Titus, my son, the saying is sure. I desire you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to apply themselves to good deeds; these are excellent and profitable to men. But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned.
When I send Artemas or Tychicos to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to apply themselves to good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful.
All who are with me send greeting to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
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The letter to Titus is known as a pastoral letter because it is addressed to Titus personally. Titus, who was a leader of the church as well as a spiritual child of Paul, was a Gentile convert who had come with Paul to Jerusalem in 49 CE. He is the same Titus that Paul refers to in his epistle to the Galatians and who he refused having circumcised against the insistence of the Judaizers. Titus accompanied Paul also to his mission to the Corinthians in an endeavour to heal the rift that had occurred there. In short, Titus was an esteemed co-worker with Paul.
Titus is the pastor of his flock. The great Paul is at pains to correctly teach both in doctrine and deed as to what a true pastor should be. Paul makes it clear that obedience to civil authority – correct living under the civil law – is necessary for the church to be at peace. Without peace in the world it is not possible to have peace in the church. It is in peace that the doctrine and teachings of Christ and Christian living can be followed properly.
In pursuit of peace from within the true Teacher must teach correct doctrine. That doctrine comes to us through God our Saviour. Christ saved us not because of any deed done by us in righteousness but by virtue of his own mercy and through the washing, regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ. This is sound doctrine, these sayings are sure. You and I can rely upon them, they do not change. Now we are in Christ so we do away with foolishness, disobedience, malice, envy, hatred and the various passions and pleasures that previously guided us. Thus, we move beyond caring whether or not we are despised by other men based on societal or cultural criteria.
Having established right teaching, Paul now extols us to do correct works. Apply yourself to good deeds, those which are excellent and profitable to mae. It is through orthodoxy being translated into orthopraxis that we are saved; it is right teaching plus right works. Right teaching without right works is not salvific; neither are right works without right teaching. The focus of the shepherd should be upon the salvation of his flock through encouraging the good works and true faith of his flock.
What we should avoid at all costs are stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over doctrine. These are counter-productive and futile. Note however that we are obliged to teach the true doctrine received through Jesus Christ. Then, as now, there were always people who wanted to change the teaching of Christ to their own ends. Then their attempts to change doctrine were more modest. But there were attacks, both within and without, upon Christianity. The net effect was that the church of Christ was scandalised. Today with all its freedoms the church continues to be scandalised. Do we not see now how many churches today purporting to be Christian – with catchy names, showmanship, slick sales pitches, music, sound effects, staging, lighting – all purporting to teach the gospel of prosperity, proliferate? They are everywhere popping up like mushrooms. Even the established churches. They are all to one extent or another bringing into their teaching populist doctrine. Their mantra appears to be let us change religion to suit the expectation of the secular world; let us change our religion so we can increase its appeal. “Never mind what Christ taught, that is so old fashioned”. We will now teach a modern doctrine that builds and extends the understanding of what is to be a Christian. And the net effect is this: if Christ returned today he would no longer recognise the teachings that he gave to his disciples. Now most churches compete for the popular imagination with a populist message that has little to do with the Christianity of Christ.
No one is suggesting that the Eastern Orthodox Church given by Christ has not wrought any changes over the last two millennium. No one is saying that the church given by Christ has been preserved in amber and hence is not capable of change. Change comes through Holy Tradition which is translated by the Holy Spirit into today’s language for today’s church. That does not mean it is transformed but rather that the church is renewed while still teaching correct and true doctrine. This is the Orthodox understanding of the church in the world today. This is a far cry from and a vast difference to the Christ being taught today in the Protestant, Roman Catholic and new age churches.
Although called upon to avoid disputes of doctrine we need to understand this means also avoiding those seeking to change correct doctrine to suit their own ends. The correct doctrine can only be found within the true church. It is within the ark of the church that true doctrine is taught. It is in the ark of the church that salvation can be found. It is only in the ark of the church that we are saved. And that church is the church given to us by the Apostles through Christ, namely, the Orthodox Church.
Even within the true church you will get people who are factious. The Greek word for factious is heretical which means the ability to choose a contrary point of view. These people have only one interest and that is to cause discord and disruption. In brotherly love we can set them straight and if they repeat their heresy, set them straight again. If they persist then such a person is perverted and sinful and self-condemned and is to be cut off and avoided.
When it comes to preserving the peace of the church, the shepherd, the person in charge, is obliged to be like a lioness defending her cub –fearless and ready to call out when things are not right. Do not think for one moment that the issue is about judging our neighbour. The issue is not about judging our neighbour but ensuring that our neighbour does not try and sink the ark that has been given to us by Christ. There, there can be no forgiveness. There, heresy must be weeded out. When it comes to an issue between neighbour and neighbour by all means forgive 70 times seven but when it comes between an issue of a man and God’s house then at all costs God’s house must be preserved.
This is a sacred mission we have as pastors – to protect what was received by way of teaching and to communicate that teaching properly with the right spirit and ensuring that good works are done in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The person that is factious is self-condemned, according to Paul, is not condemned by us but rather by himself- he condemns himself. All the pastor does, as leader of the church, is ensure that the taint does not come into the church and thereby defile it.
So we love one another in the name of the Trinitarian God but when someone teaches falsely we then need to rise and meet that false teaching and condemn it so it does not lead any person away from the true faith. That faith is the Orthodox faith.
