Sermon for MHBC (30 May 2021). You can listen on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, or our website. Live at 11:00am on Sundays. Also available as a podcast here or by searching “Monument Heights Baptist Church” in your favorite podcast app.
For a long time my perception of the church was that it was secondary or unimportant. I would say things like it’s not necessary to go to church to be a Christian—which in a certain sense is true but in another sense it’s quite misleading. See when one reads the New Testament, they are confronted with the idea that the Christian and the Church cannot be separated. There are no lone wolf Christians, as it were. Christianity is not simply an individual religion. It is a corporate calling.
Even in seminary I had a slight disdain for the church. I struggled to fit in with particular churches and that of course would give me an excuse to be less involved or to be absent at times. I felt it was completely acceptable for me to know God on my own. How to be clear it is necessary for one to pursue a relationship with God on his or her own. But to remove oneself from the church is unheard of in the NT. In fact, it is impossible to practice Christianity alone because all the one another commands require other believers.
Early in my first pastorate God brought me to a place of repentance and brokenness over my previous views of the church. I learned to see that God is for the church, that Jesus loves his church, and that the calling on Christians is to be for the church. And if I could impart any piece of what I’ve learned in ministry to the lay person in the pew it would be this simple lesson: because Christ loves his church and died for and is purifying her, you should be for the church. The mature Christian in the NT is one who deeply values the Christian community, who intentionally commits to a community, who loves and serves that community. This is why one of the most serious concerns in the NT is those who create dissension within the church.
Today we are starting a new series in Titus. Paul writes the letter to a young pastor named Titus who is in a difficult ministry context. His job is, as the letter says, to put things in order—that is to put the church in order, to establish it, to prepare it to be deeply Christian in a society that is decidedly not Christian.
Now there is something to say perhaps about authorship here that we can’t go into detail about. This book along with the other so-called pastoral letters First Timothy and Second Timothy as to whether Paul wrote them. However, the church has received these letters as written by Paul for centuries and it is on this assumption that we will continue forward. Of course there is a time and a place to have the conversation so that we are not surprised by questions of the authenticity or the authorship of the biblical books. But for now I’m simply going to refer to the author as Paul and I think we can at least say with confidence that this is a letter that has the markings of Paul upon it.
My hope for the sermon today is that we would see in Paul’s opening words the unique identity of the people of God and Paul’s concern for their benefit. And I hope that we come away with a more profound sense of what God thinks of the church and how we should think of the church. Let’s start in v. 1.
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,
Look at how Paul views his identity. First, he calls himself “a servant of God.” Scholars debate this word “servant.” In a way, “servant” is a bit too weak, but for our place in history it probably does the job just fine. But, to be clear, he isn’t just using the term for minister which is often used throughout the NT and sometimes translated deacon. The term he uses here typically refers to a household slave. And in many of Paul’s letters, this is the common way of identifying himself. And it isn’t just Paul. James opens his letter with this word and so does Jude. Why do so many NT writers identify themselves as “servants” or “slaves” of the most High God and Jesus Christ? It is because the Christian life is one of relinquishing self, of self-denial, taking up the pattern of Christ in suffering, and becoming a servant. Jesus says it this way, “Deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.” Or again elsewhere: “Whoever wants to be first must be a servant.”
Second, Paul calls himself “an apostle of Jesus Christ.” Apostles are those who witnessed the resurrected Christ. Paul’s experience of that had occurred on the road to Damascus. And with that witness came a commission to preach the gospel. But he doesn’t do so for personal gain or accolades. God has stamped him and given him a task for the sake of God’s people. Do you see that in the next part of the verse? “For the sake of God’s elect.”
Let’s talk about this word “elect.” It scares some people. Elect simply refers to a choice and the way the Bible uses this term is as a designation for God’s people. You know I grew up never hearing the term used. And the Christian movements I was part of were insistent that they were Bible-teaching, Bible-believing, Bible-thumping, churches. And the first time I heard the term, I was horrified. “No way,” I said. What’s all this nonsense about choice and election. That’s not my God. And of course it wasn’t. In my old age I can see how I had indicted myself by those very words. There’s no avoiding this language when one reads the Bible. It’s everywhere. God chooses Israel, then he chooses the church. That sentence alone can and should take our breath away.
Some of you know, especially those who have seminary training, that we could pull the lever and downshift and do a deep theological plunge into this word. And while I think that can be a useful exercise and a fun conversation and a way to think about the magnitude of God’s sovereignty and goodness and a way to think about the church and our identity and all of that should lead to complete awe and praise, I’m not interested in theological formulations this morning. My only concern for you this morning is that you would see the unique status the living God has placed on his people. They are his chosen ones. Their virtue didn’t win them a seat at the table. God’s goodness enacted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ granted us a seat at the table. God’s faithfulness makes this so. Before time began, the triune God formed a plan in his infinite wisdom to redeem his people. He did that in Israel on the basis of his promises to Abram and now he is doing it in Africa and China and Mexico and Chicago and Atlanta and New York and Richmond on the basis of the very same promises.
However we formulate the particular nuances of salvation, I just want you to see that God is redeeming people for himself in every part of our world and he is doing that on the basis of his character. And those people, these elect ones, chosen ones, are what we call the church. And before we fall of the philosophical ledge, let’s not overcomplicate this, if you are in Christ, you fall into this category. It may just be that God was more at work in your life than you realized. Some have, after all, called him the “hound of heaven.” And indeed he is, pursuing his people with an intentionality and calculation that the greatest theological minds have never been able to wrap their heads around. And friends, let’s not miss the point and turn this into pure individualism, but let’s also not miss the point that God’s individual calling on your life is nothing to make light of.
That’s what Paul knows. His whole life was radically changed by God’s decisive action toward him. Do you remember the story? The risen Jesus shows up to Paul on the Road to Damascus and says, “I have a plan for you.” Then he instructs Ananias, a believer, to meet with Paul. Of course, Ananias is hesitant since Paul was a great problem for the Church, but the Lord says to Ananias in Acts 9:15: Go, for he is an in instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel. That’s Paul’s experience of God’s saving grace. And his purpose as an apostle is to continue serving God’s people.
Look again at v. 1. He has been called to this “for the sake of the elect and for their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.” The main thrust of the letter to Titus concerns sound doctrine or sound teaching. That’s the point of the whole letter, so when Paul refers to their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, he’s setting up the entire letter.
Christianity begins with grasping the content of our faith—what we call truth. There’s a strange idea floating around in some circles that we just need to do stuff and leave all the doctrinal mess for academics. Notice that is not what Paul says here. He says his job is to increase their knowledge of the truth. And he prays this prayer numerous times. But knowledge isn’t the end game. This knowledge of the truth leads to godliness. So having an understanding of the Trinity and the gospel is necessary for every believer, but if such knowledge never produces fruit, it is not what the Bible calls knowledge or understanding.
Part of the reason we are doing a series on Titus is because I believe we desperately need to shore up our beliefs. We need to grasp the sound doctrine that comes to us through Scripture. We can’t skip this step. And I have all the faith in the world in you. You are ready for this. In fact, I think you’re hungry for this. You want it. You desire depth. And I really do believe this is what the Lord is up to here at Monument Heights. And this is the direction we are shifting toward, as I have been saying publicly to the church and also to staff members, various committees, and individual leaders.
And as a church renewal strategy, I believe this is ground zero. We have the pattern here in Titus. Paul has tasked Titus with this very thing. Set things in order by teaching sound doctrine. I don’t mean this to be arrogant, but the task before us is something of a miniature reformation. In the Reformation, the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church had obliterated sound doctrine. What the reformers did was returned to Scripture and challenged the traditions. We must do the same.
And as a game plan going forward, I’m putting all my chips in here. The church is bleeding younger generations. I am absolutely convinced that it’s not because we are too heavy on doctrine or too deep. It’s because we’ve been too shallow. Our convictions have been too weak. Our challenge has been too low. For evidence, only look to our practice of church membership or our lack of church discipline. In my view, it is entirely unacceptable for our children and teenagers to know no more of the Christian faith than God loves them or that they should try to live good lives. That is a failure on the part of the church.
What we have in the Christian faith, if it’s true, is breath-taking. There’s nothing else like it. And it calls us out into the deep things of God. It calls us to be a radically reformed community around the good news of Jesus. And that’s what we have to offer the people around us—a deep plunge into the things of God as they have been made known to us in Christ.
Notice that’s exactly the sort of thing Paul is talking about. Look at vv. 2–3: in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;
Here is a summary statement of our faith. It’s one of three in this letter. This statement is the foundation for everything Paul is about to say. It is the bedrock for sound doctrine. It is the grounding for the church. If this is lost or overlooked, then the church simply has no message and nothing to offer. The church can’t be the church.
Let’s look at what Paul says. Back to the beginning of v. 2: “In hope of eternal life.” This connects back to the godliness at the end of v. 1. Why pursue a life of holiness and godliness? Because we have this hope that there’s something outside this world. Some people say this world is all there is, and if that’s true, then everything is essentially meaningless. But if there’s more, then there’s hope. The Bible talks about that hope as eternal life, which really doesn’t just mean living forever. It certainly includes that, but eternal life in Scripture is the idea of being caught up in God’s very own life, being in perfect union and harmony with the living God, having his character, being conformed to who he is.
And God planned this before the ages began. And since God does not lie, we know he will make good on his promises. And so he does. That’s v. 3. At the proper time, he made it known. Of course, it was made known in Christ. And the work of Christ is proclaimed through preaching. This is what we call the gospel. If I had to give you a simple one sentence summary of the gospel, I would say it this way: The gospel is the announcement that God has acted in Christ to redeem his creation from sin, Satan, and death. Paul says his task is to preach that.
We learn something important about preaching and our posture toward the world. Preaching is proclamation. It is announcement. It is saying, “Here is what God has done in Christ.” Preaching is not a talk or giving lessons in moral living or a clever show. Preaching is an announcement that the real king has taken the throne. Not only is Paul entrusted with that message, so is the church.
So what does that mean for us? That means all this talk about doctrine is highly important. We cannot afford to be loose with the faith. We cannot be content to jettison knowledge and doctrine for everything else. If we don’t have sound teaching, then we cannot expect healthy growth.
So we have a duty, an obligation, as individuals to press into a sound knowledge of our faith. We have an obligation as church members to care enough about this church to long for sound teaching, to stand firmly there, and to reject that which is false. That is the first step in mimicking Paul and being obedient. Our actions must be for the sake of the church. To be a Christian means to be called to participation in the body of Christ. As Paul says elsewhere, harming one’s own body does not make sense. Therefore, we have a responsibility to push deeper into health by emphasizing sound doctrine. And our leaders, in particular, as we will see next week, have this responsibility. My job—and it is daunting and overwhelming and far beyond my abilities—is not to have a church of X number of people; it is preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. This isn’t to stoke my ego or make much of me. The point is for the sake of the church, so the church might be healthy and pleasing to God.
Here at Monument Heights, this is where we begin. We begin by rallying around the common faith that has been handed down to us. Look at v. 4. To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. Even our relationships are changed by this common faith. We are not merely a group of people with similar interests. We are the people of God, coheirs with Christ, priests to our God and King. That should change the way we feel about every single person on our membership list.
Here’s my final word for us. Take inventory of how you feel about the church. Can you truly say you are for the church? The simple fact is that our surrounding culture has made every single one of us consumers. We have a choice of 20 different brands of juice at the grocery store, and if we don’t like one, we can’t write a nasty online review about it and move on to another brand. Unfortunately, we treat the church like this as well. Part of maturing as a Christian is learning not to treat the church as a product to be consumed but as a community to which you are called as a believer. Yes, the church is here to nurture your faith, but you are called to be for the church. In order for us to move forward in renewal, we must resolve to be for the church and that begins with a focus on sound doctrine that leads to godliness.