Making the world a better place
Titus 1:7-2:1
Main Idea: Every Christian is called to strategically counteract error, especially those who nurture others.
I. Why is this so important?
The simple answer is that false ideas and bad behavior do not make the world a better place. They are like a cancer that invades a person’s life then metastasizes to their family, their neighborhood, and eventually their whole culture. If you know anything about cancer, it is an apt metaphor to the damage false ideas and bad behavior bring into the world. Cancer never makes things better. It must be counteracted.
II. How are we called to do it?
The right and simple answer here is: STRATEGICALLY. By this we mean thoughtfully, intentionally, tactfully. Keep in mind that Jesus’ objective for the moral wasteland that is Crete is to reclaim it for Himself, redeem its inhabitants to Himself, and release it to flourish and prosper under His generous rule. He wants to make Crete a better place. Central to doing that is addressing the bad behavior and false ideas that are currently
destroying Crete and its inhabitants
Holding firm to the word of God:
Confronting error strategically with a view to making the world a better place requires a reference point. Something must exist that differentiates error from truth, cancer from healthy tissue. Something must paint a compelling vision of what “better” looks like that is more than merely my opinion versus yours. And whatever that reference point is, we must track to it as we would to True North were we lost in a trackless wilderness. “Holding firm to the faithful Word” is being convinced that there is such a thing as True North and organizing all our ideas and actions into alignment and agreement with it.
Re-orient our expectations into alignment with the gospel and the “last days.”
Titus 2:11-14: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
