New Thoughts (7/24/03-7/29/03)
"Reformation should begin with the old." I want to begin with this quote from Adam Clarke, because it really does, in its way, capture the spirit of the passage. Paul has been showing Titus how to apply the truth of the Gospel to various groups within the church he was to lead. In doing so, Paul is providing the example from his age and experience to train up the younger, less experienced Titus. In what he instructs Titus to teach, the same message is given. The older should be training up the younger. It is the natural order of things. Indeed, every parent, every older sibling has learned that whether or not we do so intentionally, we most assuredly do train up the youngsters. They take to our example as the clear definition of what is expected. If we tell them otherwise, there is perplexity upon their faces, confusion in their minds. How can you, my role model, be telling me not to act as you act?
So what has this to do with Clarke's statement? First, let me say that reformation is nothing but revival declared in less sensational terms. The content of the event is the same. It is a renewal of the mind according to the Scriptural means. It is life reborn, having died in baptism to Christ, having been raised by Christ into new life, life utterly different from that which was lived before. I just finished reading a story considering the life of Noah and his family. Indeed, in some ways they died no less than any other in the flood. It was an end to all they knew, however bad what they knew may have been. Their own family and what few friends they may still have had after the years of building the ark were lost in that same flood. Add to that the months of imprisonment upon the ark. There had been death in them. When the time came to disembark, assuredly it was like a return to life for them. The world was fresh and new, nothing remained of the horrors that had been life before the flood. All was prepared for a clean start.
This is the work of the Spirit in us, bringing death to the sinful ways we knew, and bringing to life a new work in us, a reformed character, a reformed soul. Isn't this exactly what we seek in revival? Isn't this exactly what was happening during the Great Awakening? During the Welsh revival? Ever and again, this is exactly what the work of God is about in the lives of men. So, why ought it to begin with the old? Precisely because, as I noted, we, the older, will be the role models whether we want to be or not. If we live out a life reformed, those who take to our example will also live out a life reformed. Those who hold us in respect will seek that which we have found, will desire to know the power by which we are able to swim against the tide of sin with integrity.
"The best evidence of integrity is a freedom from the present prevailing corruptions of the times and places that we live in, to swim against the stream when it is strong." I still remember that quote from Matthew Henry. What a powerful statement! What a powerful testimony to the work of God in our lives. What incredible evidence that the doctrine we claim to subscribe to, is truth, and truly subscribed to. If the youth will follow our example when it is a poor and weak thing, easily done by any, how much more enticing will be our example when it is clearly superior in quality and strength? What young man doesn't desire to show himself strong? What young man will not at least attempt to mimic that which declares strength to him?
Reformation ought to begin with us who are older, in truth, must begin with us. There's a lot of emphasis right now on the youth bringing the elders of the church back into the fire of first love. But, that's not the Scriptural pattern, and there's a reason for that. Every one of us knows, or has known the passion of youth. When the youth are given us as the example, it is easier for the older, more sedate members to write it off to youthful passion and idealism. Let them experience real life for awhile, and they'll get over it. Passion and idealism are the hallmarks of youth, but let that passion and idealism be seen in the lives of the elders, and what fires will be ignited in the souls of men! With age comes wisdom, or so it ought to be. If wisdom still finds it right to live in this reformed fashion, if wisdom can find the passion and idealism to pursue to excellence of the Gospel life, what excuse is left us not to join the pursuit? The only excuse we can claim at that point is foolishness, and who will willingly lay hold of that defense?
Like it or not, we become teachers as we become older. Most of us will not stand in the official office of teacher, but we will all be teachers nonetheless. We must expend every effort to see that what we teach is Truth, that what we exemplify is Christ. "Doctrine is what you do, not what you say," said a teacher of mine, but that's not entirely true. Neither is it terribly far from the mark. Doctrine is, quite simply, the instruction which is taught. In the active role of teaching, when teaching is our intent and our focus, doctrine will most assuredly be what we are saying. That is, after all, the primary means of conveying our lesson. However, the majority of our lives are not spent in intentional teaching, only in unintentional teaching. It is during those times that our actions declare doctrine for us.
What our actions declare may not always agree with what we speak out as our beliefs. What we believe to be right and true can be held at arm's length, as it were; ascribed to as theory and as the ideal state, but not ascribed to in practical fashion. We may believe a thing to be right, but also beyond our power to achieve. If this is the case for us, our actions will clearly declare it whenever we are not consciously declaring the truth at hand. The power of God is not to be found in such an example. The power of God shows when life and word stand together in unity, when doctrine is both what we say and what we do.
There is something in the definition of doctrine which I think really speaks of how much more powerful doctrine is than the concept conveyed in words. In defining this word, Zodhiates offers this thought: doctrine is teaching carrying the authority of the teacher, it is the teaching amplified in significance by the act of teaching it. It is so much more than just words! Jesus did not cause a sensation amongst the Jews simply because He was speaking in the synagogues, not even because He was teaching in the synagogues. After all, any number of Jewish men spoke and taught there. He may not even have been unique in His youthfulness. What made Him stand out was that He taught with authority. He spoke the Truth as one who was the Authority on Truth. He spoke the Truth as He who is Truth. How could His words not carry authority! Given that authority, how could they be heard without awe!
What made His message all the more powerful was that He lived what He taught. He did not declare one truth and exemplify another. In Christ, the teaching He gave was most assuredly amplified by the act of His teaching it. In active and 'official' teaching, He was careful to draw from the experience of His students so as to make His lessons clear to them. He was masterful at tuning the Truth he was teaching to the capabilities of the students He was teaching. This is exactly the skill Paul is honing in Titus here. However, the words alone were not enough for Jesus, they would not be enough for Titus, and they aren't enough for us today. What made His teachings all the more powerful was that He lived them out - consistently. No matter when one came across the Master, He was found to be wholly aligned with the ways He taught man to live.
The message for us is clear. The teacher, as so many of the commentators note, cannot hope for success if he has not learned his own lessons. His teaching will be vain and useless if his own life does not confirm what he says. We see it in our role as parents. If our words say to do one thing, but our actions show that we ourselves do something else, our children will follow actions - if they follow at all. If we are teachers, rather than dictators, then we must exemplify what we require by our teaching. It was for failing to live their own lessons that Jesus took the Pharisees to task. That they sought ways to be more certain that word and action would not be unholy was not a bad thing. Indeed, Jesus warned His disciples that their holiness would have to exceed that of the Pharisees if they expected to enter heaven. No, the desire expressed in their teachings were commendable. The larger issue (aside from the false thought that man actually could live up to God's standards of holiness) was that they failed to even attempt to live by all the rules they professed. They refused to do as they taught others to do.
We are in danger of being no different than they. If our doctrine is sound, then we must recognize the impossibility of it. If we are truly teaching about a holy God, and His requirements of holiness in His children, we are teaching an impossible goal, though we teach truth. If, in the course of our teaching this sound doctrine, we fail to get across the impossibility of the matter, we have failed at our task. By setting the bar too low, we will leave those who hear us convinced that they can earn God's approval by their own efforts after all. The bar must be left at the dizzying height specified by God.
If the bar is shown as it truly is, if God's standard is taught as the standard, we risk bringing everybody into despair. We've all heard the idea of setting achievable goals, so that you won't give up before you've even started. This is not an achievable goal! Indeed, that's always been the point, hasn't it? So, what's to prevent despair, what's to keep us striving for the impossible? This is where the example of the teacher is so absolutely critical! If his life displays the standards he has taught, if he truly lives the doctrine he teaches, he shows the very power of God. Having taught the true standard, having displayed the impossible measure by which we are to be measured, if he proceed to approach that standard, it can only be by God who fills and empowers him.
It is a difficult task, even to strive for the goal. It is difficult for us to continue trying, when the ends are so beyond us. There is an incentive for us, though. There is that in the nature of God which can, if we will but bear it in mind, encourage us in our efforts. We are being instructed here to live sound doctrine, to live in one accord with our stated beliefs. In those very beliefs, we will find cause to do our utmost to live as we believe, for part of the truth of God is His immediate presence. There is nowhere we can go that He is not. For all the concern we give to the eyes of man, and looking good for the people, it is from His eyes that we cannot hide ourselves. This is perhaps the strongest tool we have for achieving purity. Live and act as though you are in the immediate presence of your Maker and your Judge. The simple truth is that you are in His immediate presence, whether you remain conscious of that fact or not. But, if you will remain conscious of it, how much will it impact your behavior?
In verse 7, Paul gives Titus the general rule: Be an example in all you do. Live the sound doctrine you teach. In verse 8, he speaks specifically of the teaching part of that 'all.' There's an interesting point to be learned here. The best example will be brought to nothing by an ineptness in teaching. As a teacher, you can talk incessantly but get nowhere if the words you speak don't give sense to the message you are delivering. Your example will show the result of your beliefs, if you indeed live what you claim to believe. However, your example will not show how to get there. How can it? It's a spiritual matter, and all the outward conformance in the world cannot accurately describe how the internal change has come about. That explanation lies firmly in the purpose of teaching. The two must operate in unity; life and teaching.
When it comes to this task of teaching, Paul's requirement is sound speech. What is meant by that? First, note that this word 'speech' is more than vocalization. It is organized and purposeful. It is the use of words to express intelligence. This is the purpose of the teacher, to express intelligently, that which one has learned. It is the job of explaining how to live this Christian life, how to walk worthy of the Lord. The revivalist can come and stir up our emotions, the evangelist can come and build desire in our hearts, but it is left to the teacher to engage our minds, to explain in rational, orderly, intelligent fashion what it is about the revivalist's message that has stirred us, how it is we are to arrive at the desire in our hearts. The teacher's task is not one of engaging the emotions and the imagination. His is the job of engaging our thoughts, bringing convincing arguments and explanations.
We are called to worship God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind. Each of these offices I have just mentioned in passing are designed to address one part of us specifically. The evangelist speaks to our heart, the revivalist to our soul, the teacher, our mind. All three areas of our lives must be engaged and informed if we are to earnestly pursue the life of faith. Faith is conviction that a particular thing is true. We cannot know such faith if our minds are disengaged from the matter. Blind faith is no faith at all. At best, it is wishful thinking, at worst, it is delusional. This is not what God has in mind for us. He is a reasonable God, and He gives us sound reason to believe His words.
It is not enough, though, that the teacher's words be expressed intelligently, and express an intelligent argument. Many an atheist is intelligent enough, and can express himself quite reasonably and eloquently. He may put forth a most convincing argument, yet the intelligence he conveys is not sound. It is not healthy because it is founded upon a diseased premise. Sound speech, sound teaching, in this matter of life and belief, can only be founded on sound doctrine. We are tasked with teaching the truth. We are given the Scriptures that we may know the truth. We are trained by the Holy Spirit that we might understand that truth. We are empowered by that same Holy Spirit to declare the truth which has been revealed to us, that others might understand and believe.
To worldly ears, it may remain foolishness, yet when forced to view the evidence of both sound speech and integrity of life, there will be no denying the goodness of our doctrine. They may still refuse it, but no room will be found to make claims that our beliefs are evil in nature or intent. This was, after all, the great charge against believers in the nascent church. They were considered atheists by the heathen host around them, because they would not worship Caesar. They were considered dangerous subversives because of their devotion to another King. The world around them created all manner of tales about the offensive practices that went on in the hidden lives of these dangerous Christians. They were accused of wild orgies, and strange sacrifices. Indeed, to the impure all things are impure. The defiled mind sees itself in the activities of all. Even looking upon the lives of these new creations, they could not comprehend the newness, but assumed that the same corruption they felt in themselves must also be in these odd folk before them. Surely something more enticing than the apparent message of purity must have attracted the followers that joined this upstart religion!
Many of us have known friends who suddenly 'got religion.' Do we remember our reaction at the time? I doubt that it was favorable. Perhaps we developed a new interest in poking fun at this newfound faith of theirs. We looked for excuses to write it off as a passing phase. We looked, subconsciously, for reason not to believe. The early Christians were quite aware of this reaction amongst their old acquaintances. They had to be. It was a matter of life and death for them, and, perhaps more than we do today, they knew it was a matter of life and death for those who were watching them. This is why Paul took such great care and concern over every aspect of what the members of the Church presented to the world. He knew how closely those beyond the church were looking at those within. They were looking for chinks in the image, looking for reasons not to believe. Paul was not willing that they should be let off the hook so easily. In every aspect, he wanted believers to be aware, and giving good evidence of the purity of the God they had chosen to follow.
In every official work of the church, the work was to be done with intelligence, sobriety, and integrity. The age in which the church was founded was an age of high oratory. It was a society well used to logical debate, orderly debate. The Christian teacher, by Paul's instruction, was to be well fitted to hold his own in such debate. He was not to be so ill prepared and ill mannered as to fall into angry shouting matches. To do so in the course of a logical debate would be an admission of the weakness of one's arguments. Christianity has no reason to fear the intellectual community! God's Truth cannot help but be the strongest foundation upon which to build our arguments! If it has faltered in the halls of the intelligentsia, it is not through any fault in the foundation, it is through the ill-preparedness defenses offered by those presenting the Truth, it is because we have abandoned concern over sound speech in favor of the sound byte.
Sound speech joined to a sound life - this is the pattern Jesus has set for us, the pattern by which the power of the God of the Gospel will be shown real. It is known that we are Christians. Even if we are doing our utmost to be 'closet Christians,' we are known to those around us. If we have truly been claimed by Christ, bought back from our life of slavery in sin and adopted into the family of the most high God, it's going to show. The light of Christ will not be hidden. We will be known, and we will be watched. The sinful world wants more than anything to have an excuse to be comfortable with its sins. In their present blindness, many would prefer not to see, for to see would require acknowledging their true condition. To acknowledge sin would require that one either accept the due penalty for that sin or repent of it in truth. Many, like the old cigarette commercial, would rather fight than switch. Many would rather die an eternal death than give up their momentary pleasures.
These people will look at Christians with a most critical eye. They will look to us not for an example of godliness, but rather for an example of godlessness. They hope to find in us proof that the God we serve is no real god, that they need fear nothing from Him. More than anything, the conscious reminders of conscience in the lost leaves them looking for a salve for their fears. More than anything, they want to believe that God is not. But He is. If our lives help them believe otherwise, woe to us! We are watched. Therefore, we must be all the more alert to be certain that our lives reflect our beliefs. We must be on guard at all times, lest our actions become the proof of hypocrisy. It is for this reason that Paul concerns himself not only with the public image of his teachers, but with the private. If our private life does not match our public, then our public life is nothing more than pretense. We can be assured that our pretentiousness will be laid bare, and our hypocrisy exposed.
Public or private, keep your conversation pure. That's the concept. Make no distinction. Indeed, if faith is real in us, if God is truly at work in us, there should be no cause for such distinctions. There should be absolutely nothing in us that these watchers can find fault with, nothing they can attack. Neither in word, nor in deed, nor in underlying character should they find cause to complain of us. If we leave them such cause, we have left them cause to deride our God, and surely this ought not be said of us! Consider Paul's instructions to Timothy. Watch your life and doctrine closely, Timothy. Make sure that they are in agreement with both, and that both are righteous and true. Persevere in both, for in this is your salvation, and not only yours, but also the saving of all who hear your words (1Ti 4:16). This is the power of our witness.
Think also upon the opposite. If our perseverance in a sincere life of sincere faith is salvation to all who hear us, what is the impact of our failure? If we fail to live our belief, we fail those who may hear our words, for though our words be true, we declare them powerless by our actions. We make God out to be a liar. For the Christian, there can be no excuse that our sins only hurt ourselves. This is a lie and a deception. However hidden we think ourselves to be, our hidden sins will be exposed, and that exposure will have an impact on those who know us. If they are believers, we endanger their faith, weaken their resolve. If they are unbelievers, we give them cause to continue in unbelief. We have become an obstacle to faith, and better for us that we had not been born.
God is calling for sincerity - sincerity of belief and sincerity of life. Indeed, how can the one be sincere and the other not, if our belief is founded in Truth! It is truly stunning to recognize that this same word in the Greek is used not only for sincerity, but also for immortality, and incorruption. This should give us an idea of the earnestness with which God expects us to pursue His righteousness! Our faith should be so strong that decay cannot occur. Our lives should be so upright that there can be no corrupting us. Our purity should be such that nothing, no man and no power, no calamity and no blessing, can destroy it. In ourselves, in our own strength, we know this is impossible, but we also know that it is not in our own strength that we walk.
We stand as living witnesses to the power of God. It is His power that is displayed in the sincerity of our faith. It is His power that is displayed in the integrity of our lives. It is His reputation we are called to uphold with every breath we breath, every word we speak, every move we make. Our lives are to stand as monuments to the fact that something greater than man has come, that the Holy One is still very much alive and involved with His creation, that His love for man has not waned, that His victory over sin and death remains assured. To that end, to our purpose as witnesses, how powerful is the life that is not caught up in the pursuits of pleasure which drive those around us! Chrysostom, we are told, considered this the particular challenge of young men, moreso than others. "Nothing is so hard at this age as to overcome undue pleasures," he wrote. In our time, it is no longer restricted to this age group. Everything in modern culture encourages the pursuit of undue pleasures. Whole industries are constantly arising whose sole purpose is enticement to sin. We sell death and destruction to our own citizens, and export it worldwide for the sake of profit. We are bombarded with suggestion and opportunity to abandon the paths of righteousness and come take our pleasure.
Nothing is so hard to overcome, but thankfully, it is not in our own strength that we are to try. The enticement of sin is indeed strong, but He who is in us is stronger. The temptations are great, but He who is in us is greater. If we are overcome, it is not because we could not resist, it is simply because we would not. He is here, and He is able. He has ever and always provided the way through, the way to remain in His ways. If we have failed to do so, we may not lay the blame with Him, nor may we place it with the devil. The fault lies in us. So long as we insist on placing the blame elsewhere, we refuse the one hope that is ours. If it is the devil's fault, we see no reason to fix the problem. After all, we couldn't help it. We were simply overcome by evil. Scripture, though, tells us not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good! As light will ever and always dispel darkness, good will ever and always overpower evil. We know this, but too often, we prefer to hold on to our excuses.
There's a lesson for us in the story of the man by the pool (Jn 5). He had lain there for years, sitting beside the means of his healing, but either unable or unwilling to avail himself of the means. Far easier to sit in his present condition, and live on the sympathies of others. Jesus came and brought to him his moment of crisis. Do you want to be healed, or not? He could no longer refuse. Every excuse by which he could defend his continuing in his present condition were removed in that instant. "I couldn't get to the pool in time." No matter, healing has now come to you. There is no action you need to take, no exertion necessary on your part. There is only to choose health over sickness, righteousness over sin. Which will you choose? He could not maintain any veneer of dignity, now, were he to refuse the choice of health. To refuse now would be to threaten losing the sympathy of those who had sustained him in the past. He must choose health, whether or not that was his real desire, and so he accepts the offered health.
As the story unfolds, we learn that the Jewish leaders sought in this man's healing an excuse to attack Jesus. They asked the man who had healed him, and at first he does not answer them. It is interesting, though, that John makes a point of telling us that his reason for not answering was simply that he didn't know who Jesus was at the time. Jesus had departed upon healing him, and he was not aware of the identity of his Healer. But Jesus came back to him. He came back to deliver a message. "You were healed, so don't continue sinning, for worse things may come upon you." (Jn 5:14). There is simply so much to say about that message!
Notice, that Jesus, in speaking of the healing, says nothing about the physical. You were made well, not in that your physical infirmities were removed, but in that your sinfulness was removed. We could find in that an implication that the man's physical maladies were directly related to some sinfulness on his part. We could understand it to be saying that there was a sinfulness in his unwillingness to do anything about his physical state over the course of 38 years. Opportunity upon opportunity had been lain at his feet by the work of God, and he refused to avail himself of them. He had preferred to make excuses, and continue in his life of dependence upon others. He was perfectly happy to be a burden on others rather than do what was necessary to become capable of seeing to his own needs.
Whatever the nature of his sins, Jesus words trigger a reaction from him. Sadly, though, the reaction is not contrition and repentance. Instead, his reaction is to run immediately to the Jews and tell them what they wanted to know. Doubtless, he knew why they were asking. Their intentions towards Jesus were no secret. He knew what trouble he was likely bringing upon the one who had healed him, yet he went. Why? Because he was not interested in hearing the voice of conscience. He had never been willing before to turn from his sins and be well, and he was unwilling now. His life of ease had been disrupted, much to his dismay, and he would have vengeance on the troubler of his soul.
If we are disciples of this Healer, if we are walking in His ways, and teaching His lessons, we can expect the same. There will be those who will not appreciate the opportunity that has come to them. There will be those who may make the right choices, but only because they feel that they have no choice. They will make the right choices, but they will be filled with resentment by having been forced to make them. They will be bitter, and will gladly seek out ways to harm the one who brought them to such crisis.
Jesus comes to each one of us with a moment of crisis. Some will react by dropping everything to follow the Son of God. Others will react by doing what they feel they must, and then rejecting it all at the very first opportunity. Today, the kingdom of God draws nigh. Indeed, today, the kingdom of God is placed before you, and you must choose. The choice is made unavoidable. There can be no more stalling, no more making of excuses. Choose you this day whom you will follow, whether God or the devil. Choose you this day whether you would have life or you would have death. That is the crisis of the Gospel. There is healing in the Word of God, but having been healed, we must each choose whether we wish to have the healing, or return to our disease. There will be no opportunity to change your mind.
God has been patient. For thirty eight years, He had given this man opportunity to be healed, and the man availed himself not. Finally, God would have an answer. All excuse was removed, and the crisis brought upon this man. You must choose, there will be no further opportunities. Oh! But the choice must be sincere, will be sincere! Whatever our words may say in that moment, it is the heart that will make the choice. This man's words said, 'I will,' but his heart said, 'I am not willing.' Such is the free will of man! Free to choose self-destruction. And there are those that will call this freedom? Far better the freedom of the liberty of the sons of God! Freedom to live, to hope, to walk in righteousness! Freedom to become enslaved to holiness! Freedom to submit to the rule of the Most High God!
