Speaker: Greg Sanders

Passage: Titus 3:1-3

A CALLING TO REMEMBER

I want to take us back into Titus 3. So, if you have your Bibles, let’s go there. Last week, David Mitchell challenged us to live the transformative power of the Gospel with devotion and to reject division. 

I thought that phrase, reject division, was just a really poignant one because there’s an activity in it. There’s an intentionality in it. We don’t just passively avoid division. That’s really what came out of last week’s teaching. We’re to reject it. Maybe we say it this way: we’re to live in a way that division is uncomfortable around us. 

And as we finish chapter 2, before that, Paul’s overarching statement to the Church for how we are as a people to live was that we should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God. Paul reminds us to keep our eyes on eternity, on that day when Jesus returns. 

And I want to remind us to never lose sight of that reality because sometimes, I think maybe I’d say it this way: how many have ever had a moment of stupid? What if we, as a people, in those moments, could push pause, walk into a different room, and say, Lord, help me get my eyes on eternity. Help me get my eyes out of this moment. And we give permission to the Holy Spirit to lead us out of the moment into the future. 

In chapter 3, Paul’s going to add another admonition, and it’s at the beginning of the passage. And two weeks ago, I was going to teach this, and the Lord just took us in a different direction. And ironically, as only the Lord can do, it feels like it lands better in this moment. I had a family come to me and say, Two weeks ago, we wouldn’t have heard it, and now we’ve heard it. I think the Lord has a deep desire to speak to the church. 

What I love about the Scriptures is we can study the Scriptures, and somehow the Lord aligns what we need to hear when we need to hear it, that we don’t have to just hunt for topics. We can just study the Word and trust that the Holy Spirit leads us and guides us. 

So, today, we’re going to find one of Paul’s latter coaching moments, or latter thoughts for Titus, and I think that call to reject division and the challenge to live with self-control, right conduct, and devotion are essential to live what Paul’s going to teach here because he deals with how we respond to the government, to leadership, and to authority that’s going to touch a lot of nerves in the church. 

I’m just warning you, specifically, it’s going to touch a lot of nerves in the American church because I think there’s very few things the American church hates more than having her rights messed with. I think that’s not a Godly disposition. That’s an American disposition. 

I would remind you we are citizens of the Kingdom first, which means His way trumps our way. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong to be an American citizen, I think we’re incredibly blessed to live here, but when the citizenship of Heaven teaches us something, maybe it withholds something that the citizenship of Earth says is okay. Our job is to align with Heaven. 

What do I mean by that? As an American citizen, you have a lot of rights. Not all of them are Kingdom rights that are released to you. Our job is to run it through the filter of, Yes, the government says I can do this, but does the Lord? 

Generally, we like to ask this question: well, the government says I can’t, but the Lord says I can. I think that’s a weakness of the Church. I want to coach us on how we should hear what Paul’s saying. 

Paul is speaking to one of his sons in the faith, which means the heart of Paul is fatherly. Fathers tend to, without even knowing why, only give their kids good advice because they want what’s best for their kids. 

There has to be something wildly dysfunctional about a father if he’s going to intentionally give bad advice to his kids, it’s just not in us. Jesus says that in Luke 11, “If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.” 

What’s He mean? Natively, it’s one of the only areas where you actually have a great nature. You want to take care of your kids. It’s hardwired for you to protect them. That’s Paul’s heart here. He’s working to protect Titus, to say to Titus, This is what you should teach your people so they don’t end up like idiots. 

TITUS 3:1-3

So, let’s go to the text, chapter 3, verses 1-3. “Remind your people to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not speak evil of anyone, and they must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.” 

We’re going to take these verses and just break them apart, verse by verse, and look at what the words mean, and look at what Paul’s saying. But before we dissect this, I want to invite us to consider, I think Paul is honing in on something that he believes is really important to the people of God. 

And what is it? What he’s honing in on is how we, the people of God, live under and respond to authority. Let me say it a little stronger: how we live under and respond to authority is a really big idea in how we reveal Jesus to the world around us. 

Let’s begin with this first phrase: “Remind your people to submit to the government and its officers.” This phrase, “Remind your people.” Cause to remember or bring to mind is what the word means in the Greek. Hypomimnēskō. It’s the idea of being diligent to make sure someone does not forget something. It’s Paul’s way of saying to Titus, Do not let them forget. 

Okay, so to teach this, the stance to me, from the Scripture, is, as a teacher of this, you cannot let people forget this, which means it’s got to come through strong. Why does it come through strong? 

It’s an imperative statement in the Greek. That means when we see it in an imperative condition, it means it’s not a suggestion. It’s a mandate to be lived. Paul is not saying, It’s a good idea if people submit to the government. Paul’s saying, As a believer, you will submit to the government. 

As Americans, we tend to not love that. Paul’s not giving Titus a choice. He’s saying, Titus, you’ve got to teach this. So, to that end, I would say what comes next, what he’s going to say is really important. 

This word submit, hypotassō, it means to arrange under, to subordinate, to subject, to put in subjection, to subject oneself, obey, to submit to one’s control, to yield one to one’s admonition or advice, to obey, and be subject. It’s a posture word. 

Paul’s calling for a posture in the people of God. The people of God are to willingly, voluntarily arrange themselves in proper order for what comes next. Now, we already read it, so we know what comes next. 

It’s to the government. But what this really means is there’s a Biblical calling of obedience on us for what Paul’s going to share, that we, the people of God, are to take on this posture, not as a freedom choice. 

What do I mean by that? This isn’t something we do because this isn’t something we can choose not to do because the government says we don’t have to. This is a place where our Kingdom-alignment supersedes our citizenship alignment. 

We don’t get the right as Kingdom citizens to walk insubordinate, even though we kind of can as American citizens. That’s a tough line, but we are to take on this posture, not as a freedom choice, but as a reality of discipleship. 

Can I just give us a stance that I think we should think about? My opinion doesn’t have to matter in this one. Because that is the concept Paul will teach as an issue of obedience, is I don’t have to agree with this, I don’t have to like leadership to submit to them. I don’t have to think they’re awesome. I, as a believer, have to submit to them because it has to do with how I reveal Jesus. I hope you like me when this is over. 

So, he says, “To the government and its officers.” There’s two words here that we have to look at, arche and exousia. Arche means head or leader. Exousia is those in power or authority. So, it’s two different subsets, it’s two different places. 

And I think Paul’s being very specific because he understands there’s this hardwired thing in our humanity that wants to figure out the escape route from this. We are always looking for, figuring out, Where do I not have to do this? 

It took four weeks in our study team to get through this verse because all four weeks ended up in arguments of, Where’s the line? How far do we have to go? When can we not do this? And at first, it really drove me crazy, and I was internally quite sad, but I stopped and realized, I think that room was a microcosm of where the Church at large is today. We’re constantly looking for, Where do I not have to do this? Instead of asking the right question, which is, How am I revealing Jesus with how I live? 

In Jewish culture, this was primarily used for the high priest, so they would have thought about that office, that highest position outside of the king. In the Greco-Roman culture, it was a term used for leadership of the government. 

I do believe in this context, in Titus, Paul is dealing specifically with government. I would offer, though, that we could extrapolate from this a right response pattern to anyone in authority because I can’t say arcane exousia don’t deal with those. 

What Paul’s very clearly declaring is how we, the people of God, are to relate to leadership systems. We are to submit. I know that word submission isn’t a popular one because we tend to think that submit means passivity. 

How many have ever heard the word meekness? The definition of meekness is power under control. Submission says, I possess power. I’m choosing to walk in alignment to authority because the Lord told me to. It doesn’t mean I gave up my power. It means I’m aligning where He told me to. I’m using my power to obey, versus using my power to prove my independence. 

Paul’s speaking to a church that was under Roman rule. Roman rule was nearly tyrannical, and yet this is how Paul teaches the people of God to posture themselves. 

And I do believe this actually applies to not just government. I believe it applies to the marketplace and the home– any place where I’m under authority. We have to understand this reality: there are Kingdom standards for how believers are to live under authority. 

WILLFUL SUBMISSION

So, I want to look at those standards. The first standard is willful submission, that we choose to obey, and we are easy to lead because that’s what Jesus teaches us to do. 

And if, as I’m teaching this, your first question is, Well, where does that end? Where’s the line? I’d submit that you’re living dangerously close to a spirit of rebellion, and you need to repent. Because the first question should be, How does my submission to authority reveal Jesus? 

I always think it’s a great idea to look at Jesus in these moments. So, I want you to consider Jesus before Pilate. Pilate is a judge. Pilate’s in authority. Jesus stands in front of him, and He makes a statement that’s wild: “You have no authority over me except what is given to you.” And then Jesus proceeds to stand there, dead silent and quiet, and receive whatever Pilate does. 

Could I suggest to us that same truth is applicable to every system of leadership we’re under? They’re there because the Lord put them there. He allowed them to be in our life. Therefore, our response pattern to them is, You’re in my life with authority because the Lord allowed it. Therefore, I will not walk in rebellion to you because if I walk in rebellion to you, I’m walking in rebellion to Him, and I don’t want to be in rebellion to God because that’s a bad place to be. Therefore, I’ll walk in honor and submit because He put you in my life. 

How do we not do that when that’s the model of Christ? We know that He could have, at any moment, according to the Scriptures, called for ten thousand angels to come emancipate Him from the situations He was in. He carried that at any moment. You know why He carried it? There was no such thing as submission unless He had the power to not submit. 

So, He was granted the authority from His Father to call quits on it. So, His entire life was about Him submitting His heart to the purpose and the plan of the Father, walking in proper alignment to authority, even though He didn’t have to. 

You can’t convince me that there weren’t moments where He’s like, Dude, I’m God. Why am I putting up with this stupidity? In His humanity, there’s no way those thoughts didn’t cross His mind. There’s no way there wasn’t remembrance of the authority.

But according to Philippians, we should have this attitude in us that was in Christ. Jesus, though He was God, didn’t consider it something to be grabbed onto or possessed. He laid it down willingly and gave His life as a servant. Submission is about serving the Father, whoever you find that you get to submit to. It’s actually about the Father, not them. 

How do we live different towards leadership systems over us if that’s how Jesus lived? He says, “They should be obedient and always ready to do what is good.” This word, “They should be obedient,” it’s literally a word that kind of aims it. It’s a towards word. Means to aim the submission, called for a specific direction. 

It’s almost like Paul’s worried that the Church will find a way to avoid this calling. So, he puts an aim on. It says, Yes, you are actually to act this way towards authority. Why? Paul understands humanity. He knows we’re looking for escape routes all the time.

We’re looking for the places where, Well, you know, because of what they did, I don’t have to. Submission is not about them. It’s about you. When you submit to bad leadership, what you’ve done is fast-tracked God dealing with them. When you walk out of alignment, unsubmitted to leadership, God will not deal with them. 

I would offer that your submission to authority when you don’t like it is one of the greatest agencies the Lord has to fix them, because He does not allow his kids to be mishandled. When his kids walk in bad conduct, He steps back. He’s like, I can’t deal with them because you’re being an idiot.

If you go back to submission, this works in the home, this works in marriage, this works in the marketplace, this works towards government. When you go back to a stance of submitted surrender to the Father, all of a sudden, He can deal with what’s going on over you. 

I would offer it this way: you really don’t like that leader? Submit. It’s the fastest way to get God to deal with them. You don’t like how they treat you? Go to the secret place. Hey, I’m submitted to them because You told me to, but I hate how they handle me. And pour it out like water before the Lord because it’s fair there, it’s legal there, you can say all the words with Jesus. 

But outside of that place, you walk in submission to authority because you’re giving Him every opportunity to deal with them. I don’t want Him dealing with them. Yeah, that’s the Jonah principle. Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh. Why? He understood the kindness of God. 

He’s like, If I go there and I preach to them, You’ll forgive them, and I want them to die. That’s the story. And God put him inside of a belly of a whale and let him hang out with a fish for a while, which couldn’t have smelled good, so he could understand that he was never to be in authority over the kindness of God. He was always to be an agent of it. 

You and I are never to judge how the Lord can be kind. We’re just to be agents of that reconciliation. Lord, I’m going to walk in submission because I want You to reconcile them to You. Come on, tell me the fastest way to fix somebody isn’t Jesus. 

BETTERMENT

The second standard is obedience, that we are to be willing and able to take orders and live them out, even if we don’t like them. Not because we like the leader, but because we love the Lord. 

He says, “Always be ready to do what is good.” This word phrase, I love, it means to be prepared for every good work. The concept Paul is espousing is for the people of God to be ready to do whatever is necessary to better the environment they live in. He’s asking them to look for opportunities to make their city and their region better. 

See, this third standard is betterment. We got to get our eyes off of what they’re not doing and get our eyes on what we’re to be doing. I’m here to make this a better place. I’m here to make this a better city. I’m not here to hunker down inside the church and hide myself from them around me. I’m actually supposed to engage and make it a better place. 

Why? Because I have the Spirit of God living in me. I have an unfair advantage. I can hear God in business. I can hear the Lord. If you don’t think that’s true, I would just beg you to develop a secret place with the Lord and watch what He does. 

Friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear Him. And with Him, He shares the secrets of His covenant. There is secret knowledge available with the Lord. When you build an encounter with Him, it’s supposed to go in the marketplace and give you an unfair advantage. 

So, people come back and say, What’s going on with you? Why are you succeeding where I can’t? Oh, because the Lord told me what to do. Are you crazy? Maybe. I mean, I either hear God or I’m nuts. There is no middle ground, and I just decided I’m going to live on the side that I think I hear God, and I run it through the Scripture to make sure what I’m hearing is accurate to the text because He’s never going to speak against His own word. 

But you’ve got to get across the line, and maybe you’re the kind that’s arrogant enough to go, I’d rather live on my own mind. I don’t want God’s voice. Good, good for you. Have fun. I think it’s like shooting fish in a barrel to get the mind of the Lord. It’s just an unreasonably unfair advantage that we have.

But all of that is connected to walking in the favor of the Lord, which means I have to walk in alignment with how He said. I don’t submit to leadership and authority because I want to, I do it because He said to, and I don’t want to forfeit the favor of God in my life. 

The moment you decide to walk the way you want to walk instead of the way He said to walk, you forfeit the favor of God. The favor of God is not a choice God makes into your life. It’s a conduit you choose to unlock. 

It comes through walking in the fear of the Lord, and when you unlock that conduit, it’s like taking a shower in the favor of God every day, and it’s ridiculous what it does for your life. But the requirement is the fear of the Lord, and you cannot walk in the fear of the Lord and not walk in alignment to Scripture. 

This third standard of betterment, we are ready to work to make the city we live in a better place. And here’s the toughest one: “They must not speak evil of anyone and they must avoid quarreling.” This phrase, “They must not speak evil of anyone,” it means to slander no one. 

And Paul’s standard is pretty clear: the people of God are never to partner with slander or accusation. The word slander here means to speak disparagingly. It is negative, critical speech aimed at undermining a person. It’s speech that tears down character. 

In my opinion, this is where the Church has lost her way. We’ve got to get control of our communication. Let the words of my mouth, let the meditations of my heart, be pleasing to You, Lord. Speak the truth in love. You see, the fourth standard is control of communication. We are never to participate in negative, destructive communication about leadership or government. 

Paul says they must avoid quarreling. The word is amachos in the Greek. It’s my favorite Greek word. I love that word, amachos. Sounds good. It means not looking for a fight, instead choosing active peace over the opportunity for argument. 

Paul calls the people of God to a standard: to actively work against arguing, being willing to lay down personal opinion in favor of peace. Let me say that phrase again: being willing to lay down personal opinion in favor of peace. Let me say that again: being willing to lay down personal opinion in favor of peace. 

You see, the Cretans were known as self-promoters in Crete. They loved to argue, and they loved to prove they were right because they felt like it gave them a better clout in the community, the way they proved their intelligence. And Paul calls for that mentality to stop.

I want us to consider that when we choose to argue, we’re choosing to assert our opinions and perspectives at the cost of peace. And could we consider that in this statement, the Holy Spirit is very clearly communicating through Paul that our opinions should matter less to us than peace? 

PEACE

You see, the fifth standard is peace. We are to work for peace, foregoing our own opinion and needing to be right. And he goes on and finishes with, “Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.” This word, be gentle, it means to be mild, gentle, or appropriate. Gentleness is a qualifier of our communication. It’s linked to how we communicate more than what we communicate. 

I believe we can and will need to say difficult and tough things, but how we say them matters to the Holy Spirit. If the only way you know how to say difficult and tough things is through harshness, your tongue is not under the authority of the Holy Spirit. 

And James will say it this way: I want you to be careful that little member; lights a big fire. How you use language, how you use your tongue, power of life and death. It’s held in that little member. 

He says, show true humility. The word means to indicate by word or action to show mildness or meekness. He’s calling for the evidence of humility in the actions we display. He’s not just saying, I want you to be humble. He’s saying, I want to see your humility in what you do. 

In other words, how others view our life matters. Can the world outside of us say, They’re humble, I can tell by the way they live? If at any time you said, I don’t live for them, I don’t care, that’s sin. Because Paul says you are to live with humility on display so that they can see it. 

If you’ve bought into the concept that you owe no one anything, you have missed Romans. Paul says in Romans, “Owe no man anything except the debt of love, which you will never repay.” Which means you constantly owe them love. Every person. 

IN KINDNESS AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE

The true application of this is to never put yourself forward, instead always choosing to go low because this sixth standard is kindness, that we are always to manage our communication, our actions, to present kindness to the world. 

And then he qualifies it, just so we don’t forget, to everyone. Pōs is the word in the Greek. It means we are to live with a unilateral aim, and behave in this behavior. We do it to everyone, not just the people we like, not just the people we love, not just the people we work for. 

We live this way towards everyone because the seventh standard is we live without prejudice, that we are to give this behavior to everyone, those in our homes, those in the streets, those in the workplace. It’s our standard of how we live. 

A few thoughts that came out of our study team since we spent four weeks arguing through this: the reminding tends to happen because people tend to forget. Paul’s reminding the Church because the Church forgets this. So, can you assess your perspective and your submission to the government, to those in authority over you? Have you forgotten this concept? 

Second thing is that this really just comes down to an attitude and a perspective shift. We have to reject the idea that authorities exist to serve us, and adopt the truth from Paul that we, as followers of Jesus, live to model His life. 

In other words, we serve them. Our calling is to live in a way that they can see Jesus. So, can you assess your attitude towards authority? Do you live as if they’re there to serve you, or are you living with a goal of revealing Jesus with every interaction you have with those in authority over you? 

Thirdly, the Church should be the most servant-hearted and charitable members of the city. Why? Because Jesus came to serve, not be served. And I know that gets tiring and difficult, but it is our model. 

We are to serve because He shows us how to live. So, can you assess your heart as a servant? Do you serve so others will serve you back? Or are you serving for the recognition and accolade of Jesus? 

Fourthly, it is okay to have opinions. Paul is not saying in any way, shape, or form it’s wrong to have opinions. We are just to hold them and communicate them in a Biblical, Kingdom way. And we tend to communicate our opinions because we have them. 

We tend to communicate our opinions about governing authorities and those in authority with zero filter, as if because they’re in authority, we have a sentient right to say what we want. That’s not what Paul teaches. 

So, can you assess your verbal discipline towards governing authorities? Again, it’s okay to have opinions. It’s not okay to partner with slander, to partner with disparaging speech. I don’t care who they are. I don’t care what they’ve done. 

John White’s a member of this house, and John and I were meeting the other day, and he was talking about his mom, who died at ninety-four, and right before she passed, she made this statement to her sister: I did it. I made it. I lived my entire life without speaking a negative word against another person. 

Her mom had done it, and her mom’s mom had done it. Three generations deep, a commitment to bridle the tongue before the Lord so as to never speak negatively against another person. I share that to say it is possible. 

It’s only possible through the Holy Spirit. It’s only possible through a discipline that says, I am more in love with Him than I am in dislike with them. Therefore, I can’t partner against them.