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TITUS THE COWORKER
Unsung Heroes, Part 5
September 2, 2007
Pastor Bob Sanders
For the past few weeks we’ve been talking about some of the unsung heroes in the New Testament, some lesser-known individuals who are easily overlooked but who played a vital role in the story of the early church. We’ve looked at Barnabas the Encourager, Stephen the Martyr, Philip the Evangelist, and Timothy the Pastor.
Today we come to the final figure in this series, a little-known character named Titus. His name doesn’t appear in the Book of Acts, but what we do know of him comes from Paul’s letters, where he’s mentioned some 13 times. Our Scripture reading is from Paul’s letter to Titus, chapter one, beginning at the first verse.
Titus 1:1-16
1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness, 2in the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began— 3in due time he revealed his word through the proclamation with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior, 4To Titus, my loyal child in the faith we share: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
5I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you: 6someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. 7For 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; 8but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. 9He 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.
10There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; 11they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach. 12It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said, “Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith, 14not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth. 15To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. 16They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
The “Dirty Jobs” Guy
What do we know about Titus? We know he was a Gentile – that is, he came from a non-Jewish background. We know he was led to Christ by Paul, and that he became a trusted coworker. We also know that Titus frequently got the toughest assignments Paul could give. Have you seen that TV show on the Discovery Channel about “dirty jobs” – about the guy who does all these horrible, dangerous, yucky jobs nobody else would want? Well, if there were a New Testament version of that show, Titus would be the star. He always gets the challenging, seemingly impossible jobs.
The first time we hear of him is in the letter to the Galatians, where Paul talks about taking Titus with him to Jerusalem to meet with the leaders of the church. As you may know, the earliest Christians were primarily Jewish. And it came as a surprise to these first believers to learn that Gentiles were also responding to the Gospel. And it led to a serious debate over whether a non-Jew could really be a sister or brother in Christ. The apostle Paul maintained that Jesus came for Gentiles as well as Jews, and that on the cross he broke down the old ethnic barriers and formed a new, reconciled humanity. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female,” he wrote, “for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28 NIV).
And to prove his point, Paul marched up to Jerusalem to challenge the leaders of the church, and he brought along a visual aid – a born again, Spirit filled, Gentile Christian named Titus. You remember the old joke about being as popular as a ham sandwich in a synagogue? Well, that’s probably what it felt like to Titus. He was the token Gentile, always on display, “Exhibit A” in Paul’s case. But it worked, and as a result Gentile believers (like you and me) were granted full status as brothers and sisters in the church of Jesus Christ.
The next time we meet Titus in the New Testament is when Paul sends him to deal with the Corinthians. Now, the church at Corinth was a series of unending headaches for Paul. The folks there could never seem to get along. Everyone belonged to their little clique, and everyone was mad at everyone else. Some were angry at Paul and ready to split off and go form another church. Some quit giving money – money that was designated for famine relief, money they’d promised to help feed hungry people in other parts of the world. Paul had sent Timothy earlier to try to straighten things out, but the Corinthians paid no attention to him.
So, who does Paul turn to next? Who to send into this hornets’ nest? Right: Titus, the dirty jobs guy. And guess what? Titus succeeded. He did what Paul himself couldn’t do. He won the hearts of these cranky Corinthians and brought them back into the fold.
The third reference to Titus is here in our text this morning. Paul writes to Titus, who was hard at work on the island of Crete. Apparently Paul and Titus planted some churches there and then Paul moved on, leaving Titus to continue the work. Reading between the lines a bit, we see it was another one of those dirty jobs Titus often got.
The first part of his assignment was to raise up elders. That means there were no effective local leaders just yet, no one mature enough to take care of things. So the full weight of leadership was on Titus alone.
Second, false teachers were springing up, confusing the new believers. Paul describes them as “rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers.” They have to be silenced, Paul said. That’s Titus’ job.
And finally, there was the lax moral climate on Crete in general. Paul illustrates this by quoting in verse 12 from Epimenides, a philosopher and poet from Crete: “It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said, ‘Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.’”
And Paul agrees. “That testimony is true,” he writes, “they are pretty hopeless.” The inhabitants of Crete had a notorious reputation in the ancient world. The Greeks coined a word: to cretanize. It meant to lie or to cheat. Nothing was more unreliable, more morally bankrupt than a bunch of Cretans. Liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons – these are the people Titus is supposed to form into a loving and faithful church.
Why Crete?
We don’t know how long Titus had been at it, but I have the feeling it had been long enough for some real frustration to set in. Verse 5 fascinates me. In it Paul writes, “I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.”
Get that? Paul says, “Here’s why I left you in Crete, Titus.” It sounds to me like Paul is answering a question Titus must have asked earlier. That question would have been, “Why Crete, Paul? Of all the backward places you could have sent me, of all the dirty jobs you could have given me – why here? Why Crete?”
My suspicion is that Titus has hit bottom. Nothing is working out. No signs of change or growth. Everywhere he turns there’s something more to be done. More grumbling and complaining. More bickering and backsliding. Just more hard, slogging work. Even a faithful coworker like Titus has his limits. Even he can grow weary and discouraged. And that’s what’s happened here. He’s lost his hope, lost his sense of purpose.
In fact, I suspect what he really wants from Paul is a new assignment, to be sent someplace – anyplace – a little more promising.
You can hear it, can’t you? “Why Crete?”
Can you identify with Titus? Are you stuck in some Crete situation? Is there some relationship or responsibility that feels about as unpromising to you as Crete did to Titus?
It reminds me of the old joke about the mother who came into her son’s room about 9:00 one Sunday morning and found him still asleep. She told him to get up and get ready for church. He said, “Mom, I’m not going to church today.” She said, “You know we always to church on Sundays. Give me one good reason why today should be an exception.” Her son replied, “Aw, Mom, the seats are hard, the people are unfriendly and the sermon is dull. Give me one good reason why I ought to go to church today.” And the mother said, “Son, you’re 40 years old and you’re the pastor. Now get up and get to church.”
No matter who we are, no matter what we do, each of us grows disenchanted and discouraged in the place God has called us. No matter what that place is, we wake up one day and it feels like Crete, and we’re stuck with it. It might be our job. It might be our marriage. It might be our Christian commitment, or our church commitment. Whatever it is, it’s just not what it used to be for us. We feel weary of it. We wonder if we wouldn’t be happier if we bail out to do something else, something more promising, more pleasant, more productive.
“Why Crete?”
A while back I came across a magazine article entitled “The Runaway Syndrome.” Here’s part of what it said:
Most of us, at least some of the time, wish we were anywhere but where we are. Sometimes people feel that way about their vocations. “If only I had chosen a different field or applied for a different position.” Housewives wish they could shift their responsibilities. Parents wonder if rearing their children is worth the effort and students keep thinking about different schools or perhaps no school at all. No matter who we are or how carefully we’ve planned, the “runaway syndrome” gets to most of us once in a while. It’s a rare person, indeed, who hasn’t been tempted now and then to run rather than to stand.
Tempting as it may be, running away is not the answer to the Cretes in our lives. Running doesn’t solve the problems. One time the great heavyweight boxer Joe Louis was challenged by a younger opponent, a man noted for his great speed of movement. When asked how he planned to beat Louis, the challenger said, “I’ll outrun him.” You remember Louis’ famous reply: “He can run, but he cannot hide.” Louis won the fight.
So it is with you and me and the problems we face. We can try to run from the problems, but we cannot hide from them. That’s because most of our problems are not out there where we can get away from them. Most of our problems are in here. They’re inside us. Our fears and our failures, our angers and our addictions, our blindness and our brokenness. Thomas Kepler was right when he said, “People at odds with themselves will be at odds with their world wherever they are.” We cannot run from ourselves.
Titus tried to say to Paul, “The problem is these lying, lazy Cretans. They’re what’s wrong. Get me out of here.” But Paul said to Titus, “No, the problem is you. Your attitude is what’s wrong – your discouragement and your frustration. You’re the problem. I left you on Crete for a purpose. Stay there. Persevere. Go deeper.”
Go Deeper
If you’re in some responsibility or relationship that feels to you like Crete did to Titus, you’re not alone. Christians go through these times like everyone else. Like Titus we face times of discouragement and frustration, times of tedium and dryness when the urge to quit is strong.
When I find myself feeling like I’m stuck on some Crete, my first impulse is to cry out to the Lord and say just what Titus did: “Get me out of here!” But I think what Paul is trying to tell us is that when we’re facing a Crete-situation there’s another way. There’s a God who gives us the power to hang in there and keep going even on Crete.
God may not choose to change our circumstances. What God may choose to change is you and me in the midst of those circumstances. That won’t happen, however, if we bail out, if we quit. But if we open ourselves to the Lord in that Crete-situation, whatever it is, I believe the Lord can give us the power to persevere, to hang in there, to go deeper where we are.
The power I’m talking about is more than just bravely enduring a tough situation. I’m not suggesting we become stoics – you know, keep a stiff upper lip, grit your teeth and just hang on, come what may. God’s power to persevere means staying where we are – yes. But it means going deeper where we are. Going deeper to where we find new purpose and meaning. Going deeper to where the life is.
I was in Zambia last summer with our mission team. As you know, one of the important needs in that part of the world is clean, available water. And so part of what we do in this partnership is help provide deep borehole wells. One afternoon we visited the crew that was working to bring in a well. And it wasn’t just any well: this one was funded by our own Cameron Bays and her graduating class from West Linn High.
It didn’t look like a very promising site. No signs of water. Just dry ground and scrub vegetation. But preliminary tests had been hopeful, so here was this crew and their rig drilling away. They’d already tried two other nearby sites and had come up dry. And their contract said that if they hadn’t found water after three tries, their obligation was fulfilled and they could give up.
So this was it. If they found no water here, it was over. The money raised by Cameron, the promises made to these villagers, it would be gone.
We spoke with the guys on the crew, and they were beginning to worry. The drill had gone down farther than they would normally go, and it was still dry. But the guys could see the need in the faces of the Zambian villagers all around them, and didn’t want to disappoint them. So they kept drilling deeper. Down through the dry sand, the compacted clay, the layers of limestone. They went deeper.
And we prayed – oh, how we prayed. Then we went on to meet with some other villages in the partnership a few miles away. About three hours later, a cell phone call came in from the crew. They’d hit it. Water was gushing from the ground – pure, clean water. The lives of hundreds of villagers would never be the same again. All because those guys stayed where they were and kept drilling, kept going deeper till they got down to where the water was, the life-giving, abundant water.
I think that’s a picture of what Paul was telling Titus to do. Yes, the situation can look pretty dry and unpromising. But the answer isn’t to quit and bail out. The answer is to stay where God has called you and go deeper till you discover new life. Deeper in your marriage. There’s more life and joy to be found – if you’re willing to persevere. Deeper in your friendships. There’s a new level of commitment and connection if you’ll seek it. Deeper in your church commitment. The Lord who brought you here has still more for you – more insight, more joy, more Christ – if you’re willing to go deeper.
Near the end of his distinguished career, Winston Churchill was asked to speak at his old school, Harrow (where as a boy he’d nearly flunked out). The headmaster had been preparing the students to listen to every word because, he said, “In a few days the greatest orator of our time – perhaps all time – will address you.”
The great day arrived, and after the school’s fanfare and acclamation, Sir Winston stood to his feet, acknowledged the introduction, and gave his speech (quoted in full on your bulletin cover):
Young men, never give up.
Never give up!
Never give up!
Never, never, never – never – never!
It may be you feel trapped and stuck, going nowhere, ready to quit. I know it’s not easy. I know it can be very painful. But, dear friends, the good news is we have a Lord who never quits on us, never gives up on us, never grows weary of working with us. Even in our driest, toughest situations, he comes to us and puts courage into us to hang in there, to stay at it till we find the purpose and meaning we need.
Where’s your Crete this morning? As we come to this Table let’s ask our Lord for the power we need to persevere, to not quit, to go deeper and find the life and the joy he has for us, wherever we are.
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