Disciplemaking 103
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Over the last few weeks we have been looking at discipleship. Two weeks ago we saw how to make disciples requires that we are DISCIPLES!
Last week, we saw some basics of how we can make disciples.
We saw how we need to guard our teaching, we saw some things to teach and we saw some characteristics for us to pass on!
Today, we get to see something else. Today we are going to look at just 2 verses from Titus- Titus 2:9-10. These two verses speak to slaves, but they also apply to us.
See, slavery in Rome was different than it was in America. I want to make 3 things clear.
First, Paul addressing slaves is not Paul saying that slavery is good.
Second, saying that slavery in rome was different than in America is not lessening the horrors of slavery in Rome or America.
Slavery is not God’s design for how we interact.
Thirdly, these instructions still matter for us today!
See, we may not be SLAVES, but we are employees. We do have things that we are responsible for; things that we WORK FOR AND WORK TOWARDS!
The instructions in verses 9-10 deeply matter. These instructions should shape how we interact with our work and how we LIVE AS EMPLOYEES!
These verses should instruct us and should shape how we interact with our boss, our teacher, our professor, our employees, and ANYONE WITH AUTHORITY OVER US!
And let’s be honest- that’s a DISCIPLESHIP CONVERSATION AND IT’S NOT ONE THAT OUR CULTURE WANTS TO HAVE!
We live in a culture that is all about getting bigger and better! Get the next promotion, get the next award, WIN IT ALL!
But what we are going to see in Titus 2:9-10 is a series of instructions that should help us reframe WORK in a more biblical way.
And let’s be clear- work is a BIBLICAL thing! Going back to Genesis 1, HUMANITY WAS MADE WITH A PURPOSE AND A TASK! WE WERE MADE WITH WORK TO DO!
We’re going to talk about that today, but first I want to emphasize our main point.
Main Point: Everything is a discipleship opportunity- including our work
Body
Body
Titus 2:9-10
Titus 2:9-10
9 Slaves are to submit to their masters in everything, and to be well-pleasing, not talking back 10 or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything.
Looking at these two verses from Titus 2, a few things jump out at us RIGHT AWAY!
First, slaves are to submit to their masters in EVERYTHING!
The word used there is PASIN, which is a form of the word PANTA!
If you were here in the spring, you might recall that we talked A LOT about this word!
Panta appears over 1200 times in the NEW TESTAMENT and over 5000 times in the SEPTUAGINT, which was the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was used during the 1st century!
Panta has three main translations- ALL, EVERY, ALWAYS!
Let’s plug those into this- “Slaves are to submit to their masters ALWAYS, in EVERYTHING, IN ALL!”
That’s a WEIGHTY instruction!
Can we just be honest?
Paul doesn’t say, “Submit to your master when it is convenient, or when it is easy. He says ALWAYS! AT EVERY TIME! IN ALL THINGS!
The word for submit carries a specific meaning- the slaves are to HEAR AND OBEY!
They are not to talk back, they are not to steal!
Instead, they are to be faithful!
In addition to HEARING AND OBEYING, the slaves are given a few more instructions.
First, they are to be WELL-PLEASING!
Literally, they are to do their job well because it is pleasing!
They are to do their best!
This is the same word used to talk about how children who obey their parents PLEASES THE LORD!
Literally, this is about DOING THEIR BEST TO OBEY!
Second, they are to avoid talking back.
They aren’t to argue. Think about it- they are to submit in EVERYTHING and be “well-pleasing” which clearly is not arguing.
But there’s something else going on.
Remember, what Paul lays out in Titus 2 is what it looks like to live a life that is COUNTER-CULTURAL!
NOT ARGUING IS COUNTER-CULTURAL!
And we’ll talk about the point of living counter-culturally in a minute.
But let’s be clear- the slaves are to live in a way that is different from ANY OTHER SLAVE!
Other slaves are going to talk back, but not Christian slaves.
Third, they are not to steal!
This is a basic commandment from the 10 commandment’s but it still applies here!
Slaves are to AVOID stealing.
The temptation is absolutely there.
Let’s be honest- you work for someone, he never pays you, in fact, he owns you.
Pretty much your only hope of freedom is eventually BUYING your freedom.
The temptation would definitely be there to slip some things away to sell so that you could buy yourself back!
But notice what Paul says- he says, “DON’T STEAL!”
Don’t talk back, don’t steal! Remember- this is counter-cultural!
This is NOT at all what the standard Cretan slave does!
Typical Cretan slaves steal and they talk back!
But not Christian slaves!
Instead of rebelling, being rude, talking back and stealing, Christian slaves are to “DEMONSTRATE UTTER FAITHFULNESS!”
Do you want to guess what the word is for “utter?”
It’s PASAN, which comes from PANTA!
CHRISTIAN slaves are to demonstrate ALL faithfulness, EVERY KIND OF FAITHFULNESS, TOTAL FAITHFULNESS!
That’s the job of a Christian slave!
They are to be FAITHFUL!
And Paul is about to say why!
Paul says that they ought to live like this so that they can, “Adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything.”
The way that the slaves live shows the TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL
See, they may never get to sit their earthly master down to share the Gospel, but the way that they live; the way that they serve SPEAKS VOLUMES TO WHAT THEY BELIEVE!
Let me be blunt- this isn’t just for slaves. This is for all of us!
We all ADORN THE TEACHING OF GOD OUR SAVIOR in some way every day!
We either adorn it with GOOD, or we cover it with bad!
Those are the two options.
Application
Application