Life from Titus-2

Last week we looked at the first chapter, including Paul's desire to take the gospel to the gentiles, and Titus's call to finish the work on Crete. We looked at developing Godly charachter and not getting caught up in unhelpful ideas. As we approach chapter two we need to understand something of the background of family life in the Roman world. Ot was very different to ours.

The Romans occupied Crete in 67BC and romanised it. In doing do, the traditional style of communal living and communal sharing transitioned to private ownership, and individual households. Houses contained family groups including servants and may have contained extended family groups. The type of family familiar to the Roman world was very different to how we experience family today

As we continue to look through Titus and to learn from Titus, we have to remember that it was a very different world. Paul writes to Titus giving instructions on how the people in the churches were to live and how they should behave. He goes on to instruct Titus on what to teach various groups of people. In doing so Paul particularly addresses the roles of the older and younger women, and the older and younger men.We all fit in to one or other of those categories, but lets not ignore the rest.

To really understand this we need to understand some of the culture of the day. In the Roman world, there was a marriage contract arranged by families but had no legal force, simply a declaration of intent to live together, or in case of divorce to not live together. The wife was often very young, usually early teens, and was therefore very vulnerable. Her place was not necessarily secure.The husband was usually quite a bit older, was responsible for the public side of the family and had total authority. Women were probably poorly educated if at all and had little experience of the world outside the family home. The male had all the power.

When we look at the role laid down for women here, the cultural context is really important, so what can we learn?

1. Honour God in your world
The way we live and interact with one another, particularly how we relate in families, will either honour God or dishonour him. The older men are to be self controlled, worthy of respect and setting a good example. They are to live wisely and to and to have a strong faith. The older women are to do the same. In fact if we look at these instructions the key thought is honour God.

The servant was to be obedient, because that honoured God and showed his devotion to God. The men were to live wisely because that showed their honour of God. Verse 12 says that we are to live in this evil world with self control, right conduct and devotion to God. The role of the older woman was to help the younger women fulfil their role in a way that honoured God. The older women, were to honour God by the way they lived and they were to show the younger women how to live in a God honouring way, in line with the times and culture of the day; in other words, to honour God in their world.

Lets look at some of the things that the women were to teach that would bring honour to God by right living.

Love their husbands and children: If we remember the cultural context we can see that this is about strengthening the marriage in what was a culture of loosely held together marriages. We can relate well to this. It is good to love each other and it is good to love our children. Both Ephesians and Colossians echo this thought.  Live wisely, be pure, living a life that does not lust after the things of the world, but seeks to serve God,

To take care of their homes: We can get our backs up with this, we don't like the idea of the housewife, we get pictures of being stuck in the home, and for me the idea of the 1950's housewife comes to mind. We need to get that picture out of our heads. This is not what taking care of their homes meant. So what does it mean. Older women, what are we to teach the younger women about honoring God?

In this time, in the home, to be a keeper of the house was more than just doing housework. It involved running the household. It meant that the responsibiity of the wife was to ensure that the entire household ran smoothly. This would have included looking after the servants and ensuring that all of the household, had everything they needed to fulfil their roles.

I wonder if Paul had Prov 31:10-31 in mind as he wrote about these things. Here we see a godly women, being diligent to the task at hand, looking after her household, working and ensuring that everything ran well, but she also had freedom within her role. she had responsibilities to fulfil and she did them with love and grace. In doing so, her husband could fulfil his role well. It was a partnership.

This is the role of the women as Paul would have seen it. The husband was able to trust his wife, he was able to do his job in the city, confident that his wife was able and taking care of the household. The wife had a huge responsibility.  Within the home the women had some power and  were probably responsible for behind the scenes running of the entire household and possibly the business as well. These were not insular hones like we know them. There were lots of people and basically the wife worked in Human Rresource management for the family. This is what the older women were to teach. Girls we have a responsibility to work with and alongside our partners to take care of the affairs of our household, whatever that looks like for us in our world.

Today we might suggest that it includes the role of women who are experienced in business teaching the younger women how to conduct godly business. It might be that the younger women need to learn how to work well with other people in the workplace. In other words this is about teaching people to honour God wherever they are, in whatever cultural context they find themselves, and this will be different for different cultures, different families and different circumstances.

Submission to their husbands is the other curly one for us.  Wives are encouraged to submit to their husbands in Ephesians, Colossians and Titus. It seems that wives often wanted to disrespect their husband, and so Paul addresses the issue, and encourages Titus to teach proper submission in the home. So what does it really mean to submit? Submission was originally a military term that was about various military divisions submitting to a leader to maintain order and take responsibility. It became a civilian term meaning a voluntary attitude of giving in or co-operating with, assuming responsibility for or carrying a load. In other words, the older women were to teach the younger women that it honoured God when they voluntarily co-operated with their husbands and took responsibility for their part of running the household.

What is our responsibility and our part today? In our culture it varies, but the principle is the same; that we work together with one another to carry a load, to take on responsibility, and to ensure the smooth running of the family under godly leadership. When we look at submission this way, we can see that today it may also mean submitting to and co-operating with those who have a leadership role in the workplace, to be responsible with the tasks we have been given and to fulfil our job description. This is what older women are to teach the younger women, but it all revolves around honouring God in your own circle and sphere of influence, wherever you are placed.

What does it mean to honour God where ever you are?

Does the way I live bring honour to God or bring shame on his word?

How can you help another person in your sphere of influence to honour God wherever they are placed at work or at home?

2. Intentional Examples

Be a positive example to others. Paul tells the older women to live in a way that is appropriate for someone serving the Lord. Not only does this honour God, but it sets an example for others to follow. The older women (young women, one day you too will be the older woman - we are all older than someone) are  to set an example by the way they live. They are not to be gossipers or speak evil of others.

Col 4:5
Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will always have the right answer for everyone.

Those older people in our lives that know all the gossip and are happy to pass it on, good bad or otherwise, are not the example for us to follow. When we are looking for someone to mentor us, lets look for someone who is living appropriately, who is living according to God's purpose and is a good example of what it means to honour God. Older women, we need to check out our lives and make a decision that we will be women who can teach good things to others and set a good and godly example for others

Prov 22:1
Choose a good reputation over great riches, for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold.

Determine today to live as a positive role model for younger women. In speaking to the young men, (Titus 2 vs 7), Titus is to be an example of how to live and how to behave.  (See also 2 Cor 8:16-24) Titus was a splendid example of those who bring glory to Christ, doing good deeds, reflecting integrity and seriousness of the teaching and ensuring that the teaching is correct. The context for this is Titus being an example to others, to the people he was leading and specifically the men, but the principle is that someone is watching how we live. We live as examples to others, influencing someone by our lives.

The young people who come into our church are watching how we behave. Our children are watching us. The people we disciple are watching us. Who is watching you? What kind of example are we to those people who look to us for wisdom and understanding? Girls, the younger women are watching us and learning from us. At work, others are watching us and seeing how we behave. What kind of example are we setting for others?

Are we living in a way that is a good example of what it means to honour God and to live life his way?

What attitudes and behaviours might we need to change to start being a positive role model to others?

Conclusion
The reason we are to live this way is because of the grace of God that brings salvation to all. We can live, in Christ, in a way that is totally committed to him, totally committed to doing what is right.

Titus 2 vs 14.
He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing what is right.

We may not always get it right, but we can determine, that because of what God has done for us, we will live in a way that honours him and is an example to others.