Titus 2:4-5

"And so, train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."

Paul writes to Titus instructing him to rebuke those who are caught up in unsound faith expressions and questionable behaviors. He instructs him to avoid foolish controversies over diverse beliefs, and to reject unrepentant divisive people causing these debates.

So, this is the motivation. The faith community that Paul established in Crete has been doing like every faith community does. They're using their imagination. Because that's what people do. And Paul wants Titus to "teach what accords with sound doctrine." With authority that reflects God's will.

What does he mean by authority?

Let's go back to the beginning.

Genesis 1:27

"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

Both the human men and the human women are made in the image of our Creator God. Bearing that image is our defining human attribute. Not the things that the world sees as important. We are all made to reflect God's glory. We're created as worshippers. We're creative like our God in whose image we are made. And so, we create images as well. We create alternative images of who we think we are, and who we want others to believe we are. Men and women both do this. We gained this attribute when we became like God, knowing good and evil.

The human family is often confused about who they are. And that confusion leads us into false identities, which ultimately leads to false doctrines. We're drawn into false definitions of who we are. Our identity in this imagined sin image we've created is just us finding our own identity in something other than God. It's our free will trending in something other than God. This is what we do. We posture, we trend, we influence, we create images. It's built into us to have this desire. And we're also created to control that desire and focus it instead on our God. God created that creative spirit in us for his glory. Sin teaches us to refocus that trait on ourselves. It's about appetites. Maybe that's why the fall is described by a moment of indulging in a desirable food at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It's about our appetites and how we feed them. This can manifest itself in as many ways as there are people. The world is vast and human imagination is as creative as our God is great. God created that feature in us.

And God created women in particular for?

Genesis 2:18

The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

He made her from the man's flesh, so that together they become one flesh. Together they are submitted to one another. And together they work as one. She is his helper. And he is her husband, friend, support partner. Both submitted to each other in expressing God's will. That was the plain and naked truth in the beginning.

(v.25) "Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."

They had no worldly identity. No concern about what they wore or how they adorned themselves. They weren't afraid to bear it all. But then sin happened and suddenly they saw themselves from a different perspective. They thought of themselves as sinful. They looked at themselves and they were ashamed.

What were they ashamed about?

God asked them.

Genesis 3:10

He [Adam] answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid."

What was he afraid of?

Obviously, God, and his authority.

And as the story goes, God discovers these first people had sinned against his authority. They chose to do their own thing. They wanted a different identity. The serpent convinced them to be like God by doing their own thing. And God was angry. We can like it or not that he was angry, but he had that authority.

And among the many consequences for their behavior, God makes this decision for the womenfolk:

Genesis 3:16

To the woman he said,

"I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

And that brings us to Titus 2.

Here in Genesis chapter three we find the authority. Not in various Jewish traditions, or Cretan Christian practices. The authority for all people is this creation authority. It belongs to God. The authority for the human family is the same for the entire world of humans. It all began in the beginning. All who are human are under this authority, like it or not. What God established in the beginning is what's authoritative. And many thousands of years later, nothing has changed that authority.

The word of God is binding. And therefore, Paul instructs Titus to preach and instruct with God's authority.

Titus 2:15

"Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you."

The content of that authority are the things for sound doctrine. And in that doctrine Paul explains how men and women should behave as members of the community of faith. The ministry is to be limited to those brief and narrow boundaries. They shouldn't be expanded upon. They are what they are.

The method is to exhort. Titus is to preach and teach these Cretan people about those boundaries. That's his mission. He is instructed also to reprove. That means to create convictions. His job is to help the people feel the weight of their spiritual pride and laziness. He's not attempting to subjugate feminists or elevate male superiority. He's speaking about the truth of the creation authority.

And the extent of this authority that Paul gives to Titus is that no one is outside the realm of God's will. All people are brought to bear this fact, and everyone is accountable to this. Even those who evade the truth. Those who try to rationalize the truth. Paul instructs Titus to hold them all to the same truth.

So here we are now. We've established that the faith community is under God's authority and Titus is applying that authority to the best of his ability. So, what does he say about women, specifically young women?

Let me share a story here. One day I was on a design consultation. I met with a very nice person. A godly person. A young woman who needed our help with a planting project.

I have no idea how we started talking about church and matters of faith, but these things tend to crop up when I meet people. She started to share with me that she wasn't involved in a church community any longer. She explained that she wasn't involved because she was upset by some of the older women and wives in the church. They apparently had been giving her, and others like her, a hard time about how they dressed when they were in church.

I remember listening with my active listening spiritual ears on. I had this sense that The Spirit wanted me to share something important with her. And she talked about the kinds of outfits these older women objected to. I have to admit even listening to this was troubling. I didn't want to even think about those outfits. In this context, (a professional meeting) it felt very uncomfortable to even try to draw a mental image of those outfits.

At any rate I listened and took it all in and found myself explaining something I had no idea I was going to be explaining that day.

When she stopped and seemed to ask what I thought about all that she said, I said, "have you ever heard about the bounce?"

I suppose I confused her. What the hell was I asking. I even surprised myself. But I was in it now. I had to go all the way with this track.

I saw she was confused by my question so I continued.

There's this thing men talk about that we call, "the bounce". And what that is, is when in certain situations like church or really anywhere public, when a man comes upon a women who is dressed in a very revealing and well packaged outfit. And he's a godly man, or trying to be, he purposely practices "the bounce". He can't avoid seeing what these women have put out there for all people to see, but he can learn to bounce his eyesight. He glances because he can't avoid it, and then he bounces instantly in another direction. He's not going to let his eyes linger for even a split second. He's forced by her attire to redirect his attention to just about anything else. And the better he gets at the bounce, pretty soon he learns to avoid being caught up in any kind of awkward moments or even sinful thoughts. It's not easy, it's a lifetime of practice that still never completely conquers the desire to look.

I explained this takes practice and a lot of self-control. And I explained that it's a very different struggle for every guy out there. For some it's nothing difficult. And for others it's a truly difficult challenge to their daily walk in Christ. And it was to this point that I was trying to get her to understand her role in this. I said to her, "you meet a guy at church." "You're dressed provocatively, or maybe not even on display but just very nice and attractive." "You don't know his struggle." "You don't know where he is on his walk with Jesus." "You don't know that he's caught up in some secret sin or maybe even pornography." "And you don't know that he's prayed for help from God to get a grip on this thing that he hates in himself." "And now he bumps up against whatever you're putting out there for all to see." "He employs the bounce." "And later on, you're on his mind still, and not in a godly way." "That's not your fault; his weakness and lack of control is not your fault."

I paused for a second. Then I said...

"I guess what I would say to you and to all the ladies of the church, just think about that one guy out there in the church going through that weakness." "And understand this, he's not alone, in fact, most every guy there, young and old, is going through that." "So with that in mind, knowing that he's there in that place for worship." "That he's there for prayer, possibly praying about that stuff." "He's there to fellowship with believers and hear a word from God." "Knowing all this, do you want to be that one stumbling block to godliness for him?" "I know it's not fair maybe to have to hold yourself in contempt for the weakness of another." "But maybe you can see this from a perspective of being a helper as God created in you." "You're not in church to be seen I would hope, but to worship God and for all the same reasons he's come." "So I think it could really be a blessing for him, for you to not feel like you have to be all out there in how you're dressed, or practically undressed for church." "Just something to think about when you're in the closet getting ready for church."

That was it. I stopped there and was surprised that she said she never thought of it that way. She didn't get offended, so I hope she received it for what it was, just a genuine thought.

Friends,

The point of Titus 2 is sound doctrine and sound behavior. But mainly for one reason, and that reason is..."that the word of God may not be reviled."

It's about not creating situations in church that create problems between people which then create problems between the people and God. It's about not letting our creative imagination that God blessed us with get us involved in things that become stumbling blocks for others who are maybe struggling with their faithfulness to God's word.

Paul told Titus to exhort all the people so they'll all get off their lazy butts and take their faith seriously. And one aspect of that message was directed at the young ladies. I think he wanted them to understand their role as helpers, but also I think he wanted them to see how much of a good influence they can have on others, even if they're not trying to be an influence. He wants them to understand also how much influence their lack of self control can have on others as well. He wants them to value families and the purity of the marriage covenant, and to understand that they've got a role in supporting that relationship even if they're single. Just as older men are instructed to be soberminded, young women are instructed to value soberminded men and women. To see themselves as helpers in that cause and to avoid creating conflicts that might jeopardize that soberminded relationship.

Paul instructs in the way he sees fit for creating an environment that will limit conflicts between the young ladies and the older men and ladies. His methodology is to restrict the opportunities for the "bounce" to have to be employed. Limit the chances for people to loose self control. And he does that by refocusing the young ladies attention onto their own skills and abilities as an important factor in their own marriage, with their own husband, and within the church family. He's redirecting their focus. It's not that he's limiting their relationship with the church, he's just helping them to understand that the churches mission is grounded in that marriage. It's a necessary and fundamental part of the whole faith family. Without it being operated on a sound basis it's going to bring down the entire church. We see this most dramatically today in the feminized progressive churches. It's that influential. So, it's imperative and integral, it's sound advice for the church so "that the word of God may not be reviled."

That's a heavy load and huge responsibility. The young women of the church, then and now, are what makes a church family thrive. Paul wants them to see that calling as God's will for them and for the whole church. And to make it their mission.

Don't believe me?

Look at every dead or dying church congregation today.

What's missing?

You got it. Young women. Young married couples and their families. Young anything. Left to their own, the soberminded old folks will kill a church. The church family needs young people and especially young godly women like who are described in Titus 2:4-5. And the church needs the soberminded old folks to teach the young people about these things. Together they'll create a fruitful community of faith. You can't have that by excluding either, because the sound doctrine needs to be instilled in the young folks, and that's not accomplished by the young folks exclusively. Just like any family the old need the young and the young need the old. And they all need sound teaching, so "That the word of God may not be reviled."

Amen and amen.