There is simply a right way to treat people who are made in the image of God—even if they choose to be our religious or political enemies. Of all people, we Christians should be the most gracious, the most kind, the most respectful, the most welcoming, the most attentive, the most courteous of all toward all, no matter how close the friend or fierce the foe.
It was among the worst of times when Paul wrote to Titus around AD 65. Ruling the world during this age was Nero, an equally corrupt successor to the degenerate Caligula. By comparison to these two, every President the United States has ever had has been choir-boy-esque. Among Nero’s many inventive ways to do evil (Rom. 1:29–31), he murdered his mother and two wives to secure his throne. He is also believed to have intentionally started a massive fire in Rome which he then blamed on Christians, leading to significant persecution of the Church. Such were the times.
And Crete was the place. Some early Mediterranean converts who were recently delivered from bondage to lots of ugly sin (Tit. 3:3) had planted several local churches there under Titus’s pastoral oversight (Tit. 1:5). Theirs was a culture infamous for its moral bankruptcy. Cretans were known as inveterate liars who were enslaved to evil, beastly behavior, and lazy self-indulgence (Tit. 1:12). If not the worst of times and places, this certainly was a very bad time and a very hard place to live out the virtues of Christ, quite likely worse and harder than ours.
By Way of Reminder
So in Titus 3:1 Paul tells Titus to remind his flocks of seven important Christian virtues. Their need to be reminded implies a tendency to forget. Apparently, top-to-bottom cultural corruption creates a need for repeated conscience re-calibration. While we might not be in such ugly times now, the message Paul didn’t want the Christians in Crete to forget is one God also doesn’t want local churches today to forget.
Be submissive to rulers and authorities. The Church is to have a submissive and supportive impulse, no matter who is in charge. This is a readiness to live under the authority of God-appointed rulers (Rom. 13:1–7), no matter how corrupt they may be. Believers should not be rebellious or defiant. The spirit of America that loathes authority runs counter to biblical law. We are to honor and be grateful for authority (1 Tim. 2:1–2) and respect and submit to it. The anti-authority spirit so ingrained in our American identity is a denial of the law and Spirit of Christ.
Be obedient. Christians are to obey civil authority. We are to comply with the laws of the land unless we are being told to sin or to be silent about Jesus, his truth, and his law. There is a time and place for civil disobedience, but according to Scripture we must make sure it’s actually about obeying God when we disobey government (Acts 4:19; 5:29).
A humble, quiet, and respectful spirit that says to authority, “I want to submit and obey but I regret that I cannot because you are asking me to sin against my Savior, which my conscience will not permit me to do” is very different from the fiercely American spirit that has turned “I don’t want anyone to tell me what to do” into a national creed.
Subscribe to Free “Top 10 Stories” Email
Get the top 10 stories from The Aquila Report in your inbox every Tuesday morning.