“They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” Titus 1:16 ESV
Reflection: are the western societies becoming more godly or secular? Are Christians becoming more like Christ?
To understand what forces are at work in the world, in certain countries and societies, and even within the church, we have to look at trends. Not over a year or two, but over some decades. Because, changes to society, to culture, is not fast. It is slow, but they do happen. And, as a member of society, we might feel a bit helpless if we don’t like what is happening. But the truth is that change happens by design. It is intentional, and someone is leading the change. It is true in all aspects of society. Take any of the current big topics, such as climate change, someone is behind what is happening to our fuel costs, food supply shortages, etc. And if you look within the church, someone has decided to either bring people closer to God, or away from God.
Changes are often by design.
You can easily see that on display within a family, when one person decides to start something new, such as preparing and inviting the whole family for dinner on Sundays. Before long, a new “family culture” is established around meeting for dinner once Sundays. Or, perhaps a decision to organize a monthly barbecue among the neighbors, which then becomes a cultural of that neighborhood. Or starting a bible study focusing on teaching teenagers to love the study of the word of God. Whatever it is, whatever we would like to see changed in our families, in our neighborhoods, in your cities, and so on, starts with each of us. And, not only does this take a decision, it takes relentless determination and work. The change you want to see takes effort.
Paul is dealing with some people who are causing a lot of confusion among the early Christians in Crete. “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.” Titus 1:10-11 ESV. Paul dealt with similar issues in many countries. And, here we see a bit more about what was happening. “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.” Titus 1:12-15 ESV.
To turn away from following the truth.
To instead follow “commands of man”. We had a conversation yesterday about how easily people across the world were fooled during covid. Buying into the lies, and following along, without “critical thinking”, without challenging the narrative. Accepting, and even promoting ridiculous measures. While a few people got very rich during covid, the result for most was massive suffering across the world. Some even still suffer the effects of what was done by “empty talkers and deceivers”, who are “teaching for shameful gain”. Teaching for their own gain, their own agenda. It is well beyond shameful; it is despicable. And we can see the same trends in the topics of today, of many being fooled and following along what the deceivers want to achieve, whether it is related to political, social, economic, and even faith based topics.
Now, can we figure out who these deceivers are, especially within the church? Paul said in our focus verses today, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” Titus 1:16 ESV. It doesn’t matter what people say about what they believe or stand for; even who they believe in. What matters is what they do, the fruit we all can observe. If someone is calling themselves a Christian, but behaves contrary to what Jesus taught, clearly their words are empty and not from a changed heart. And, this is VERY important for many Christians to realize as so many people in power; political, social, economic and even within the church, will say whatever we want to hear, but their actions speak for themselves, what is in their hearts.
Bottom line, as Paul taught of the elders, the faith leaders “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” Titus 1:9 ESV. Let’s not just watch things fall apart, let’s be the change we want to see.
