Written by: Captain Hugh Boorman – Church Army

Titus 3 v 1-2
Remind the believers to yield to the authority of rulers and government leaders, to obey them, to be ready to do good, to speak no evil about anyone, to live in peace, and to be gentle and polite to all people.

Notes
In my current job I am privileged to read the life stories of those who are wondering whether God is calling them to join Church Army. It is fantastic to read the many ways that God draws people to him.

The life stories are also a reminder of how powerful words are. Sadly many people are scarred by words said to or about them. 

Scars can be carried for the rest of our lives, preventing us from achieving our full potential. As an English World War Two poster said, "Careless words costs lives." Of course, God can heal our deepest hurts, but how much better it would be if we were not hurt in the first place. We are reminded that we must not speak evil about anyone.

Easier said than done, isn't it? Ok, I think that I'm a reasonable sort of person who gets on with most people. But there are just one or two people who really wind me up and … well, you know.

God knows too. That is why the verb tense in today’s Bible verses really means "Go on reminding" - again and again. It's not easy, but it is that important for God's people if they are going to be a true, loving community.

I remember reading in a church magazine once that before we say anything we should ask three questions: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it helpful?

Let's spend time seeking God's healing touch for our hurts, and his forgiveness for the times our words have hurt others.

And let's not forget our behaviour as well - "gentle and polite to all people"!

Titus 3 v 3-5
In the past we also were foolish. We did not obey, we were wrong, and we were slaves to many things our bodies wanted and enjoyed. We spent our lives doing evil and being jealous. People hated us, and we hated each other. But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour was shown, he saved us because of his mercy. It was not because of good deeds we did to be right with him. He saved us through the washing that made us new people through the Holy Spirit. 

Notes
Next Sunday is the London Marathon. No, I'm not running in it. I would, of course, but I'm too much of a couch potato. I do love watching it, though.

Near the Tower of London, runners who are hitting the pain barrier run over a bridge where they can see other runners who have only a few miles to go. How demoralising that must be! Later they can look across the River Thames and see people who have only just started. I wonder how they feel then.

Our walks with God are like that and certainly more like a marathon than a stroll in the park.
Sometimes we meet Christians who are absolute saints and we realise how weak our faith is. Perhaps someone has really got on our nerves. We finally snap at them and are met with those words, "Call yourself a Christian!" and we spend the rest of the day on a guilt trip. Then there are those people who are so frustrating because they just do not grasp God's love for them no matter how many times you've told them!

This passage reminds its readers of where they have come from: We should not be complacent when we mess up but, hey, just think how far we have moved on from back then.

And let's be patient with those who are way behind us because we were there once. It is perhaps not so important where we are on the marathon but that we have not dropped out and are still going in the right direction. 

Titus 3 v 6-7
God poured out richly upon us that Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Being made right with God by his grace, we could have the hope of receiving the life that never ends.

Notes
In his teens, my brother took up the hobby of wine-making, not with cans of juice but with fresh fruit.

I will never forget the first time he tried his hand at apple wine. As usual he mashed up the fruit, filtered the juice and poured it into a large bottle. Realising he was going to be late for a meeting, he then simply corked the bottle and left it in his bedroom without telling anyone. No one had told him that apple ferments on its own without yeast.

Later that evening there was an almighty bang. My father and I rushed upstairs to discover that the cork had shot out of the bottle and a beige froth was oozing all over the floor like some sci-fi monster from a 1950s B-movie.

Quickly I put the cork back while my father went for a cloth and bucket. But the cork just shot out again and the stuff continued its invasion of the bedroom. It was unstoppable. 

That is the picture I get when I read of God richly pouring out his Holy Spirit. God cannot be bottled. Being made right with God by his grace is just a start because, as a prison chaplain I once worked alongside used to say, "There's more!"

By his Spirit he wants to show us new things. He wants to do more in our lives. He wants to help us to grow more like Christ. 

Exciting, isn't it!

Titus 3 v 8
This teaching is true, and I want you to be sure the people understand these things. Then those who believe in God will be careful to use their lives for doing good. These things are good and will help everyone.

Notes
Before joining Church Army, I was a police officer in London. The first few weeks of training involved the learning of a lot of laws, word perfect, and regularly being tested on them. I realised that it was important to know the laws, but remembering huge chunks of writing was something I was never any good at. 

I used to really envy a friend of mine who had a photographic memory. He could just look at a section of law once or twice then quote it back to me, and he always got top marks in the tests.

However, when we started doing practical exercises, putting those laws into practice, my friend really struggled. He knew the laws in his head but he found it hard to apply them when he faced a real situation, albeit just a practice one, and made a few major mistakes.

Today we see that Paul impressed upon Titus how important it is to understand God's word. But Paul did not leave it there; he also explained why.

God does not want us simply to build up head-knowledge. We need to understand his word so that it can have an impact on our lives. What we have experienced of God's love, others need to experience through what we say and, more importantly, do.

We will not be judged on how many verses of Scripture we can quote, but often people judge Jesus on the behaviour of those who profess his name.

Titus 3 v 9-11
But stay away from those who have foolish arguments and talk about useless family histories and argue and quarrel about the law. Those things are worth nothing and will not help anyone. After a first and second warning, avoid someone who causes arguments. You can know that such people are evil and sinful; their own sins prove them wrong.

Notes
A couple of years ago a salesman called at our house offering to make some improvements to the premises. I tried my usual response: "This is a church house. I can't authorise any work to it." That usually works wonders and you do not see the person for dust. But not this time.

The man explained that he was a Christian. Was I? I told him that I was, but for the next five minutes or so he gave me a grilling to check whether I truly was the genuine article. What church did I attend? Did I talk in tongues? Did I believe in infant baptism? What version of the Bible did I read? And even, did my church have guitars or an organ? I am still not sure whether I made the grade when he left.

Today's reading talks about the foolishness of being drawn into trivial arguments and, in many ways, it needs no further comment. History proves again and again that such arguments only lead to divisions within the church and sadly often church splits. There are literally thousands of denominations in God's one Church, and that cannot be right.

Yes, I dare say that you disagree with some of my opinions and vice versa, but there is far more that unites us, especially the fact that Christ died for us both - the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5 v 18), not division, that God has committed to us.

Besides, just look at the newspapers or watch the news and you will see people who are in desperate need of knowing God's love in their lives. They do not need our arguments. They need practical help.

Titus 3 v 12-13
When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, try hard to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to stay there this winter. Do all you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey so that they have everything they need.

Notes
The TV seems to be full of programmes about people clambering for their five minutes of fame, whether it be through manufactured pop bands or having their every movement in a house watched by the masses. So often they disappear into obscurity again soon after.

We know nothing about Zenas the lawyer apart from his (or her) profession. And what about Artemas? He or she is a complete unknown. Neither of these people are mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. We do not know what they did or where they did it. 

Yet their names have been read by millions of people all over the world for nearly two thousand years because they meant something sufficiently important to someone that they needed to be mentioned in a letter.

We all have our Zenas and Artemas. For me, they include Micky Byford, Dawn Watson and Walter Robbins - people whom God has used to move me on in my faith journey.

Some do not even have names. I can think of one man who approached me in the park when I was nine, showed me John 3 v 16 (“God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son”, etc) and asked me what I thought of it. Being a rather obnoxious, rebellious kid, I told him in no uncertain terms. And yet that experience remained with me and was just one episode of many which led me to commit my life to Christ.

Today, let's thank God for the Zenas he has sent us, and let's ask for opportunities to be the Artemas in other people's faith journeys.

Titus 3 v 14-15
Our people must learn to use their lives for doing good deeds to provide what is necessary so that their lives will not be useless.
All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.

Notes
Have you noticed how many books, videos, DVDs, courses, etc, have appeared in the last few years, all promising to help you to make the most of your life?

The means may vary considerably, from the use of positive thinking, particular business methods or assertiveness styles, to the interpretation of your stars or crystals, but they all seem to promise the same results: success, money, power and love. Ultimately, it is all about self-fulfilment and making sure that “I'm all right, Jack.”

On the contrary, the last verses of the letter to Titus point to self-fulfilment in a very different way. 

To ensure that our "lives will not be useless" we should focus not on gain or self but on doing good deeds so that we provide what is necessary. And that does not simply mean providing for our own families; it is about providing for all those who are in need, whoever and wherever they might be.

Much of today's western society revolves around my rights: "What's in it for me?" and "What can I get out of it?", not "What can I offer?" or "What can I put in?"

Yet God created us to be in community with one another and to care and take responsibility for one another. One of his very first comments about humanity was: "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2 v 18).

Why not spend some time with God, asking him to highlight in your life how you might do more good deeds for those in need around you?


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes