Titus 2:11-14 (ESV)
11 For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the
present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our
great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, 14
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify
for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Followers of Jesus
live in a now-but-not-yet reality. We live in the hope of the Kingdom
consummated, the return of Jesus (v13), when all will be put right in justice
and love. The redemption he offers is for the benefit of the entire world
(v11). It is a hope that includes subversion of the present authorities (v13).
Titus 2:13 calls Jesus "God and Saviour", a title used to describe
Caesar, who claimed to have "saved" the colonies by assimilating them
into the Roman empire. Jesus followers have a new King, a new Lord, a new
Saviour. The Kingdom of God is coming, and the empire and its authorities will
crumble.
Still, we live in
the reality of the order as it is now, what Titus 2:12 calls the present age.
We are called to be a people "zealous for good works" (v14). In the
original language and context, "good works" were the practices of
radical generosity and community shared in the early Jesus community. Acts says
there was no poor among them. We have a passion for justice. We live contrary
to the corrupt patterns of the world as they are. However, the patterns of the
world are still as they are, and in this present age, we must find how we can
practically live as Kingdom citizens in the midst of the reality of empire.
The early Christians
were watched closely by their Roman neighbours. The Christians were
significantly separated from the Roman world politically and socially by their
abstinence from the temple and the party scene. Temple sacrifice was an assumed
practice in Ancient Rome. Keeping the regional gods happy was a civic duty,
showing that you cared for the well-being of the community. To not sacrifice
was a political act, and also highly suspicious. Drunken orgies were also a
common practice, and the early Christians also stopped participating in these.
For these to acts alone, they had gained a bad reputation amongst some of the
mainstream Romans. Suspicions led to accusations of atheism (for not
worshipping the gods), incest (because they called each other
"brother" and "sister", and greeted each other with
kisses), and cannibalism (because of misunderstandings surrounding communion,
the Eucharist). For these reasons, the early communities were watched very
closely by curious neighbours and enemies alike. They wanted to know what these
people were about.
Titus 2:7-8 (ESV)
Show yourself in all respects to be a model
of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech
that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having
nothing evil to say about us.
Christians are
ambassadors of the living Kingdom. The things we do and say reflect the nature
of the Kingdom as it is and the Kingdom to come. By the Holy Spirit, we are
"self-controlled" (v12), meaning we have within us the ability to
govern our own passions, desires, and actions. We are not lawless (v14), but
the law we follow is written on our hearts, not imposed by an outside
authority. The Roman Empire's system was the true lawlessness, based on power
and control held by the violent and corrupt few. The spirit of the empire
filtered down to every citizen, each acting in the same self-interest and
hedonism that led the powers to oppress them. Our lives seen by others should
demonstrate the passion for justice this chapter describes, in the present age
of empire as it is.
At the time this
letter was written, fully one third of the population were slaves. The entire
economy rested in the foundation of slavery. Romans lived in multi-generational
family units, and they represented the building blocks of the empire's system.
To live contrary to that system would be tantamount to a community in North
America today trying to live entirely outside the country's system of capital,
using no money for anything, ever. It was corrupt and unjust, but it was the
reality in which the early Christians lived.
With such an
understanding, the chapter gives practical advice for how to live in that
present age, according to the empire's system, without compromise. Paul
instructs the oldest matriarchs and patriarchs of the households to remain
sober. The reputation of the oldest in the family units of ancient Rome was
drunkenness that would lead to violence and control of the family. Not so for
Christians. For every member of the family unit, Paul urges self-control. They
were to be models of restraint and discipline, not because it was imposed upon
them, but for honour to God. Slaves that would have been taught for the first
time in the early Christian communities were not to use their faith as an
excuse to rebel. Elsewhere in scripture are examples of slaves that are treated
as free equals in the Christian community (particularly Philemon), but the
principle in their relationship is to love and respect for the possibility of
gaining an ally, rather than creating another enemy of the movement.
Christians and
resisters today find themselves in a similar situation. We may believe that the
overuse and abuse of fossil fuels is an injustice to the creation we were
called to steward. Still, we live in a world that runs on oil and coal, and we
must live within it even as we organize and act toward a world not dependent on
oil. We may believe that the inequity of the wage system is unjust, and that an
fully organized workforce is the only way workers will truly be paid what they
are worth. Still, we must live and work within the world as it is. We do not
have the choice to quit working, but we can organize toward a more just system
even as we work in the system as it is.
Our hope is for a
world that is just, loving, and good. Our lives lived now in the power of the
Holy Spirit are a hint to those that watch us of how the world can be. Our
lives lived in freedom and self-control witness to those that see us that the
world can be different, is indeed different, and that the ideal and just world
we speak of truly is coming.
Read Titus 2
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