Temperate, Worthy of Respect...

             You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

 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. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. (Titus 2:1-5)

 

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (I Corinthians 13:1-3)

 

One of the things I’ve been thinking about recently is the whole idea of what we’re supposed to be like. So often, what I hear described in Scripture and what seems important in my life as so far apart. In today’s passage, we get a picture that probably doesn’t correspond to what you or I think in terms of a person who is a success.

We are supposed to be temperate. According to the dictionary, that means we’re to show moderation or self-restraint, or it means that we aren’t to be given to extremes – whether or temperature, mood, or something else. We tend to think of it as not drinking alcohol or using drugs, but it’s about over-indulgence, not abstinence. Since I’m a non-drinker, non-drug-user, non-smoker, and my idea of foul language would raise eyebrows (in the sense that it’s atypical), some folks might say I’m temperate. Still, when it comes to food or emotional temperatures, I know better.

We’re supposed to be worthy of respect. What in the world does that mean today? According to the dictionary, respect is “a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements” or “due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others.” How does a person come to deserve deep admiration or regard? The definition suggests that it’s partly by having or gaining abilities, qualities, or achievements. But that brings to mind the beginning of I Corinthians 13. Since our first commandment is to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths and to love our neighbors as ourselves, how does one grow worthy of respect in that regard? And how does one do that without making the respect of others our idol?

The next thing we’re supposed to be is self-controlled. That seems to tie back into being temperate.

The last thing we’re supposed to be on today’s list is sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. To be sound means to be in good condition, not damaged or diseased. Of course, as fallen folks living in a fallen world, we can’t help but be damaged or diseased.

As I consider all of this, my stories come to mind. There’s a “hex” that is supposed to give a person courage. Once they use the hex, they’re supposed to go ahead and do whatever it was they were afraid of doing. What most of the people who use the hex don’t understand is that it’s really a prayer, admitting to the dernai (the Lord) that they need courage. But the other key that comes to mind is that when someone uses this “hex,” their stepping out to do whatever they were afraid of turns their attention from their fear and failure to actually doing the thing. It turns the focus from self to action.

And that is, I think, what we need to do. Rather than worrying about whether we’re being temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love, and in endurance, perhaps we should be asking ourselves, what is the temperate, respectable, self-controlled, sound thing we can do, and get on with it.

(More on this passage tomorrow.)