Message: In Titus 2 Paul was still advising Titus in his leadership of the church. He talked about the importance of living out a life that is consistent with what we teach. At the end of chapter one he had contrasted this with those who claim to know God but their actions show otherwise. This reminds me of people who choose a style because they like the look of it, but it doesn’t reflect their reality. You can put on a pair of boots and dress country to go dancing, but if your boots never hit the dirt for a long day of work you’re going to have a difficult time convincing anyone that you live the country life. In the Christian culture there are a lot of people who profess Jesus is their Lord but are not living surrendered lives. They post politically aligned memes and fight for Christian “rights” in an attempt to defend the name of Jesus, but they have lost that fight within themselves because they are unwilling to do in their own lives, what they want the world to do. They want to change the culture without allowing God to change them. Chapter 2 pulls together the importance of “sound teaching” and the life we live out. He uses the family model as an example of how to teach this in the church. Older women should be modeling this out for younger women. Not to impress them but to show them a real-life example of what is being taught. At some point our culture picked up the idea of “Do as I say, not as I do.” This is used sarcastically, but when adults live a lifestyle that contradicts what they are teaching their kids to do, it is often excused by saying “because I’m an adult” or “these are adult decisions”. Adults that don’t want their children to smoke, or curse should live this by example instead of telling the kids not to do it while excusing their “adult decision”. I’ve heard adults tell me they need to get their kids in church because it’s good for them, but they themselves won’t go. It doesn’t work that way. It has to be modeled out in a real and genuine way. We will never win anyone over by acting. If we believe Jesus is all that the bible says he is it should show up in our lives. Not in perfection, but in full surrender. Paul’s message throughout the new testament is “follow me as I follow Christ”. This is how we should lead.
