Sermon Tone Analysis
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The First Idea in Titus:
Love what is Good
Paul focuses on the leadership here.
and part of that is just practical - that’s what needed to get done in the church there
But paul describes the qualities of a good leader here - though he applies them through the rest of the book to others as well.
What does ‘bad’ look like?
Titus 1:7 “Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.”
Blameless here doesn’t mean ‘never does anything wrong’.
It’s about intention, about motivations.
That you shouldn’t be able to point at this person and say, ‘They’re obviously trying to do the wrong thing, trying to be bad’.
People can always criticize, they can ALWAYS find fault.
But this is about being a person that’s not willfully doing wrong things.
Psalm 19:13 “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.”
But bad means...
Overbearing - this means, self-focused, arrogant, stubborn
Way of saying, ‘I’m the important one here, I’m right and i’m always right, too bad for you’.
SIDEBAR: As a christian, and as a leader, the opposite of this is NOT ‘willing to do whatever anyone tells you no matter what’.
We NEED discernment, we need wisdom, and we need outside help
But refusing to be overbearing, means refusing to say, as a rule, i’m always right and you’re always wrong.
You’re willing to listen to people, to consider their side.
Quick-tempered - fast to answer, fast to act, fast to judge
Sometimes, we can make good quick decisions.
But usually not.
A quick-tempered person is always the first to cast the first stone.
It connects well with arrogance - i’m always right, so the first thing that I think it is is always right, why bother thinking further?
Drunk, Violent, and Pursuing Dishonest Gain - these are just bad character traits of leadership.
These are all lifestyles focused on pleasuring ourselves.
They’re all defined by ‘I want’.
KEY CONCEPT:
‘Bad’-ness is about being focused on ourselves
Every one of these is rooted in a self-focus
What does ‘Good’-ness look like?
Self-control is practically the subtitle for the book of Titus
so paul says, a GOOD leader is...
hospitable - willing to welcome, to love, to care for.
To the culture, hospitality was literally about ‘I’m going to open up my home, and you can come in and stay as long as you need’.
in love with ‘what is good’ (KEEP THIS PHRASE IN MIND - MORE ON THIS LATER!)
self-controlled & disciplined - that means, they don’t just do whatever they want whenever they want.
they’re sacrificial, they control themselves, their opinions and their emotions.
Ever met someone that would just fly off the handle any chance they got?
Or who would take any and every opportunity to make it about their judgementalism and their being wronged?
Upright - they’re living by the standards of scripture.
This word also means ‘righteous’.
Holy - Want to take a moment.
We use this word to mean ‘a specific culture’ or ‘a specific place’.
But to the biblical authors, ‘holiness’ meant ‘we understand that God is pure, and righteous, and true - and we aren’t’.
Holiness was understanding the contrast between our lives and God’s infinite power and goodness
OUR holiness isn’t a suit and tie - it’s a life of complete submission in every fashion towards the Lord.
It’s knowing that God is different, and allowing Him to make US different.
KEY CONCEPT:
‘Good’-ness is about being focused on submitting to God, loving others, and denying ourselves
These are all outside-focused qualities.
Focused on God, and on others.
In fact, the only self-focused qualities are critical in nature - discipline and control yourself more.
In every life, in every chuch - there’s a battle between these two.
So Paul emplores us:
Titus 3:14 (NIV)
Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good
The second ‘idea’ in Titus:
Do What is Good
All of us in some fashion think we’re doing this.
Even the ‘bad’ characters.
So how do we actually do what is good?
Paul gives some really practical advice about how to do what is ‘good’.
And here’s the great part - if we follow the advice in the scriptures here, we will do what’s good!
Often times, we overcomplicate life and faith.
And honestly - we do it because we think, ‘faith is this and ALSO all the things I think are most important’.
We add our own ‘AND’s’ to the list.
So let’s just take this right the way it is.
Paul says, across the board - whether you’re older or younger, man or woman - there’s a few key qualities when we pursue them we’re ‘doing what is good’.
Paul expands on this later
The vast majority of these statements are character pieces, regardless of what is going on outside of you.
The main place we are challenged about being devoted to good is our individual characters
And he gives a pretty crazy laundry-list of what our character should look like.
Refusal to slander
Being peacable and considerate
Always being gentle
Being temperate and self-controlled
Respecting and obeying rulers and authorities
So what does doing good as a church look like?
Prioritizing this.
It’s that simple.
The third idea in Titus:
Always remember where goodness really starts
I’ll just read this:
Paul says, all of these bad things - all of the negative traits he’s warning us against - we were all those things.
We were all lost.
We were all broken.
We were all the bad guys in the story.
But in God’s grace, we were saved from that kind of life.
We don’t have to be those things anymore.
We don’t have to be self-centered, or slanderous, or quick-tempered.
And it’s by grace.
Not one of us earned it.
When God looked at everything we’d done, he didn’t see a single thing worth saying ‘ok, so, that guy’s obviously good so I have to let that person in because they proved it’.
That’s never happened, and it never will happen.
But we have been rescued from all of the things (both things that come from outside AND from inside) that poison our lives, our characters, and our relationships.
‘Good’-ness starts, continues and ends in God’s power, His grace, mercy, love, kindness and righteousness
These things enable us to be able to even BE good in the first place - we couldn’t otherwise.
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