Clearly, Titus had much to accomplish, especially as he knew that when Artemas or Tychicus would come to Crete, then he would be required elsewhere, 3. 12. The letter contains the kind of practical teaching that Paul wanted Titus to give to the Cretans. Most of it concerns the need for anyone professing faith in Christ to live a life that substantiates the claim. Nothing less would do. They were to ‘adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things’, 2. 10.
This called for a deep sensitivity of spirit, and transparency of lifestyle. You can’t go around telling others to do what you do not fully demonstrate in your own life – well, you can, but it doesn’t accomplish very much. That is why the letter contains not only what was needed to be taught but also how it was to be delivered. Paul knew Titus to be a person in whom the necessary ability was fully developed to deal with so many different people and situations. He would do it in such a discerning way that the correct adjustments and assessments would be made in every situation.
How adaptable and accommodating can you be? Have you an inflexibility that you know offends and that has often prevented your being a means of help to others? God needs people that are prepared to listen and be there for others. Pray that you might be one of these for someone you meet today.
Some initiatives Paul encouraged him to take needed strength and authority. Such words as ‘reprove’, ‘shun’ and ‘reject’ are used. At other times a more gentle and positive tone was necessary; Paul advises him to ‘affirm’, ‘exhort’ and ‘remind’.
Above all these, Titus needed to realize how important it was for others always to see him as an example of his own teaching. ‘Show thyself a pattern of good works … that he that is of the contrary part … may have no evil thing to say of you’, 2. 7-8. Titus had already demonstrated that he was a man of integrity, but this needed to be sustained if real progress was to be made. Is this why there is an emphasis on good works in the letter – lives lived to glorify God and benefit men? We too are called upon to live worthily of the Lord. Let us be up and doing it today!
