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The Church’s PR Campaign | Titus3:1-3 (8-13-2023 by Mark Evans)
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The sermon is focused on the first three verses of the book of Titus, discussing the Christian's role in society. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being submissive to rulers and authorities, being ready for good works, speaking well of others, avoiding quarreling, and showing courtesy to all people. The sermon highlights the Christian's responsibility to represent Christ in the public domain and encourages a meek and respectful attitude towards authority. The speaker also mentions the historical origins of public relations and how it relates to the church's public image. The sermon concludes by discussing the Christian's role as a good citizen, engaging in good works, and using their tongue wisely. If you have your Bible, do make your way to the letter of Titus as we continue on our sermon series through this wonderful epistle. And today, a rather short text, but no less wonderful of a text as today will be, just the first three verses of Titus 3, Titus 3 verses 1 to 3. And these are the words of the God who was, who is, and who is to come. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. When the grass withers and the flower fades, let us pray. Our gracious God and heavenly Father, indeed, we praise you in light of who we once were, people once foolish, disobedient, led astray. We praise you for who we now are, that now we are light in the Lord. And so we do pray for an increase of light, that you would give us eyes to see, give us ears to hear, that we might behold more and more the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. In his name we pray, amen. You may be seated. Well today we are quite familiar with the term public relations, known simply as PR. But the origins of PR actually go all the way back to the First World War. That great war marked the first organized, large-scale use of public relations as we know it today. PR was used at that time to rally support for the war and to demonize enemies. And so for the first time ever, you had entire bureaus of information spring up and propaganda was employed to bend the minds of the masses towards a particular cause. And given the effectiveness of PR, it wasn't very long after that businesses, non-profits, started to develop the beast that we now know as PR. And so today when we hear the term public relations, our guard might go up and we might be doubtful of its sincerity. We might suspect that we're being played, we're being manipulated. But in every way, our short text this morning is a refreshing exception to that norm. You could say that our short text this morning outlines what is the church's public relations. How will the Christian relate to the public? And we'll soon see that such PR knows nothing of cheap propaganda or insincere schemes. Instead, it calls for nothing less than a purified people who are zealous for good works and for the esteem of Jesus Christ. Because let's just remember where we are in the letter. In fact, if you haven't been with us, here's a recap. Titus has instructed the church how to live within the family, within the four walls of your home. And then Titus has instructed the Christian how to live within the church family, how we are to love our brothers and our sisters. But this text now turns outward and it switches from internal relations to now external relations. How is the Christian going to represent Christ out there in the public arena? Christianity is, after all, a thoroughly public religion. We are not an isolated people. We are not an insular people. Rather, we proclaim that Christ is Lord of all, which of course includes the public square. And so it's a most important matter when you really think about it. We are called to live in this world. And it is an increasingly hostile world towards Christianity in the West. Certainly this would not be the first time in church history that a society has grown hostile towards Christianity. But we could say it is the first time in quite a long time that a society has grown hostile towards Christianity in the West. And it's tempting to meet such hostility with hostility. That when reviled, the temptation, perhaps even the instinct, is to revile back, to fight fire with fire. But we're reminded this morning of the Christian ethic, that the Christian not only does not revile back, but when reviled, we bless in return. The Christian displays a kind of meekness, a kind of strength under control that is in every way otherworldly. And so we're going to walk through this very short text, looking at three parts good and one part bad. And by that I simply mean we'll look at the good citizen, the good works, and the good tongue. And those three goods will very much be in contrast to our bad past. But the main point is simply that. How is the Christian going to represent Christ out there in the public domain? And so, firstly, let's look at the Christian as a good citizen in verse 1, which examines how do we relate to the state and governing authority. And Paul begins verse 1 saying, quote, remind them. Now just stop right there. Any time Scripture calls for us to remember something, it's often because we are prone to forget it. As one theologian said, as much as Christians need to be taught, they need to be reminded. We are a forgetful people. And even more so, we tend to believe that if we forgot something, that we're no longer responsible for it. Parents, you're likely very aware of this reality. How often a child will say something like, no, I'm not in the wrong. I forgot. You see, I didn't disobey you when I didn't clean my room. I simply forgot to do it. And that's the end of the matter. This is where Scripture's clarity is so helpful. And Scripture says, no, part of obeying is remembering. To remember is to obey. And so Paul says, be reminded. And so we ask, okay, Paul, be reminded of what? And verse 1 picks up the Christian as the good citizen. He says, be submissive to rulers and authorities with obedience. This is now the third time that Paul has called for submission in this very short letter. You could say that Titus is the letter of two big S's, self-control and submission. We saw two weeks ago that wives are to be submissive to their own husbands. We saw last week, servants are to be submissive to their masters. Earlier we saw in chapter 2 that there are those who will not be submissive. They will be insubordinate to church leaders. And so we're right to ask, why is there so much submission called for in the Christian life? If you were tasked to compile a list of words that rubs people the wrong way, submission would very likely be on that list. We do not gravitate towards submission. Our fallen nature is a rebellious nature with a stiff neck. As the great American prophet John Cougar Mellencamp once sang, I fight authority, and authority always wins. And that well characterizes our stance towards authority. Our reaction is to dig our heels in, to buck the system. And yet here in verse 1, Scripture does as it so often does, and it commands us to submit to rulers and authorities. As 1 Peter says, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether local, state, federal, city council, all the way up to Congress. Christians should be exemplary subjects in relation to their state. But the good news is that Scripture does not merely command us to submit as if we were mindless puppets. I know Scripture gives us what you might call the secret to submission, the full picture, the deeper reality. And that is that when a Christian submits to an earthly authority, the Christian is ultimately submitting to the highest authority. As Romans says, there is no authority except from God. And so when respect is paid to a Caesar, what's really going on is that God himself is being honored. And therein is the secret to submission. It recognizes that Christianity is inescapably hierarchical. And the Christian honors the hierarchies that God has ordained. And so, when a wife submits to her husband, when an employee submits to his or her boss, when children submit to their parents. And verse one, when we submit to governing authorities, what we're really doing is showing that our trust, our faith is in our father in heaven who governs every single throne. And so just a word to our younger people, that is a good word for you to know today. You need to be aware that you are being taught to dishonor your country, to despise your country, to look down upon your forefathers. And you see, the Christian is called to honor the emperor and to have a rightly ordered love of your country. Now, that said, it must be equally said that verse one does not call for an absolute or an unqualified submission to authorities. As Protestants, we have a very long-standing doctrine of resisting governing authorities when they turn tyrannical and their authority is no longer legitimate. The purpose of the state as God's servant, God's deacon, is to be a punisher of evil and a rewarder of good. So you are to know that there are conditions when the Christian is not only permitted to resist, but must resist governing authorities. We, of course, need only think of the Hebrew midwives in relation to Pharaoh, Peter's preaching and acts. The scripture is clear that we must obey God rather than man. But the hope, the point of verse one would be that if the time comes for the Christian to resist authorities, such an occasion would be in sharp contrast to his otherwise consistent life of honoring and respecting earthly rulers. So there's the word on the good citizen. Now let us now look at the good works. It was during the American Revolution that a group of men were trained on military training. Military tactics and weapons and not just trained. They were trained so well that they could be ready at a minute's notice. They just need 60 seconds and they were good to go and ready for the fight. So that earned him the famous name we now know today as the minute men. And Paul says in verse one, the Christian is to be a minute man, a minute woman, a minute child that is trained so well by the grace of God. He or she is ready for every good work. We tend to think of good works as just falling into our lap. We even have the phrase random acts of kindness. That's how we think of it. We tend to think of it the way you might receive your daily mail. You just passively sit back, wait in your home and the mail will be delivered to you. And likewise, we sit back and we just wait for good works to come our way. Being entirely passive. But the summit of Scripture is that we are to be prepared on the ready, even in an eager pursuit of good works. Let's be reminded, we just witnessed last week how our God has made us ready for good works. Just glance back up at verse 14 and let us be clearly reminded there in verse 14 that nothing less than the sacrifice of Jesus Christ being purified by Jesus Christ. And part of that purification means you are now a new creation with a new appetite, with a new zeal, namely a zeal for good works, that we went from zombies dead in Christ to now zealous, alive in Christ, searching out good works. Now, one obstacle to address that dampens our eagerness for good works is that if we have anything drilled into our heads as Protestants, it's that we are not saved by works. Our creed is Christ alone, by faith alone, by grace alone. Yes and amen. And the moment you start to mix works into our salvation, well, them's fighting words to a good Protestant. However, what that can lead to is an unhealthy allergy and apathy towards good works. And so we must make sure that our spiritual scales are balanced as aggressive as we are to say that we are not saved by works. We ought to be equally aggressive to say we are saved unto good works. And in fact, so much so that good works are necessary, certainly not necessary for salvation, but they are the necessary fruit of our salvation. As James says, faith without works is a dead faith. And so with that said, let's ask, OK, well, what is a good work, right? Doing good works might sound a little pedestrian, a little Pollyanna-ish, a little too Boy Scout-ish, but that is not so. Consider what makes a good work so good. Let's simply put, a good work is a work done in the right way, with the right motive, and for the right reason. And that may seem like a lot of qualifications, but what makes it very simple is that God and God alone defines what a good work is. But we just confessed earlier from our confession, good works are only such as what God has commanded us in His Word. That makes good works very simple and very clear. Consider, for example, how a Christian gives. How does the Christian give? Well, the good work of giving for the Christian means that he gives from the heart, cheerfully and willingly. He gives a portion, recognizing that everything that he owns actually belongs to God. He gives in secret because he doesn't want man's recognition or man's praise for his reward. He gives in gratitude and he gives unto the glory of God. And you see, he does the right thing for the right reason with right motives. I trust you can sense just how opposite that is to the world's version of so-called good works. And by contrast, say the non-Christian donates money to charity. And it's asked, OK, why does he donate money to charity? Oh, perhaps to feel good about himself and maybe to get a little recognition from his peers, maybe because he believes the universe will be kind back to him with a little bit of karma. Maybe generosity is part of his personal moral code and his responsibility. Maybe he fancies himself to be an altruistic philanthropist, particularly when the cameras are flashing on him. And so you can see we have these two acts of giving that on the outside and may look very similar. But internally, what is wholly lacking in the latter is the glory of God and praising unto God. And it makes sense because if the heart has not been purified, then the works that come out of that heart will be impure and unacceptable. And so you see, it is the Christian's great privilege to be eager for good works. Christ has purified you unto this very purpose. And just listen to all the benefits of good works from our confession, that by your good works, you show your thankfulness, you strengthen your assurance, you build up your fellow brothers and sisters, you adorn the gospel, you silence the mouth of the opponent. Of course, above all, you glorify God. And so the question for us is not, have the good works been prepared? No, we know our great God has prepared good works for us. The question is not, are they prepared? The question is, are you prepared to walk in them with a zeal that Jesus Christ himself has made possible by the work of the cross? Now, one final encouragement, and that is be reminded that good works are not necessarily great works. And by that, I simply mean don't think that only that which makes the headlines or that which makes someone's jaw drop qualifies as a good work. Good works are often very ordinary, very everyday, encouraging a friend, praying for the lost, working diligently at your work, even simply changing a diaper to serve your family. These can be good works. And no doubt in context, what's likely in view is the doing of good civic works. It's unfortunately true that we are often the loudest complainers of our government, and yet often the least involved when it comes to doing the hard work of reformation in the public realm. So we've seen the good citizen, the good works, now let's look next at the good tongue. And verse two gets us going. You see this simple command, speak evil of no one and avoid quarreling. Now, one of the great criticisms of our modern day, and I think is largely true, is the utter loss of civility in society, that as a people, as a general public, we are more vicious towards one another now than ever. This recent survey reported that 94% of all Americans consider the general tone and civility to be a problem, two thirds as a major problem. No surprise that politics, as well as our road rage, were cited as examples. You could add to that the anonymity of the internet, that you can hop on social media, you can crouch behind your computer and just roast someone with no consequence, with no accountability. And so you see how counter-cultural, how adorning is this simple command, speak evil of no one. Now, what does that mean? Does this mean the Christian must become hyper-tolerant and uncritical, unable to discern between good and evil, no longer denouncing ungodliness? This is a kind of hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil mentality. Well, certainly not. We need only look at the prophets and the apostles who routinely, publicly spoke out against the evils of their day. But it does mean something. And what may help us is that word for speak evil, in verse two, is actually the Greek word blasphemo, as in blaspheme. Paul is saying, don't be a blasphemer. And I just think of how we normally use the word blasphemer, right? We by that normally mean don't defame God's character, don't insult God, don't speak maliciously about God, don't malign God. And so Paul is simply saying, apply that approach towards your fellow man. Don't go around slandering and maligning your fellow man. As Proverbs says, with his mouth, the godless man would destroy his neighbor. And you see it all the time in our loss of civility. Our society celebrates trashing, backstabbing, slinging mud on a person's character. We have successfully confused speaking without a filter, even speaking rudely to mean speaking authentically. And when the Christian joins in such behavior, they are failing to represent Jesus Christ. In the same way, you see, the verse continues and calls for the Christian to, quote, avoid quarreling. He's not to be the kind of person who walks into a room and is looking for a fight, right? An irascible spirit, always ready to brawl. I once reported to a CEO who said with no small embarrassment that his leadership style was to be, quote, an antagonizer. And he lived up to his words. In any situation, he was always looking for a way to aggravate the situation. How could he stir up conflict when there was none to begin with? And kids, this is a great verse for you. And kids, you could practice this command daily, right now, simply by not fighting with your brothers and sisters. And not only not fighting, but living in peace with them. And that's right where verse two goes next. When we see what's to be avoided, what is to put off, but of course, we never simply put off as Christians. We always put something on. And you see it there in verse two. The Christian is to put on gentleness. Now, out of the gate, let's clarify that gentleness is not to be confused with weakness. Men, in particular, stumble over this virtue by confusing gentleness to mean weakness or softness, or even that gentleness is a feminine virtue. But gentleness is crucial for the man. We've seen that the elder is commanded to be gentle. We know that a husband is to be gentle unto his wife. We know that a father is to be gentle unto his children. And so there is, in every way, a masculine virtue to command the man to be gentle. And we ought not to confuse it with weakness. And if we need any clarification, let us simply look to the Lord Jesus Christ. No one displayed gentleness better than he. He was not harsh. He was not mean spirited. We can recall his own words. Take my yoke upon you because I am gentle. A bruised weed I will not break. I will not blow out a faintly burning wick. And yet, at the same time, no one had a stronger backbone. No one had more courage. No one had greater resolve or greater strength than the Lord Jesus Christ. And so verse 2 highlights how we are to show gentleness to the general public, the outer world. That, of course, would mean in the workplace, with parents on the soccer team, with in-laws, and even with outlaws. Yes, even with a hostile world, as Paul says, in as much as possible with you be at peace with all people. Now, the great Augustine was once actually not so great. In fact, he was quite bad. Augustine was a man given to his lust, to his arrogance. As popular as he was, that is how prideful he was. But in God's providence, he crossed paths with a truly great man, a man named Ambrose. Ambrose was an absolutely brilliant man, one of the most gifted intellects of his time. But more than that, Ambrose held in high regard the virtue of gentleness. He said, of all the virtues, gentleness is the most lovely. And what impressed Augustine most was not Ambrose's brilliance, it wasn't his intellect, it wasn't his giftedness. In Augustine's own words, he said that what impacted him the most was that Ambrose was kind to me. It was Ambrose's kindness, his gentleness that won over Augustine to the faith. And may that be true of us, that in an uncivil world, Christians are civil. In a brutish world, Christians are kind. In a hostile world, Christians show forth the strength of gentleness. And so he concludes verse 2 by saying, show perfect courtesy. That word actually being meekness. And then just notice who is to be shown this perfect courtesy. It's to everyone. Show perfect courtesy to all people. I don't know about you. What would seem far more reasonable is to show some courtesy to some people some of the time. But as our Lord Jesus said, if you only love those who love you, the big deal. Even sinful man who does not have the Holy Spirit working in him, even he can do that. Your calling is far, far higher. Can you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect? Can you show perfect meekness to all people? And so I trust you can see that while there are few things that may sound more bland, more boring, more basic than being a good person with a good tongue, there are in fact few things that are more difficult, more demanding than to do good to all men as Titus has laid out for us in just these two verses. As Thomas Watson once said, he who is too afraid, too cowardly to be good will surely be evil. Nothing less than the purification of the Lord Jesus Christ and the working of his spirit in us will do. And so with that said, finally, we've considered all that goodness, those three goods. Let us lastly consider now our badness. And it was said of the great English reformer, John Bradford, that he was witnessing a group of prisoners who are being led off to their execution. And that as Bradford contemplated the fate of these criminals, their execution and his own life, and Bradford uttered that now famous phrase, there but for the grace of God goes John Bradford. And Bradford recognized the only difference between himself and those criminals was grace and grace alone. And verse three comes in and says exactly that. You see, it reads there, for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray by our passions. You see, when a Christian acts better than a non-Christian, and by that I simply mean when Christians strut about with a kind of air of superiority, a kind of latent arrogance that sends out the subtle message, I am better than you, is to tell a lie. Now, as with many lies, there is a partial truth there. Indeed, the Christian is better than the non-Christian. That much is true. However, the only reason that the Christian is better is because he or she has been made better. It's not by anything that they've done, anything that you or I have done. Rather, it's what's been done to them and for them through the Lord Jesus Christ and His grace. And so you can see how timely this would be for Titus on the island of Crete. Just remember the description of the Cretans, right, that decadent bunch. Their reputation for vice preceded them. What did that prophet say? These Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. That's their reputation. And Paul's wise enough to know the human heart, that as the church reforms, as people start to live self-controlled, godly, upright lives, that's probably not very long after that, that the human heart swells with pride. Even looking down their noses at the Cretans, resenting the Cretans, puffed up in pride that they are better creatures than the Cretans. And so verse 3 rides in to say, wait a minute, you were just as they are. And so when it's fullness, verse 3 says, we were once foolish, disobedient, led astray to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others, and hating one another. And now compared to this list, those Cretans don't look so bad. Now do that. The Cretans only had three strikes against them, and yet here we have seven sins, seven deadly sins that once ruled over us. And what this verse ought to do, among many things, is stir up in us two things. That would be a humility, and secondly, a hunger. Firstly, a humility. This verse is particularly helpful to the lifelong Christian, right? Suppose you've been in church your whole life. You don't know a day when you didn't know the Lord, to which we would only say yes and amen. That's the very thing we just celebrated this morning in baptism, God's faithfulness to every generation. But if that's you, verses like verse 3 can seem far afield. They seem kind of remote. You might read this list of vices of who we once were and think to yourself, this doesn't really read like my biography. This has not been my lived experience. I can't call up in my mind a time when I was enslaved to passions and pleasures, and I just stewed in hatred and bitterness. But of course, this is the greatness of Scripture, that God's Word knows us better than we know ourselves. You might remember that famous story told by Charles Dickens, a Christmas story, where Scrooge is visited by those three ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. And you might remember, it's the ghost of Christmas future in particular that takes Scrooge by the hand and walks Scrooge along into the future. And he shows Scrooge, this is you. This is who you really are. And this is the path that you are heading down towards a lonely and miserable death. And in many ways, verse 3 does exactly that for us. It's as if this verse takes us by the hand and shows us this is who you really are by nature. This is who you would remain to be apart from Jesus Christ and the working of his spirit in you. As Ephesians says, at one time you were darkness. And so this verse humbles us enough to spark profound gratitude for the grace we've been given that we can even relate to non-Christians with a genuine, sincere humility that we are just as fallen only we know where to find the living water. But not only does it humble us, it should also spark in us a hunger. You see the autopsy report. At one time we were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. And that ought to spark a hunger that as God has done it for us, he shall and will do it for others. Lest you think that Christianity dies with you. And no less than John Calvin commented on this verse, that the grace that we now enjoy is proof, proof that others will be brought to salvation. You are a living monument that others are to be saved. You see, if you think of yourself as basically good already and it really all you needed from God was just a little tune up, a little refinement, a little boost. God's grace is not so great after all. But if you realize the fullness of who we once were lost, led astray and the fullness of who we now are made alive in Jesus Christ, purified for good works. Well, then we really do go forth proclaiming a message that is not good advice. It's not a pep talk. It's not helpful tips for a better life. No, it is the very gospel of Jesus Christ unto sinners who are just as we once were and who could be saved through him and through him alone. Let us pray. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, and we do praise you, Lord God, that we see who we once were foolish, disobedient, led astray by various passions and pleasures, indeed, even dead in our sin. And what do we say but praise be to you, the Lord God, who called us forth from the grave, who would cut out of heart of stone, who would give us a heart of flesh, who would purify us to be a people of your own possession, who are ready to do good works, works that adorn you and glorify you. And so we do pray that we would store up your word in our hearts, that we would walk it out in our lives all by the power of your spirit. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
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