Identifying the Issue

Responding to Society

Titus 3:1-8

Part 1 – Identifying the Issue

This short study on responding to our society may leave us with some challenging questions about our personal application.

Certainly it begs the questions: “what about all the garbage that is going on in our society?”

Aren’t we to take a stand against the moral decline, the political direction that we may not like and a whole host of other issues?

Aren’t we to try our best to change society to reflect Biblical standards?

What does a Biblical response look like?

What kind of an obligation do we have to our children and grandchildren?

These are serious if not daunting questions for the follower of Christ.

No one can tell you what your application should look like in the area of stewardship or even the positive commands. The challenge is left up to each one of us to determine how God would have us respond. However, we can gain some valuable insight from Scripture to help us navigate this critical issue. To do this we will look at the epistle of Titus.

Titus was ministering on the island of Crete where there were a number of pockets of believers scattered around the various cities of this island. This was an area that was as pagan and godless at we could possibly imagine and the purpose of Paul’s letter to Titus was to give him instruction on how to instruct the various churches in the area of Godly behavior. The epistle basically breaks down into three sections.

Godliness in the church – Chapter 1

Godliness in the home – Chapter 2

Godliness in the world – Chapter 3

We will look at the first 8 verses of chapter 3 and consider a few observations.

Here is one suggested way to break down these 8 verses.

1 Be obedient to the authorities

2 Be considerate of all men

3-7 Be compassionate toward the unbeliever

8 Be mindful of our mission

Obedience to the authorities

Titus 3:1: Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed.

Apparently they already knew this and Paul is simply instructing Titus to remind them.

It doesn’t matter who your ruler is. It could be anyone, regardless of how noble they are. The rulers in Paul’s day were anything but noble and they certainly were not fair in their dealings with the people over which they ruled. And yet Paul says that we are to be subject to them.

We may be upset with the decisions they make, with the policy they set, with the lack of moral standards that they demonstrate. We may not like the fact that their agenda is anti-God in many respects, but that is not the issue. The issue is obedience to Scripture. This is at the very heart of our relationship with God. Are we willing to be obedient when we don’t want to obey? Are we willing to obey when the command doesn’t seem to make any sense to us?

This is not an isolated passage on the subject. There are two other main portions of Scripture that teach on the believer’s responsibility to be subject to the authorities. One is in 1 Peter 2:13-17, and actually in that passage Peter leads into the passage with an evangelistic reason for doing it.

1 Pet 2:12: Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

The other passage is in Romans 13:1-7 where we have the most comprehensive section of Scripture dealing with obedience to the governing authority. It is worth the time to read through both of these passages.

The Scripture appears to be clear on the requirement for obedience to the governing authorities.

One possible reason for taking this position could be our ability, as Believers to demonstrate that this world is not our home. We don’t look to the world or its system to provide for our needs, we look to God. In reality it doesn’t matter, for example, how much we pay in taxes. To be efficient in our tax planning, so that we can be the one to determine how our money is invested, is a stewardship issue that we should take seriously. But, having done so, we trust the results to God. Ultimately it is a non-issue.

This world is not our home. We are pilgrims, aliens and strangers just passing through on our way home (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13). Do we live that way? Do we live as if we are residents of this world on our way to heaven or do we live as if we are strangers and aliens in this world on our way home?

These passages don’t leave much room for civil disobedience.

As far as I can tell there is one occasion, found in Acts 4 and 5, that would support the idea of civil disobedience by instructing the believer to disobey the governing authorities. It is when we are commanded to do what the Bible forbids us to do or when we are forbidden to do what the Bible commands us to do. In this case we must obey God rather than men and suffer whatever consequences may result.

The apostles in this instance insisted on doing the will of God but did not insist on the authorities doing the will of God. That is the a key difference. For example, if the authorities tell my wife that she must have an abortion because we already have our quota of children, then I must disobey the authorities and obey God rather than man. But, that does not give me the right to insist that the authorities not allow abortions. I may not like it, and I don’t. I may feel that it is taking an innocent life, and I do. I may be repulsed at the very idea of it, and I am. But, that it different from saying that the Bible commands me, as part of my mission, to change it.

In the OT, Israel was living under a Theocracy in which they were to obey the laws of God, which in turn became the laws of the land. In the NT believers were aliens in a foreign land in which they were to obey the laws of others, which were a mixed bag in terms of their alignment with the laws of God.

In the next section we will look at the consideration we should give to others.

 

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