Titus 2 Godly Women shaping Godly Community
Women are often looking for specific passages in scripture that pertain exclusively to them. Many answers to these queries will reference two biblical passages: Proverbs 31, and Titus 2. We looked at Proverbs 31 earlier this month, so today we will take a look at Titus 2. Titus is a WONDERFUL book that I encourage you to read and study. There are a few verses (Titus 2:3-5) that explicitly give instructions and descriptions for women to pursue Godly living. While these few verses in Titus 2 do provide a clear picture of how women following Christ can grow in Godly living, these verses lose much of their meaning when removed from the context of the whole book. To grasp hold of the goodness, wisdom, and helpful instruction given for women in Titus 2, we need to look at the book of Titus as a whole.
Background on Titus
The book of Titus was originally written as a letter from Paul to a fellow believer and co-laborer in gospel ministry named Titus. The content of the letter to Titus consists mostly of reminders of gospel instructions:
Greetings from Paul to Titus (1:1-4)
A reminder of the purpose for Titus’ mission (1:5)
Reminder of what qualities to look for in church elders (1:6-9)
Reminder of how to respond to opposition groups hostile to the gospel (1:10-14)
Reminder of how sound doctrine is to be taught and applied in the lives of various groups (2:1-15)
Reminder of how to prepare God’s people on Crete for good works with a gospel reminder (3:1-8)
Reminder of how to respond to various conflicts and divisions (3:9-11)
Plans to meet one another and concluding greetings (3:12-15)
As a piece of history, the letter to Titus gives us a glimpse into many of the challenges of the early Christian church in the first few decades of the post-resurrection and ascension era. As a part of scripture inspired by the Holy Ghost, Titus instructs the ongoing church of Jesus in numerous areas of practical theology. Perhaps only James, as a book of the New Testament, so closely ties spiritual realities with daily living. Through succinct instructions, very direct expectations are conveyed. Take a few of these verses for example:
An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. (1:6)
Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. (2:2)
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good (2:3)
Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. (3:10)
With clear and precise instructional statements, Paul wrote to Titus regarding how best to accomplish the purposes of the Lord among the Christians of Crete. These clear instructions are found all throughout the book, including in Titus chapter 2.
Titus 2
Titus 2 builds on the problem-solution dynamic of chapter 1 which talks about appointing elders and refuting destructive groups hostile to the gospel (1:10-16). Titus 1:9 says of the elder “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”. This is the verse that gives context for chapter 2. The elders are being taught the trustworthy message [By Titus] so they can encourage and teach others [the rest of the church] sound doctrine. Various groups within the church are then named and are to be taught “sound doctrine” (2:1). Earlier in the letter the problem of people being taught rebellious things and bad doctrine was introduced (1:10-16). Chapter 2 gives the remedy to the problem plaguing the church in Crete.
The remedy to the problem of Crete was for Titus to “teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine” (2:1). Titus’ role was to teach. Titus’ content was to be “sound doctrine”. The particulars of sound doctrine are what is laid out in 2:2-2:14. And the people who are to learn and benefit from Titus’ teaching of sound doctrine were to be the church of Crete, so named by various groups such as older men (2:2), older women (2:3), younger women (2:4), children (2:4), younger men (2:6), slaves (2:9), and bosses of slaves (2:9). The problem was that the people of the church that Titus had been called to serve were being exposed to “meaningless talk and deception” (1:10). The remedy was to teach sound doctrine. The book endings 2:1 and 2:15 provide a clear “to-do” list for Titus. It was as though Paul was saying “Teach good things, and everything in this list I’m about to mention will be good for God’s people, all the various groups listed, who are under your Spiritual leadership and care”.
Blessing the Community
In Chapter 1 Paul described the dire situation of Crete, quoting a pagan prophet as saying “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons. This saying is true” (1:12-13). We can imagine how dire and dreadful the situation must have been for men and women, boys and girls, to live in a society marked by deceit, violence, and extreme fleshly decadence. In the United States today we have a phrase, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, and that town is known as “Sin City”, wearing it’s label with a worldly sense of pride. Crete was in some ways like Vegas, a place of renowned sin. The contrast between the community of believers and the worldly ways of Crete would have been a stark contrast indeed. Men and women in the Christian community had particular roles to play in displaying the wonderful goodness of transformation that occurs in new life in Christ through the glory of the gospel. The gospel mission in Crete would go forward carried through the Christian community as men and women, boys and girls shared and participated in the mission, living as salt and light before a sin-soaked city.
Within Titus 2 we see that women were to be instructed, both older women (2:3) and younger women (2:4). Women had a teaching role, with older women commissioned to teach the younger women. This work was of great significance not only for the women themselves but for the sake of the word of God (2:5). The Christian women in Crete were to be a multi-generationally unique blessing that benefits the whole Christian community. The Christ-like woman is a blessing to multiple generations, regardless of her age. This is in contrast to other 1st century cultures where women were only valued as child-bearers, or where women were treated as unimportant altogether. Among the Christian community of Crete women had an important role to play regardless of age or financial status. Older women were to have a unique mentoring role to younger women (2:3), and younger women were to provide the blessing of applying their unique love to their husbands and their children (2:4). These women would help shape the future of the church in Crete by their teaching, example, and love in a unique way for the glory of God.
Men were also instructed in Titus 2 with a unique and important role to play in the church at Crete. Young men were to be self-controlled, a stark contrast to the cultural picture of what actions and attitudes were assumed of value in Crete. Instead of older men indulging their many decades long fleshly fantasies or young men cultivating hearts of depravity, men were to be marked by self-control (2:2; 6). The young men of the Christian community were to be self-controlled over their tongues, gentle in their manner, and moderate in consumption (2:6-8). The older men of the Christian community were similarly to display a level of maturity that would feature a Christ-like character shaped by a temperate attitude, to be worthy of respect, self-controlled, solid faith, abundant love, and steadfast endurance (2:2). These men would help shape the future of the church in Crete by their self-control, speech, and integrity in a unique way for the glory of God.
The Christian community of Crete, whether boys or girls, men or women, were all instructed with specific virtues to aim for, behaviors to cultivate, and attitudes to embody.
There can be a tendency among some communities to reject any level of correction, or instruction from church leadership or from the Bible. Many today in the West (and the world) reject the reality that God has sovereign rule over their life. The simple statement “God knows best” has been rejected with the simple statement “God isn’t real” and replaced in the sinful heart with “I know best”. The worldly popular notion seems to be that no one has a right (nor should they ever) to attempt to correct or instruct anyone else. This notion then extends to instill an attitude that anyone who would speak correctively or instructively about right, wrong, truth, or lies, would be engaging in a very oppressive and hurtful thing. Thank goodness for God revealing the truth of Himself, the ultimate reality through His word! In Titus, throughout the whole book, and especially in chapter 2, we are reminded that each of us who are Christians has a role within our local churches, and that is a very good thing. We are reminded that the whole body of the Christian community is of tremendous value and ought to live in specific manners to help strengthen one another in the faith, resist sin, and provide a witness to the watching world of the goodness of God.
Throughout the month of May, we featured several different pieces on the topic of biblical motherhood and womanhood. Throughout June, the plan is to follow a similar theme regarding biblical fatherhood and manliness. It is our continued hope that these pieces are an encouragement to you, and from time to time you may learn something new and exciting regarding our great God and His awesome plans for his redeemed family the church.
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