Titus, part 3
"So that
no one will malign the word of God....So that those who oppose you may be
ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us....So that in every way
they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive." (Titus 2:5,
8, 10, NIV)
When we last looked at
Paul's letter to Titus, we noted that Paul instructed Titus to teach what is in
accord with sound doctrine (2:1). We also noted that in vv. 2-10, Paul
describes to Titus how that works out amongst the various groups within
the
Throughout that greater
passage, Paul states three purpose clauses that drive the whole area of right
living. If, as said last time, right thinking produces right living, then
the purpose of right living is evangelistic. Right living is the Christian's most
effective witnessing tool to the unbelieving world. I believe it was St.
Francis of
James, the half-brother
of Jesus, says, "But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show
me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."
(James 2:18). As the old saying goes, actions speak
louder than words.
This is not to say that
we are never to verbally witness. I don't know of anyone that was won to
Christ without verbally being witnessed to. Our actions may prompt that
person to wonder about the joy that we have within, but as Peter says, "Always be prepared
to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that
you have." (1 Peter 3:15). Furthermore, Paul says in
Romans, "faith
comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of
Christ." (Romans 10:17). At some point, we are going
to have to witness verbally. However, the success of our verbal witness
is set up by our godly living.
Paul gives three reasons
why our conduct is to be godly, and remember these reasons are evangelistic in
nature. The first reason is given in v. 5: "So that no one
will malign the word of God." We are to lead godly
lives in order that no one will malign the word of God. The word
"malign" is the Greek word blasphemeo from which we get the word
"blaspheme." It basically means to insult or slander.
When we don't live godly lives, unbelievers will slander God's word.
Why? Because they can read the Bible just as easily as we can, and they
can understand much of what it says too. So when the Bible commands us
not to lie and unbelievers see Christians lying, what is going to be their
conclusion? That Christians don't regard the Bible very highly. So
when we go around claiming that the Bible is God's authoritative word, they're
going to say, "Yeah, well if it's so authoritative, why don't you listen
to it?" Our godly living reflects our reverence for God's holy word,
and the more we adhere to it, the better our Christian witness.
"So that those who
oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us." In v. 8, we have
Paul's second reason for right living: so we can silence our unbelieving
critics. Christians, if they're faithful to the Bible are going to be
persecuted and vilified. Why? Because our godly living will be a
rebuke to their sin. Jesus promised that "If they persecuted me, they will
persecute you also." (John 15:20). And Peter says, "If you are
insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of
glory and of God rests on you." (1 Peter 4:14). In
other words, our godly living will render the criticism of our persecutors vain
and empty. They're going to persecute us anyway because we're Christians,
but our godly living will make them "ashamed." The last thing
we, as Christians, want to do is legitimate the criticisms of unbelievers
because that will destroy our witness to the world. Peter says again, "If you suffer, it
should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as
a meddler." (1 Peter 4:15). If the world's
criticism of us is valid, then we become in-effective witnesses.
"So that in every
way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive." The third reason
Paul cites for godly living is: making God's word attractive. When we
live godly lives, we testify that God's word is good and effective; that is has
the power to transform lives. It almost seems unbelievable, but when we
live holy lives, we actually make the gospel attractive. To whom?
To unbelievers! They see what our faithful living, our inner peace,
our joy in all circumstances has done for us and they want to get in on the
action. Conversely, when our living shows no sign of being transformed by
the word of God--when we live like the rest of the world--unbelievers aren't
likely to think Christianity has anything to offer them. As someone once
said, "you show me your redeemed life, and I might be inclined to believe
in your Redeemer."
It is so important to understand the value of right
living. Right living does nothing whatsoever in regards to our salvation
("not by works, lest anyone should boast"), but it has infinite value
in the area of evangelism. When unbelievers see our godly lives, they are
less likely to malign God's word, they won't have any valid criticisms of us,
and they will find God's word attractive.