Paraphrase: (2/20/03)
15 These are the things you must declare to them, the things you should be teaching and encouraging in them. So teach firmly, exhort strongly, allowing no one to ignore your message.
Key Verse: (2/20/03)
2:15 - Teach with power, use your authority in full, insist on being heard and understood.
New Thoughts (2/21/03-2/22/03)
I asked myself, in looking at this verse, how it was that one could prevent himself from being disregarded. In retrospect, I think this verse is the answer to that very question. Amplify it a bit, and see what it says:
Speak out, that you may teach them something. They were called repeatedly with the intent of producing righteousness in them, continue to call them near to help them. You must bring conviction upon them, overwhelm their defenses with your argument, silence their denials. Impose God's commandments upon them, use the authority He has given you. Speak with such energy, such certainty, such consciousness of the authority that is yours, such clarity of argument, that you cannot be disregarded or denied.
Paul writes this letter in terse sentences, perhaps reflecting limits on his time, or the need for a quick response to issues Titus has raised. The sentences are short, yes, but they seem to expand with the reading. Throughout this chapter, it seems that each sentence has expanded to become a paragraph as consideration was given to full meaning of the words Paul has chosen. It's simply incredible! Is this, perhaps, a lesson for us who take on the role of teaching? It's reminiscent of Jesus' instruction on prayer, isn't it? Don't waste your time and God's repeating endless variations of your request. Make your concern known to Him, and leave it there, knowing that He has heard, and He will answer. Certainly, there are times for persistence in prayer, but persistence is not quite the same thing as the mindless repetition that Jesus was addressing. As teachers, there are times to be persistent in making a particularly critical point, but we must be wary of falling into a pattern of chatter.
Chatter will leave room for the hearer to tune out, to ignore what's going on, and miss the point being made. Look back across this chapter. There's no chatter going on. It's all carefully condensed and targeted. Look again at the instructions of this last verse: Coming to the assistance of our students will be a continuous effort. It's been ongoing for years without us, and it will remain an ongoing matter throughout our time. But we are called to speak out with clear and incontrovertible proofs, to bring our students under conviction, and show them the way to reconciliation. We are to speak authoritatively, with declarations and proofs that show clarity of mind, that show rationality of argument, that are beyond reproach, and impossible to refute, being founded on the God of truth.
This verse also has something to say to the student, and I'll point out here that every teacher is also a student. There's a chain of command, as it were, in teaching, just as there is in government. What this verse says to the student is that teachers are indeed anointed to teach and to correct their students. Those who are truly teachers in the church teach with authority, an authority vested in them by God. While we as students are called to check things out, to study, to search out what Scripture says in regard to the lessons we are taught, we are not called to sit in judgment on our teachers. If we feel the need to judge our teachers two things can be said: first, that we are probably in severe need of a heart exam. Secondly, and assuming we have passed that first exam, it may tell us that it's time to find a different teacher. Sadly, our nature is such that we tend to start with the second step, and never attend to the first.
In one of the classes I am attending now, the recurring question has been, "How's your heart?" I have to confess that my heart, in regard to that particular class, has not been right. I've found it frustrating because it never quite seems to get to the subject it was supposedly about. When I looked at this verse, I found the verse doing exactly what it tells Titus to do: it brought such conviction upon me as to silence any denials I might offer. I have been in the wrong. I have been sitting in judgment on this class, waiting for errors, ready to pounce on any disagreement. There are errors. There are errors in my own teaching, to be sure. I do not yet hear my Lord perfectly in every moment. I should certainly know better than to expect such perfection in those teaching me. But, this is not a place for me to play judge. The teacher of that class has been anointed by God for the task, appointed to the task by our common Lord and Savior, and he is pursuing that task as the Spirit is instructing him to pursue it. If the class is off course, it is because it is on God's course, not mine and not the teacher's.
It's a vested authority. I count on that vested authority to cover my own efforts at teaching. I pray that He who vested that authority in me will also watch over the words of my mouth as I teach in His name. I take very seriously the warnings that Scripture declares over those who would teach. I rest in certainty, knowing that those teaching me at present walk this same path of prayer, dependence on God's promise, and serious concern over Scripture's warnings. They are not so very different from myself.
Lord God, You have brought me to a place where I know there is need to repent. Lord, there are things in what is being taught right now that You know I do not, indeed cannot in good conscience agree with. Yet, in my focusing on those few points, I have allowed myself to be distracted from the good work You are doing. I have been a fox amongst Your fields, spoiling the harvest. I pray Your forgiveness. I pray that You soften this heart of mine when it comes to these things, indeed that You would soften this heart in all things, to be responsive only to Your touch, to be malleable enough to take the form that You seek to imprint upon it. As I trust You with my own teaching efforts, Lord, let me trust also in You to guide and guard those You have assigned to teach me.
One final thought: Where is the church that will walk out the instruction of 1Timothy 5:20 in this present age? If a member of the body insists on continuing in sin, rebuke them publicly! Oh, but we're too humane for that! No, no. Much better to protect their delicate psyches and keep things private and quiet. Are we truly able to improve upon God's own plans for the government of His house? Is it really more loving to let the poison spread in the name of humane treatment? Consider the reason given by Paul for this harsh action. If we will take seriously the sins of our fellow believers, if we will hold each other accountable, publicly accountable, for rebellious insistence on our chosen sins, then others who may be tempted to pursue such a course will know that such behavior will not go unchecked. Think about it! By such insistent sinning, we publicly shame our Lord Jesus, we publicly defame His glorious Name. We, who are called to glorify God in all we do, if this is all we do, do quite the opposite, giving cause for unbelievers to revile and ridicule the very One they should be running to. Should we not, under these conditions, know the same public exposure? God will not be mocked, and He will not suffer His glory to be diminished by His children. If they will bring public shame upon Him, He must as a just and holy God, respond in a fashion that upholds His righteousness. He must publicly denounce those who would claim to be His and yet behave in such vile ways. He will have a pure family. Will we be pure enough to obey Him in that process of purification? Or will we bow down to these secular concepts that the emotions are more important than the realities?
