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.

We Have No King but . . .

The Israelites' demand that Samuel make them a king (1 Samuel 8) was in and of itself not an evil request. Israel being ruled by a monarch had been anticipated in the covenant God made with Abraham, reiterated in the blessing of Jacob, and detailed in the Law of Moses. What made the demand offensive was the motivation and manner of the demand. They wanted to be "like all the nations" around them and they wanted it now.

But Israel was not like other nations. They were a chosen people who had as their sovereign the God who made heaven and earth. He was the one who had brought them out from the slavery of Egypt and into the land that he had promised to their forefather, Abraham. Throughout, Yahweh had exercised his rule over them by the people he had raised up and when it came time for the monarchy they were to await his selection. Their faithless and untimely demand for a king, however, showed once again how prone they were to being like the other nations around them (1 Samuel 8:8).

A warning is here. As Christians we confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9). Biblically, such a confession brings with it the expectation of otherness, as was upon the Israelites, as well as the need to be ruled by Christ, in all of his kingly sovereignty. As it did for the Israelites, this will demand faith and courage. The pressure to be like "the other nations" is great, particularly when our separateness brings with it strife. The solution, however, is not to slip into a posture that renders us indistinguishable from those around us. On the contrary, we are to hold fast to our confession without wavering (Hebrews 10:23), trusting that our Lord is able to protect us and cause us to prosper.