What about those people who are clearly evil doers? Some are regularly involved in activities that are divisive and dangerous, but continue in public like a nice, wonderful person.
Some of the instructions in the Bible are quite difficult to understand, and even more difficult to follow. Paul instructs Timothy to teach people “to speak evil of no one” (Titus 3:2 ESV).
How should we understand this instruction? Does it suggest that we are to remain silent about all the evil that goes on around us? Surely someone needs to point out the things that need to change. But we can avoid direct personal attacks. Even if they are wrong, we can take a different approach.
Those who do wrong, those who do evil, clearly know that they are doing wrong. When we tell them, we are only informing them of something they already know. Normally, this just drives people away from us and does nothing to solve the problem. When we make a public statement about that person and their misdeeds, we again are simply notifying people what they already know. Again, it will drive that person and many others away from us. Thus we diminish the opportunity we have to influence them.
Paul qualifies his statement by saying: “Always show a gentle attitude toward everyone. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient and wrong” (Titus 3:2b-3a). The reason for gentleness is that we were once just like these evildoers.
It was the “kindness and love of God our Savior” that saved us and transformed our lives. Many commonly think such an attitude will only allow for more of their evil deeds.
But God’s approach to transform people is different from ours. So, it’s time to think differently, behave differently, and speak differently.
Speak no evil, and be kind.
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Here was another person who died before being transformed by the power of Jesus. It was a deeply saddening news for me. I had given much time, effort, and energy to connect with this person in hopes that he would give his heart to Jesus and be transformed by God’s power.
I had similar thoughts and experiences as I related with another person who also died never connecting with Jesus. I wrote about him earlier in a blog called: When Life Ends Before Mercy Ends.
Both of these men turned to alcohol as their solace. But I don’t think alcohol was the real problem. The real problem was that they couldn’t turn their brokenness over to God. There was something in their hearts that prevented them and held them back.
They both felt their situation in life was worse than anyone else. They clearly felt that no one could understand them. Although they were told about Jesus, they just could not give their lives to Him. Their hearts would not open up.
This man was in business and he experienced some success at various times. But he had trouble keeping his commitments. He often got into debts that he could not return. As a result, he left lots of broken relationships.
I’m not sure what I could have done differently in order to bring such people to Jesus. I know that ultimately they need to make a decision on their own. But once they do, I am confident in Jesus that He will change them inside and out.
So now I pray for all who have not accepted the invitation of Jesus. He invites those who are weary and burdened to come to Him. He will give them “rest” for their souls.
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I was an 18 year old student in college when I received the instruction that leaders should not be too open with the people they lead. We were instructed to keep a safe, professional distance.
From the time I heard those words, I struggled with that concept. I wanted to believe and accept this concept since it came from my teacher, but I was not certain.
The Bible portrays maturity and unity as the benefits of a transparent attitude (Eph 4:15). As people develop and grow, they are to be guided by love to live lives that are transparent.
Contrary to what I learned, here is how transparency helps us in our leadership:
Transparency Earns Respect
Transparent leaders are by nature people of integrity. People want to follow leaders who have integrity as their focal character. Such attitudes will earn genuine respect from people.
Transparency Allows for Flexibility
As a transparent person, you have the freedom to be who you are. This allows you much more flexibility. Otherwise, you’ll have to try to live up to expectations that are not a part of reality.
Once you have the freedom to be flexible, your options are unlimited. You can try new things and move into new and uncomfortable situations. When you begin to push your limits, you grow and expand much beyond what you can imagine.
Transparency Requires Accountability
There is no other option for a transparent person than to be accountable. A person who is not transparent does not need to be accountable. Such a person can hide behind the guise of the image created for the public.
Transparency Brings Unity
When leaders take on the character of transparency, they contribute greatly to the unity of the group. People begin to develop genuine relationships. Those genuine relationships lead to unity that is deeper than just organizational unity.
Transparency Breeds Transparency
As any good trait, this one will also spread to others. Being transparent will influence others to be transparent, and those who refuse to be transparent will pull away.
Transparency Glorifies God
Finally, transparent leaders can bring glory to God. Their transparency requires them to be truly focused on God who is the source of all that we have and are.
When the disciples asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus told them that if they saw Jesus, they have seen the father. Nothing to hide, nothing more to reveal. Jesus revealed the Father to us in himself.
In a similar way, we reveal God to those around us as we are genuine and transparent with others. -
I grew up hearing — and continue to hear people complaining about young people. The common lament is that this next generation is going the wrong direction. They simply live as they please. They have no respect for others, especially for elders. The complaint list seems endless.
Paul tells Titus to urge young people to be self-controlled (Titus 2:6). We don’t see much complaint about the younger generation. He just gives them direction. He focuses them to a lofty goal: A self-controlled life.
Among adults, I observe two common responses to the younger generation. One is the response I mentioned earlier, with constant complaining about the negatives of young people. The other response is to simply accept things as they are. These people say that young people will always be as they are — irresponsible, self-centered, pleasure-seeking, etc. They feel there is no sense trying to correct them, as “they won’t change anyway.”
I like Paul’s approach: “urge them to be self-controlled.” There is no scolding, complaining, rebuking, cursing, or any of the common negative responses. He simply gives a firm “push” urging them in the proper direction.
I wonder what the results would be if we focus on training young people to be self-controlled. Once they learn self-control, they will be headed in the right direction.
They need to hear the voices of adults who believe in them. They need to hear from people who are convinced that young people can and will move in the right direction.
Will you be that voice? The voice that respects them enough to urge them towards a self-controlled life.
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Annual celebrations can be dull, boring, and redundant. So each year, we find ways to make the celebration better, more colorful, lively, and hopefully even more meaningful.
The awesome reality of Easter is that Jesus continues His special work for us after he resurrected from death. As the perfect High Priest, Jesus continues to represent us to the Father. The uniqueness of His work for us is described in Hebrews 7:15-28.
The High Priests before Jesus would pass on their role to another before they died, but Jesus continues to live forever. His work as our mediator never gets passed on to another. He always continues as our representative before the Father.
So, from generation to generation, Jesus continues to be our mediator. He was there for those who lived before us. He was their mediator, sustainer, and savior. We have heard their stories — how Jesus was faithful to them in their greatest struggles. Now He does the same for us.
Easter is a time for us to celebrate this reality and pass on that confidence to our children. Jesus was faithful to our ancestors. He continues to be faithful to us. And now, we call our children forward and pass on this wonderful reality to them. Jesus will be their mediator, savior, sustainer and guide.
So this Easter will be better as we get to pass on our faith in Jesus to yet another generation!
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Leadership is viewed in various ways by people of different cultures. Acceptable behavior for leaders can differ from one society to another.
Where we live, we’ve had people running for office while they are in jail for criminal offences. Their names were on the voting ballots, but they were incarcerated. It seems the voters don’t seem to mind at all.
Paul left Titus in Crete for the important task of appointing leaders for churches in each city. He gave Titus a list of acceptable behavior and characteristics. He puts these behaviors in direct contrast to the character of those who are unfit for leadership.
In his travels, Paul dealt with people of many nations with differing cultures. What is acceptable behavior for one nation may be different for others. I am sure that it gave him one of the greatest leadership struggles of his life.
But in this struggle to guide leaders in their character and life, he seems to have a set of guiding principles: “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled” (Titus 1:15 NKJV).
He takes this whole issue of behaviour to a deeper level. More important than identifying appropriate behaviour, he looks at their inner condition. Are they internally pure or defiled? Whatever is on the inside will eventually come out in their behaviour. Whatever their current behaviours are, they will surely come to alignment with their inner heart condition.
Maybe it is an “automatic alignment” system. The condition of the heart sets the pattern for the person’s life and character.
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When you fall in love, you are willing to give up everything for the sake of the one you love. Nothing is of greater value to you. Paul fell in love with Jesus while travelling to Damascus. His life was never the same. Later, he gave up everything for his Master.
Paul had a friend named Demas who also served the Master. They ministered together for some time. But later, Demas fell in love with the world. It was with deep sadness that Paul wrote about it in a letter to Timothy.
Paul was nearing the end of his life. He was reflecting on the life he lived in service to the one he loved. “As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life. I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. And now there is waiting for me the prize of victory awarded for a righteous life, the prize which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day — and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear” (2 Tim 4:6-8 GNB).
Paul was in love. Jesus had reached out to Paul at the point of his deepest hatred toward Jesus, and His followers. Paul’s life was completely transformed. Just in moments, he went from hatred to true love.
The depth of his love was proven with a life completely devoted to Jesus. Nothing mattered more to him than pleasing Jesus. He suffered much and risked everything for the one he loved. Jesus meant everything to Paul.
If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, this is your opportunity. Invite Him into your life, and He will completely transform your life and give you a new life. You’ll have meaning, and a new direction for your life. Now, if you have been following Jesus for some time now, maybe it’s time to fall in love all over again.
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I was looking through some photos from our recent trip to a couple of beautiful hill stations here in Kerala. Looking for photos to post online, we look for the best photos that show a great image of us. We want the right setting, lighting, background, clothes and of course, the best smile. We want to show the world: “Look at me, I’m having fun and looking happy.”
The apostle Paul wanted to present a different image of himself to the world. He said, “But you have followed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose in life; you have observed my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, my persecutions, and my sufferings. You know all that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the terrible persecutions I endured! But the Lord rescued me from them all.”
Paul’s character, faith, and purpose remained constant in the midst of difficulties. These important aspects of his life remained constant because of his trust in God. The circumstances in his life were terrible, but he trusted God to sustain him.
So, what about those neat pictures from our vacation? They are fine, but they don’t define me. Those vacations are nice, but they don’t sustain me in times of difficulties.
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Don’t you hate it when you have to deal with those people with attitude problems? I sure do. With some, it’s difficult to be in the same room with them.
But what is an attitude problem? I can easily recognize the attitude defects in others, and they see clearly through me and notice the many “cracks” in my attitude too.
So in effect, whoever has an attitude different from me has an attitude problem. Everyone has defects that are like “cracks” that everyone else can see.
We have all experienced pain in our past. Under the surface, these are methods we use to try to protect ourselves from further pain. We use words that push people away. Through our emotions and attitudes, we say that we are no less than anyone else.
We long to be accepted for who we are. It’s not that we don’t want to be changed — we want to be changed by God. But we want to be accepted as we are. Once we are accepted in our current state, we feel that the acceptance is genuine and unconditional. Then, gradually, God can change us.
Everything else appears as rejection. The pain of rejection is too intense for anyone to bear. So we put up these defense mechanisms that are intended to protect our hearts from further pain and agony.
So what about those people with attitude problems? And those people with words that are too sharp to get close to? Just forgive, and continue to forgive. Believe that these are people for whom Jesus died. He has a plan for them, and is working on them. They are in a process of transformation into the image of Christ, God’s Son.
And I the same.
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“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God (2 Tim 1:8 NKJV).
Shame is defined as a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. When we connect this word and the Gospel, it is an interesting mix. According to the definition, wrong or foolish behavior usually leads to shame.
But how do we see sharing the gospel as wrong or foolish behavior? Although there is nothing inherently wrong or foolish with sharing the gospel, we may experience shame.
This shame may come from fear of ridicule and humiliation by others. So Paul is instructing Timothy to deal with his fear that leads to shame, which may have kept him from boldly sharing the gospel.
After dealing with shame, Timothy is asked to share in the sufferings for the gospel. Sharing implies solidarity and oneness. Paul seems to be taking the idea of shame and directly linking it with the reality of sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
Paul experienced beatings, ridicule, and various other abuses because of the gospel he preached. He related all these as sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
But here in 2 Timothy, experiencing shame is described as sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
Next time you feel ashamed of telling others about your faith in Jesus, think of yourself as a co-sufferer with Jesus. What a glorious way to share and to suffer.
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