Cretians - Titus 1:3-16

1:3-5 - God, who cannot lie, promised eternal life “before the world began,” and it seems to me like Paul is saying that to fulfill his promise, God “hath in due times manifested his word through preaching.” This makes sense because like we discussed yesterday God promised the opportunity for eternal life for all, and we have our agency to accept or reject that offer and God fulfills part of that promise by putting the gospel on the earth at various times throughout human history. And then of course people kill all the prophets and the gospel is gone from the earth again. Paul says that he is one of those who has been given “commandment of God our Savior,” to preach that gospel. Just like in Timothy, Paul calls Titus, “mine own son after the common faith.” I don’t know how Titus and Timothy’s relationships with their biological dads were, and I wonder how the culture was back then with dads and their kids. But it must have been so rewarding to have someone that you have worked with so closely on a topic that you are all so passionate about and have them feel that affection towards you. Paul says that the reason he left Titus in Crete is so “that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting.” Basically, like Timothy, Titus is to organize the church members in Crete so that they can be unified. 1:6-11 - The first level of appointments is bishops. Some of the characteristics of men who are called to be bishops should be “blameless… not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate… (and) faithful.” The topic of bishops is an interesting one because I know myself personally, I’ve had horrible interactions with bishops and stake presidents that caused me to leave the Church for many years. I feel like it’s hit or miss with whether a bishop will be a good one. And it’s not just me, I’ve talked to so many people who have had bad interactions with church leadership and I just feel like until we can reconcile that church members have been traumatized by each other and the leaders and that that experience is valid and the church can be true at the same time, we are just going to hemorrhage amazing people form our organization. We can’t tell people that just because the church is true, then their negative experience wasn’t important. We have to act in such a way that their feelings are validated and the church is true at the same time. It’s possible to do both, and we need to be a part of that conversation. These characteristics of bishops are important to “be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision.” I think that the point here isn’t to have the perfect behavior so that we can know everything and be able to logically “counter” the gainsayers or detractors in our own lives, but to live in such a way that we can always have the Spirit with us so when an opportunity presents itself, we are worthy of being used as a conduit for the Spirit. It’s not possible to know everything and always have the perfect answer or teaching that needs to be said, we can’t do it, so we need to be worthy of interacting with the one who can do it. 1:12-13 - Here’s where Titus’ epistle starts to branch off from Timothy’s because here Paul talks specifically about the people of Crete. He quotes “a prophet of their own,” who described the Cretian people as “always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.” Apparently, this “prophet” that Paul is quoting is named Epimenides who is also a Cretian and the IM confirms that “ancient writers such as Cicero, Livy, Plutarch, and Polybius similarly reported that the people of Crete were greedy. Historically, the word ‘Cretan’ came to be synonymous with dishonesty. The term ‘slow bellies’ in this verse is better translated as ‘idle bellies’ and carries the idea of lazy gluttony.” If the culture of Crete really is one of “taking the easy road” which let’s be real, that’s my only goal as well, Paul counsels Titus to “rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.” The word “rebuke” is cross-referenced with D&C 84:87 which says, “Behold, I send you out to reprove the world of all their unrighteous deeds, and to teach them of a judgment which is to come.” Again, I think that it’s important to stop here and note that the “rebuking” that needs to be done isn’t Paul or Titus or anyone else showing up and demeaning or belittling anyone, but to teach the truth from the gospel and by the Spirit and then to afterward “show an increase in love” so that people know that what you tell them isn’t to control or manipulate them for your own gain, but because you care about them and their well being. 1:14-16 - In verse 10, Paul refers to many “vain talked and deceivers” being “they of the circumcision,” which to me implies members of the Jewish community in Crete. So Paul is saying that in Crete, as in other places, the Jewish community there might have distorted ideas about gospel doctrines and some might even go as far as seeing new church members as easy targets for religious extortion. Like Paul counseled in 1 Timothy 1:4, he likewise tells Titus to pay no attention to “Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.” It’s hard to keep culture out of the gospel and I think now is just as much of a time of “fables and commandments of men,” as any other time. I think that we might not be thinking critically enough of what we believe and how we act and why. But instead we get stuck in these ideas that stifle our spiritual progression. There’s a JST here that says “Unto the pure, let all things be pure,” maybe meaning that simplicity is the way forward in the gospel. What does that look like for us? Simplicity in the gospel now might look like following prophetic counsel even though we don’t understand or agree with it. And the thing is that as we are obedient, our answers will come in a way that is perfect for us to understand. This has happened so many times to me, to the point that I’ve learned that obedience comes first, then the lesson. Simplicity in the gospel might look like everything defaulting to love. For instance, if there is someone who believes something different than us, we can be nice, we can be friends, we can hear their story and learn from them. Gospel purity might also look like believing that God loves all his children and not rest when there might be even one person left who could repent. Gospel purity means having an eternal perspective. In Titus’ case specifically, Paul’s warning him about these “gainsayers” and “vain talkers and deceivers… who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.” The people Paul is talking about are probably those who approach people with a façade of religion and then uses that to extort them. Paul says “they profess that they know God; but in works they deny him.” This might be something like saying, “pay your tithing to me personally” and then they buy a big house,” or “pay me money and I’ll forgive your sins.” There are all types of ways that people can use religion to control and manipulate others and I guess one of the ways that we can spot them is when their words and actions don’t match and it’s important that we work so that our words and actions are congruent.