocer arrived with the delivery, and when Chapman answered the door, that old grocer broke down into tears, and Chapman ended up leading him to faith in his Lord that very afternoon. That doesn't always happen that way, but sometimes it does. As you set the groundwork of a remarkable Christianity, because the world knows you're not like them, with good reason, you refuse to swing back.
Fourthly, he tells us to stay the course. He writes in verse two to malign no one, to be peaceable.
Now, notice to be gentle, and that word doesn't quite grasp the depth of character bound up in its construction. It's an adjective. It's found only five times in the New Testament. It refers to someone who is patiently steadfast. That's why I'm saying Paul is commanding us to stay the course.
Let me let me define it to you by reading a definition of a Greek scholar. He said it means this. It refers to someone who is able to submit to injustice, disgrace. And maltreatment, without hatred or malice, trusting God in spite of it all. That's why Paul is saying in our vernacular, remarkable Christianity stays the course.
And you could add the word "sweetly." There's the challenge. That's easy for Paul to say. He's an apostle. He got a tour of heaven. We expect him to write this kind of stuff.
No. Paul uses again the same word from the dark, cold interior of the rat's nest to prison designed for people who never got out, and he said, "Let your gentle spirit be known to all men." Philippians four five. The apostle Peter used the word as well when he wrote, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, so that you can let them have it." Oh, that's not what it says. Always have an answer so you can stick it to them. I like that answer, that translation, but that's not what it says.
Let me try one more time. Always be prepared to give an answer, but First Peter two twelve, do this with gentleness and respect.
So, to make it practical to us, how do you respond when you are questioned? How do you respond when your faith is ridiculed? Or challenged. How do you how do you react to debate? One journalist writes about our culture today, and he's right.
He he writes, reasoned discourse is imperiled. It is giving way now to in-your-face sound bites. Playing hardball is the dominant metaphor for American dialogue. Our interchanges are confrontational, divisive, dismissive. Balance and fairness are casualties.
On evening shows, as two, three, sometimes four voices contends simultaneously for dominance. Volume and stubbornness are the new civic virtues, which is great news. Because now our spirit can be all the more remarkable, as we represent the city of God while living in the city of man. There's one more command from Paul to Titus and to us. I'll simply put it this way: Don't play favorites.
He concludes verse two by writing, showing every consideration to all men. Do you notice that? Let me give you the literal translation of that Greek word translated "all" in your text. Ready? It means "all." In fact, you could expand it to write in your margin, "every kind of man." You could translate it "all kinds of people." It isn't just your favorites.
Regardless of race, religion, political leanings, social status. Education, salary, neighborhood, ethnicity—you just keep adding all kinds of people. Show every consideration to them. Be eager. Be ready to meet it.
How remarkable is that? Another illustration from my reading of biography: George Whitfield, a spiritual leader in the 1800s, who was an itinerant preacher. He was not allowed to preach in most churches. He was nonconformist, so he preached outdoors to thousands of people. Remarkable biography.
He found out about a widow with a large family whose landlord had recently taken all her furniture away because she couldn't pay rent. He immediately rode a long distance out to her village with a friend. They arrived at her home, and, and, and much to her surprise and gratitude, he gave her five pounds. That's five dollars in American money, depending on how sympathetic the exchange rate is. It was enough money back then to pay her rent and get her furniture back.
In today's economy, Whitfield's gift was probably more along the lines of five hundred dollars to us. As they rode home later that afternoon, Whitfield's friend kind of chided him. You know, you really don't have the kind of money to give away. And Whitfield said, "When God brings a need before us, it is that we may relieve it, no matter who, no matter what." The two men are riding their horses, and they're suddenly startled when a robber rides his horse up and confronts them, demanding their money. Whitfield didn't have any, but the other guy did, and so the robber got all the friend's money.
After the thief rode away, Whitfield turned the tables on his friend and reminded him how much better it was for the poor widow to have his money than the thief. They continued on their journey, but suddenly the robber returned and demanded Whitfield's heavy winter coat. It was winter time. Whitfield actually graciously agreed, without a fuss. Took off his coat, gave it to the thief, but then asked the bandit if he could at least have his old tattered coat in exchange because it was a cold day.
They exchanged coats. The robber rode away, and they continued on their ride in silence. After some time, if you can believe it, they spotted the robber galloping towards them as fast as he could. Again, and fearing now this time for their lives, the biographer writes they spurred on their horses and fortunately arrived at some cottages before the robber reached them. The thief had to turn away, and Dalhamore recorded he was no doubt mortified because of what had transpired.
For when Whitfield took off the man's tattered coat by the fire, he found in one of the pockets his five pounds, and in another nearly. One hundred more, which means in today's economy, Whitfield gave that widow five hundred dollars and got fifty thousand dollars back. I'm ready to be remarkable, Lord. Where who can I give my coat to? Come see me after the service, would you?
Listen. We might say, "Hey, sign me up." Whitfield didn't know how how it would turn out. Who would give money to a stranger in need? Who would graciously offer a thief, without a fight, his coat? These are the attributes of remarkable Christianity.
As he begins, go the extra mile, avoid the grapevine, refuse to swing back, stay the course, and don't play favorites. Along the way, a remarkable Christian life doesn't come from trying harder. It's shaped over time as we grow in truth. It flows from a heart that's being changed by Christ, and maybe God is at work in your heart right now. Maybe he's stirring a desire to know his word more deeply, or even calling you toward a life of ministry.
That's not a small thing, and it's worth pursuing. If so, let me tell you about Shepherd's Theological Seminary. Stephen founded it to train men and women in the Scriptures. Its graduates are serving Christ all over the world. They're pastoring churches and leading in their communities.
They're teaching the Bible faithfully, near and far. If God is calling you toward pastoral ministry, listen closely because qualified men can receive a full scholarship for their training. You'd study on campus and complete the program in three years. It's a focused path that prepares you for a lifetime of service. Our world needs people who can teach God's word.
So if God is nudging you forward, take a look. You'll find everything you need at wisdomonline.org/ssts. That's wisdomonline.org/ssts. Look into it, and then join us back here next time on Wisdom for the Heart.
