Joining Titus for a study in GOOD #3

Ready for some hard-hitting truths? Paul definitely is holding nothing back here!  Yesterday, we looked at what it was to do GOOD and be GOOD in the world – to be the people human beings were created to be, to live as God always intended. Today, we see what Paul thinks of those who fail to do GOOD.

For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. Titus 1:10-16

You can clearly sense Paul’s frustration here, can’t you? He’s been working tirelessly to spread the good news of Jesus all over the known world and there are those who are undermining that teaching and undoing all Paul’s good work.

You may have met people like this: people who resist change, who cling to tradition, making out that their way is the most spiritual. They sow the seeds of uncertainty and fear, because leaving behind what you grew up believing is scary – so even if your heart is set on fire with this new revolutionary teaching, this new way demonstrated by the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, these people fill your mind with reasons not to take this giant leap of faith. These people are experts at what they do: they know all the right words to say, clothing them in ‘spiritual’ language and ‘spiritual’ values.

Without knowing the context, Paul’s condemnation of Cretans seems rather extreme, doesn’t it? I always try to steer clear from generalisations – ‘All men are…’, ‘All immigrants are…’, ‘All unemployed people are…’. You know the dangers of stereotyping as well as I do. There are always plenty of exceptions. I’m not a fan of labelling either. I’ve spent my whole life trying to shake off the label ‘lazy, fat and boring’ (maybe I have Cretan blood in me!) I’m not even sure how and when that label lodged itself so stubbornly in my psyche, but I’ve put so much effort into disproving it over the years – maybe the Cretans are still looking to refute their reputation too!

This passage we’re looking at today ends with the phrase ‘unfit for doing anything good.’ So let’s back up and see what kind of people are unfit for doing anything GOOD.

• those who are corrupted
• those who do not believe
• those whose minds and consciences are corrupted
• those who claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him
• those who are detestable and disobedient

If you lose sight of the truth of Jesus’ life and teaching, then you are unfit for doing anything GOOD. If you lose faith in the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection, then you are unfit for doing anything GOOD. If your mind has been clouded by the lies you have been fed and your conscience has been dulled. then you are unfit for doing anything GOOD. If you’re full of all the right words, but act without love and compassion, then you are unfit for doing anything GOOD. If you are not following the will of God to establish His kingdom here on earth, then you are unfit for doing anything GOOD.

Doing the right thing is not enough. For it to be truly GOOD, it has to rise up out of a right heart, right motives, right intentions.

To the pure, all things are pure.

Let’s finish with a thought about this well-known saying. This is my take on it. The pure look for the GOOD in all people and all situations. They are never looking to undermine, humiliate, condemn, twist, misinterpret, take offence. They seek out the GOOD and celebrate the GOOD. They look for what unites and not what divides. They promote love and compassion and understanding, not division and hatred and distrust. They see all beings as equal, all made in the image of the one true God.

Imagine, just imagine, a world in which all followers of Jesus followed this way, the way he modelled during his life here on earth.