Christianity was never centered in Religion

Titus 1:10-14

My dad enjoyed history, he liked to read and study about the past; and this was his summation on what history has taught us; nothing!  Dad said if we would just learn from history, it would not be repeated over and over, but it is.  That is what came into my mind as I reflected on these verses, we the church have not learned the lesson of history, we just keep repeating them.  We may have better programs and we may have more comforts, but we have falsely believed that bigger is better, or that growth in numbers means that God is doing a work.  If that is your theology let me punch a hole in it; the Muslim religion is very fast growing, but I can assure you that our Father in heaven is not promoting a distorted religion of hate and death.  It may be of importance to note that religions end is death; it always kills all who will not comply with it.  It’s true with the Muslim faith, and it was true with the Jews who killed Jesus, and it’s happening all over the world, and has been from the beginning.  That is why Christianity was never centered in religion its focus is on a relationship with God, a personal relationship with no one other than Jesus Christ.  And that exposes the problem, from the beginning people who knew not Christ but wanted to be religious joined these fellowships; we call them the local church, and they wanted to improve on God’s plan for the Church.

It is important to understand that Paul is not referring to the guy in the pew; he is making reference to leadership in the church.  Beginning in verse ten, “For there are many who are insubordinate (somebody who refuses to obey or submit to authority) empty talkers (I’ve often been guilty of this) and deceivers, (a liar) especially those of the circumcision party.”  We need to stop and understand what is going on with the circumcision party: we might compare them to the nuts who teach that only the King James Version of the Bible is true.  They were Jews that taught Jesus plus, and the plus was circumcision in order to be saved.  If you turn to Acts 15:1 or it might help to see the effect they were having in the church even with apostles like Peter, in Galatians 2:11-14.  Shall we pick-up with verse 11, they must be silenced, since they are unsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.”  What was the shameful gain, I am not sure, it may have been money, but it was more than likely rules that would earn you acceptance with God. 

As he goes forward in verse 12, he addresses the culture of Crete, and the Cretans, and refers to them as always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons, and I know when I’m in over my head so I turned to Barnes’ notes on the Bible for insights. One of themselves - That is, one of the Cretans. The quotation here shows that Paul had his eye not only on the Jewish teachers there, but also on the native Cretans. The meaning is, that, alike in reference to Jewish teachers and native-born Cretans, there was need of the utmost vigilance in the selection of persons for the ministry. They all had well-known traits of character, which made it proper that no one should be introduced into the ministry without extreme caution. It would seem, also, from the reasoning of Paul here, that the trait of character here referred to pertained not only to the native Cretans, but also to the character of the Jews residing there; for he evidently means that the caution should extend to all who dwelt on the island.

It is important to understand that Paul left Titus in Crete to establish order and appoint elders in every town.  Titus was a leader under the authority of Scripture, Titus was a great asset in the kingdom of God, and it goes without saying that someone teaching another gospel will only harm the local church.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice