God wants us at the end of our lives – however many years He gives us – to apply our hearts to wisdom. He wants us to serve the younger generations by making disciples of all the nations, praying always, loving our spouses, mentoring our children and grandchildren, blessing our neighbors and seeking first the kingdom of God.
Here are Paul’s great words to Titus and the Cretan elders: don’t let someone who is impure tell you how to become pure! These false teachers aren’t pure, and because they aren’t pure they can’t produce anything pure from the asceticism and the commands of men. They can’t produce purity from the outside in. It needs to come from the inside out, not the outside in.
Most of us believe this: “False teaching exists out there but it really doesn’t affect us. It doesn’t really impact our kids either. We are the good guys! We are the church that teaches the Bible every week and has precise doctrinal statements. Somehow the arms of false teaching can’t reach us.”
Grace brings us into the family, and grace also gifts us to serve the family.
Most of us have a perception that we are vulnerable only at certain points in our lives. So much of what we do in life is designed to protect us from the fact we are actually vulnerable all the time. The reality is that to be human is to be vulnerable. It is not a question of “if”, but rather “to what degree”. Our vulnerability is something we can hide, but not something we can eliminate. Weakness, often equated with vulnerability, is not welcome. We can get to the point that we believe vulnerability is abnormal, even pathological.
As the world clamors for your giftedness, talents and expertise, God clamors for an opportunity to transform your character. He wants to heal, build trust and call out your new nature that He has placed in you through His death and resurrection.
As an elder team and as a church, we get our nourishment from the head of our body, Jesus Christ. Our greatest desire is for Jesus to be given opportunities to lead, nurture and shepherd His church.
As a co-heir in Jesus Christ, the Word of God says that you have been saved, you are being saved (leading to godliness) and you will be saved. Your salvation will be complete. As you navigate the challenging circumstances of your life, Jesus’ blessing on your life is this: grace and peace!
The Book of Titus answers these questions. Titus proclaims what we need to proclaim in the depths of our hearts every waking moment: Jesus came to set us free by grace for good. He came to set our friends, family and neighbors free by grace for good.
We can’t finish Proverbs without talking about the end. As we finish up Proverbs, I don’t want any of you to think for a second that you can live the Proverbs on your own, in your own strength, in your own power. I don’t want you to think that is what God expects of you.
