Cretans Being Cretans, Not Christians

Paul presents a stark contrast between those who are fit to lead a church and those who are not. His instructions to Titus make it clear that Titus should be looking for men that have been sufficiently shaped by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that they will be able to nurture the flock and defend the faith. The need was immediate for there were some moving among the churches who were still acting like Cretans, not Christians, and offering teaching that was gainful, not biblical. The result was that “whole families” were being troubled. Paul directs Titus to sharply rebuke these men that “they may be sound in the faith.” The circumstances on Crete demanded this strong response from the apostle. If the unbiblical cultural commitments in which these new converts had been nurtured continued to hold sway in their lives, they, and the church, would not prosper. Biblical authority and truth needed to be established (see Titus 1).

The challenge that the early church faced on Crete is the same challenge that the church has faced in every generation and location. How can people have their minds renewed and their lives ordered so that they think and act like human beings are created to think and act? As Paul’s counsel suggests, they must learn “sound doctrine” based upon the “trustworthy word” and allow it to become the definitive voice in their lives. 

Now, I doubt if many of the people reading this reject in principle the need for sound doctrine based upon the trustworthy word to be authoritative in the church. In practice, however, it can be a hard won battle. This is particularly so when the teachings of Scripture run contrary to the prevailing culture.  Believers are then forced to choose and if they are not yet sufficiently trusting of Scripture’s authority, the prevailing culture wins out. That appears to be what happened to those on Crete who were teaching “for shameful gain.” They were just doing what Cretans were known for, what everyone else thought was perfectly acceptable.

There’s a standing warning in this letter. It tells us to reexamine our thinking when what we allow as perfectly acceptable runs contrary to Scripture, no matter how much it is being embraced in the prevailing culture. Each generation will have its own challenges in this regard, but submitting to the truth of God is the wisest, the only, choice.

Speaking Truth to Power

Paul exhorts his young protégé, Timothy, to “preach the word . . . reprove, rebuke, and exhort . . . For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions . . .” (2 Timothy 4:2-4). Perhaps Paul had the prophet Micah in mind when he wrote Timothy, for his exhortation describes the context and content of the prophet’s ministry “to a T”. The days were evil in the last half of 8^th century BC Israel and biblical preaching was not welcome, however much it was needed. 

Micah’s was a stern word. After shooting down the wealthy (Chapter 2), he turned both barrels on the failed leadership of God’s people (Chapter 3). In vivid, even grotesque, language he delivers God’s verdict. In so many words Yahweh warns, “You’re all on the take and your appetite for gain is eating my people alive. The law courts are a despicable den of thieves, and your prophecies, conditioned by graft, are so much BS. Because you will not listen to the cries of the oppressed, I will be deaf to your pleadings when the Assyrians come calling. And because you offer words that I have never spoken, I will speak to you no more. You are a stench in my nostrils and I will blow you out like so much snot.”

Have I taken liberties in my characterization of the word that “came to Micah”? I’ll stand by it. God did not -- does not -- take kindly to people abusing his generosity. The authority that magistrates are supposed to wield is his authority; the wisdom that prophets are supposed to offer is his wisdom. To rule without justice and to prophesy without truth is an offense to the one who is the source of all justice and truth. 

Yet, who is responsible for maintaining God’s justice and truth in our midst? Those who, in God’s generous dealings, are placed in positions of power and influence. It is they who, in the words of the prophet, have the power to lead “people astray”. It is their abandoning of their God-given responsibilities that will cause any nation, as was Israel, to be “plowed as a field.”

Truthfully, we shouldn’t think that our nation will fare any better than did Israel if our nation resolutely displaces Yahweh’s will with it’s own. Let’s purpose to daily pray for those who seek to lead our nation, whether in government, religion, academia, or media. And let’s pray that the church offers God’s word to them for they take on a weighty responsibility to which God will hold them accountable.