Older Men, Older Women,

             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.

            Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

            Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. (Titus 2:1-10)

 

            Oh, brother. Here we go again with Paul dictating everyone’s lives, or so some would say. He plays Moses and gives commandments to the people as if he’s speaking for God. I regularly complain about people who think they are my parents, my masters, or my God. But let’s set aside our reaction and consider what is going on.

            First, every society has its standards. They may not be identical to another society’s standards, but they have them. Within the community, lower levels of organization also have their standards: clubs, families, religions, schools, homeowner’s associations, etc., all have standards that either meet or exceed those of the larger society, or they are specifically set up in opposition to the larger society. If those groups who are opposed to society aren’t careful, they find society treating them like the Hulk treated Loki in the garage, beating him to a pulp and looking at him with disdain.

            Another complicating factor is that we tend to think that societies that came before were free and easy. Still, the fight between the Hulk and Loki illustrates the relationship between Rome and everyone else. If you made Rome mad, you could expect merciless brutality and contempt. The situation wasn’t much different at more local levels of government. Most of the people were slaves, and those who weren’t slaves had to be careful to avoid offending their overlords. Just as Israel proclaimed that it would follow the rules given to them by God, people had to agree to live according to the rules of their rules and conquerors or be destroyed. We face the same thing today, with people trying to use the law and the government to force others to live according to their dictates.

            Paul’s solution was simple and elegant. He tells Titus to teach his congregation (his organization) to live according to standards that will not only benefit the organization internally, but will win the (grudging) respect of the Romans and other overlords.

            So, while we might be irritated with Paul for dictating to us, let’s look at what he’s dictating. Is there anything in any list that would be considered a negative? In fact, when we respond negatively to these lists, is our complaint that the standards are too low? Or, is the problem that we don’t want to be held accountable to live up to them? Some will point out that the problem is that we don’t live up to them. But if we set the goal of being good for society instead of being a burden to it, and we fail, is that as problematic as not bothering to even try to be good for society?

            And what are you really doing to make the world a better place if you wash your hands of responsibility and hand the task off to a government agency that will probably fail but refuse to take responsibility for its failure?