December 19 2005 Titus 1:1-16
December 19, 2005 Titus 1:1-16
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Titus 1:7-11, 13, 15-16 “For a bishop, as God's steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach… That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith... To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”
A reality TV show caused a bit of a stir in our family recently. It’s a show where families swap wives for two weeks. The hook is that the wives and their lifestyles are always complete opposites. Rich and poor, spoiled and humble, etc.. The swap is almost always entertaining and it seems to be the underdog who always teaches the “normal” family a valuable life lesson. At the end of the two weeks, both wives have the responsibility to distribute $50,000.00 to her “temporary family.”
The last two weeks it was the Christians versus the “Astrologists.” We found it very disturbing. The “Christian” wife was freaked out by the home décor of the astrologist because there were moons and stars, such as one might find in many country crafts.
Simply because of the home décor, Christian wife determined that her new “family” was “dark sided.” Granted, while some decorating scheme teams might scream “sinner,” take my word for it when I say that this family’s did not. Be that as it may, the astrologists admittedly did not know Christ as their Savior. Christian wife told us over and over again that she is a “godly” woman, that Christ is her Savior, that she loves the Lord, ad nausea. Actions speak louder than words.
She had two weeks with a family who never had been introduced to Jesus… two weeks in which she was entrusted with God’s work… and she was the most overbearing, quick tempered, nearly violent woman I’ve seen in person or on TV in quite some time! And she was there for personal gain! She needed $20,000.00 of the $50,000.00 to have her tummy stapled!
The children would not listen to her when she tried to witness to them because she would not listen to the children. Her “husband” for those two weeks tried to listen to her, but she almost flew into a rage any time he tried to discuss his perspective on things with her, and so she lost him as a listener too. She literally silenced everyone around her with her yelling and screaming, frequent use of profanity, and bad behavior all in the name of the Lord. Is that what to Titus meant when he wrote “they must be silenced …?” I don’t think so.
I think it is people like Christian wife that these verses refer to. She had the opportunity not only to witness to the family, she was on TV! She had a national audience! And because of her shameful, sinful, selfish, overbearing behavior, she became the new poster child for “Christian hypocrite.” she gave far too many people a reason for not going to church.
As we watched the show, my family and I kept wondering whether or not this woman actually ever read God’s word. If she’d simply read the Bible, she would know her behavior was sinful. When I was reading the selections for today’s devotional, I immediately thought of the TV show. But as I read the middle of the passage I realized that yes, Christian wife does read the Bible! She knows these verses specifically because she repeated them almost verbatim over and over, using them again and again to “rebuke” whatever and whomever she felt like rebuking in the name of the Lord. The astrology family, who did not know the Bible, behaved more like Christ than she did. It’s unfortunate they were given such a negative “taste” of Christianity.
Heavenly Father, thank you for leading me to this verse, help me to be a good example for my children, my friends, my family, and for every man, woman, and child who looks to me. Please help me and others to see the reality of our behavior, to know that it is in line with what you want for us rather than what we want for ourselves. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Contributed by Lynda Welch
Click here for today’s podcast!
Titus 1:7-11, 13, 15-16 “For a bishop, as God's steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach… That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith... To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”
A reality TV show caused a bit of a stir in our family recently. It’s a show where families swap wives for two weeks. The hook is that the wives and their lifestyles are always complete opposites. Rich and poor, spoiled and humble, etc.. The swap is almost always entertaining and it seems to be the underdog who always teaches the “normal” family a valuable life lesson. At the end of the two weeks, both wives have the responsibility to distribute $50,000.00 to her “temporary family.”
The last two weeks it was the Christians versus the “Astrologists.” We found it very disturbing. The “Christian” wife was freaked out by the home décor of the astrologist because there were moons and stars, such as one might find in many country crafts.
Simply because of the home décor, Christian wife determined that her new “family” was “dark sided.” Granted, while some decorating scheme teams might scream “sinner,” take my word for it when I say that this family’s did not. Be that as it may, the astrologists admittedly did not know Christ as their Savior. Christian wife told us over and over again that she is a “godly” woman, that Christ is her Savior, that she loves the Lord, ad nausea. Actions speak louder than words.
She had two weeks with a family who never had been introduced to Jesus… two weeks in which she was entrusted with God’s work… and she was the most overbearing, quick tempered, nearly violent woman I’ve seen in person or on TV in quite some time! And she was there for personal gain! She needed $20,000.00 of the $50,000.00 to have her tummy stapled!
The children would not listen to her when she tried to witness to them because she would not listen to the children. Her “husband” for those two weeks tried to listen to her, but she almost flew into a rage any time he tried to discuss his perspective on things with her, and so she lost him as a listener too. She literally silenced everyone around her with her yelling and screaming, frequent use of profanity, and bad behavior all in the name of the Lord. Is that what to Titus meant when he wrote “they must be silenced …?” I don’t think so.
I think it is people like Christian wife that these verses refer to. She had the opportunity not only to witness to the family, she was on TV! She had a national audience! And because of her shameful, sinful, selfish, overbearing behavior, she became the new poster child for “Christian hypocrite.” she gave far too many people a reason for not going to church.
As we watched the show, my family and I kept wondering whether or not this woman actually ever read God’s word. If she’d simply read the Bible, she would know her behavior was sinful. When I was reading the selections for today’s devotional, I immediately thought of the TV show. But as I read the middle of the passage I realized that yes, Christian wife does read the Bible! She knows these verses specifically because she repeated them almost verbatim over and over, using them again and again to “rebuke” whatever and whomever she felt like rebuking in the name of the Lord. The astrology family, who did not know the Bible, behaved more like Christ than she did. It’s unfortunate they were given such a negative “taste” of Christianity.
Heavenly Father, thank you for leading me to this verse, help me to be a good example for my children, my friends, my family, and for every man, woman, and child who looks to me. Please help me and others to see the reality of our behavior, to know that it is in line with what you want for us rather than what we want for ourselves. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Contributed by Lynda Welch
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