(I cannot improve on my previous commentary for this chapter…)
Why do we bother? If our whole aim and focus is Heaven, why do we linger on this awful plane? We remain because it’s not about our personal benefit, but of Heaven’s business. That business is the message of Christ; for as long as He is pleased to leave us here, everything we do must point to His message. It so happens that such is truly in our best interest.
We do not act according to the ways of this world because our reasoning is not according to that of this world. It’s not only the elders on Crete who need to think and act clearly in demonstration of the gospel message, but every member of each church family has a role to fulfill for the Spirit Realm. If there was one place on earth where the gospel life was a radical change requiring the full power of the Holy Spirit, it was Crete. These people were argumentative, selfish and given to boozing it up, so showing the better way was a mighty challenge, a life possible only by grace. What does a healthy teaching produce?
Older men should not wallow in the Cretan lifestyle, but must carry themselves with a full awareness of the context in which they are bearing the name of Christ, taking seriously the mission to which He calls us all. Older women can never forget that they set the pattern for the younger women, so they have to avoid slanderous gossip and teach righteous living. They will encourage family unity and solidarity, because the community’s social stability is committed to their care. We sense that the modern feminist wildcat has nothing on the First Century Cretan woman. Young men were tomorrow’s leaders, training themselves to be that noble elder who put to shame the average Cretan man. Titus was reminded to make it obvious that his life was the example for the things he taught, leaving everyone struggling to find a bad word to say of him.
What would it say to a pagan Cretan master if his Christian slave carried both the power to change the world, yet was restrained and gentle, more noble and trustworthy than his master? The whole point in denying this world is to break its power and live holy lives. We are focused on the Return of Christ, living as much as possible as if He had already come to find us faithful. The awful price He paid was not to make us libertines, but to free us from our sins, from their power to corrupt us. Titus didn’t need a writ from Paul or any other earthly authority to wave about as his warrant to teach the truth; truth is self-evident by its power. No man on this earth can stand against it.
