When Titus was pastoring the church in Crete, he received these instructions from Paul about his congregation: “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people” (Titus 3:1–2).
Paul thought that good behavior was essential for the Christians in Crete. In fact, in every generation, Christlike behavior is absolutely crucial in the furtherance of the Gospel. The way in which believers behave either opens or closes doors of opportunity to profess the faith as we live our lives among unbelievers. It testifies about whether the power of the Gospel of Christ is at work in our lives.
Crete was notorious for its troublemakers, agitators, and insurrectionists. (See, for example, Titus 1:12.) In that context, Paul essentially says, “Titus, I want you to make sure that those who are under your care are not like that at all. Instead,” he says, “make sure that they are marked by these characteristics.”
We might summarize the expectations of Christian behavior that Paul identifies in four words.
Loyalty
First, Paul wanted the Cretan Christians to be marked by loyalty: “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient.” In other words, they were to show faithful allegiance to the legitimate government of the country.
This kind of respect for authority recognizes that the source of that authority is ultimately God Himself (Rom. 13:1). It also means recognizing that God desires the salvation of government leaders, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:1–4:
I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions …. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Paul wanted believers to be exemplary in upholding the rule of law. (Notice that there’s no exception for rulers who are unpopular or whom the Christians didn’t vote for!) And while Christians can never obey a human law that puts them at odd with God’s commands (Acts 4:19; 5:29), most in our day are too quick to disobey human authorities in the name of Christ. Too few have wrestled with what it means to be exceptional citizens.
Community
Second, Paul wanted the Christians under Titus’s care to be marked by community. They were “to be ready for every good work.”
Christians ought to proclaim the good news of Jesus, and the good news they proclaim should be matched by the good deeds they do in the community. Indeed, these commands assume involvement in the community, not isolation from it. Christians are “the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13)—but what good is salt that stays in the shaker?
The way in which the believer behaves either opens or closes the door for the opportunity to articulate the faith that we profess.
Among the great figures of church history are those who proclaimed the good news and did the good deeds that are proper to it. William Wilberforce confessed a Gospel of repentance through faith and pursued an agenda of abolition. Charles Spurgeon and D. L. Moody were monumental preachers at the same time that they were sponsors of orphanages. These men understood what the Bible said, and then they said, “We’re actually going to do what the Bible says.”
Such an attitude does not allow us to opt out and wait until the culture gets the way we would like it to be. Crete was notorious for is toxic culture, yet the Cretan Christians were still to do good among their neighbors.
Courtesy
Third, Paul wanted the believers of his day to be marked by courtesy—“to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy to all people.” Courtesy is love for neighbor expressed in our demeanor towards them. Unfortunately, it is almost a foreign concept in much of our contemporary civic culture—and worse still, many Christians in our day would not recognize it if they saw it.
Courtesy is the opposite of meanness. We may be able to articulate the truth perfectly, but if our tone, if our face, if our posture conveys something that does not jibe with the very words that we’re using, then people will think, “I don’t want to listen to them. They are uncooperative, unkind, unfair, and unpleasant. Whatever good news they have apparently hasn’t done them any good.”
Christian courtesy is gracious. We don’t look for good behavior from others before we choose to behave well. Peter reminds us in his epistle that we ought to be like Jesus: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return” (1 Peter 2:23). And, of course, this is a no small demand! We will need to examine ourselves. And when we see the malice and unforgiveness in our own hearts, we must be ready to repent and ask God for His help. Without it, we’ll never be able to show this kind of grace.
Humility
Finally, Paul wanted the Christians of Crete to be marked by humility. After all, he says in verse 3, “we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”
That’s the way we used to live—but since “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared” to us and has saved us, we ought not to live that way any longer. Indeed, we ought to recognize that those who are God’s enemies today are standing exactly where we once did . We ought to remember that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Humility helps us to walk in gentleness. Gentleness, of course, does not rule out moral outrage. It doesn’t rule out truthful preaching. It doesn’t stop us from hating evil and confronting it. But it tempers our outrage, and it guards us from an attitude that is proud and resentful.
Those who are God’s enemies today are standing exactly where we once did.
As Paul reminded Titus, “God our Savior … saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:4–6). The Gospel is at the very center of this project of loyalty, community, courtesy, and humility, because God’s mercy has saved us from sin, and God’s Spirit has empowered us for righteousness. As we face the challenge of living among unbelievers, we ought to be careful to devote ourselves to good works (v. 8), remembering the righteousness that Christ has already accomplished for us on the cross.
This article was adapted from the sermon “Doers of the Word” by Alistair Begg.
