Does that description resonate with you? Does that sound like someone you know? Maybe it's more like the people you encounter on Twitter or see on the news.
It sounds familiar. Does it also feel familiar? Because the apostle was talking about us:
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. (Titus 3:3)
It's still what the unbelievers around us are, but we need to remember this is what we were. This is the way we lived and thought and acted until God saved us:
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)
We were foolish and disobedient, slaves to our lusts and appetites, living in hatred and envy. But God didn't leave us that way. He saved us, not because of any good thing we did, but because of his mercy. He poured out his Spirit on us and even made us heirs with Christ, having the hope of eternal life.
How should we respond to those gifts? By turning to the lost around us and showing them the kind of patience God has shown us:
Remind [the church] to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. (Titus 3:1-2 ESV)
The commentaries I looked at agree the first three probably all relate to government. This is hardly the only passage in the New Testament instructing us to submit to and obey those who govern us. We don't like hearing that, because the government is so frequently horrible. But we can never let ourselves forget that Paul and the rest were writing while living under pagan, and often abusive, Roman rule.
So this means we have to obey laws on everything from taxes to immigration to speed limits. We don't have to like the laws. In fact, as Tim Keller pointed out, it's not "obedience" if we do — that's just doing what we think is right. "Obey" suggests we'd rather not but do it anyway.
And we're not just told to submit and obey; we're told to be ready for "every good work." When referring simply to other people, I would think it means to help in any way we can, to jump on opportunities to be kind. How does that apply to government? We should be the best citizens we can. Not gonna lie, as someone with a strong libertarian streak, that's a little horrifying to me. I mostly want government to just go away. But here it sits, and we're supposed to look for ways to serve.
Leaving the subject of the government, we're told to speak evil of (NIV: slander) no one. How's that fly in our political climate? Slander seems to be the default setting of many of our neighbors. We cannot join in that. Instead, we're to avoid quarreling. We're to be peaceful or considerate. The last phrase in verse 2 is apparently hard to translate, but the commentaries suggest it means to be humble and gentle, which the ESV's "perfect courtesy" probably captures as well as anything.
We should treat the people around us, foolish and sinful as they are, with perfect courtesy, refusing to take part in their worst habits, and treating them with respect. Is this hard? Absolutely. We are still attached to our fallen flesh, and it really wants to do unto others as they have done unto me. It's hard, but we're called to better than that.
Why? The scriptures offer various answers to that question, but I think we should go with the one Paul offers earlier in this letter. In this way we "adorn the doctrine of God our Savior" (Titus 2:10 ESV).
The world around us is dark and seems to be getting darker. The lost seem to be getting more wicked, and even the supposedly saved keep engaging in shameful behavior. We were just as wicked when God showed us mercy. Let us live lives that make the gospel attractive. Make them wonder why we don't act like them. And even if they do not believe, we can live such good lives among them that, though they accuse us of doing wrong, they see our good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us (1Pet 2:12).
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