Titus 2:1-10 - The Picture of Healthy Discipleship

Your Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Your Word goes out and it does not return empty, but it accomplishes your purposes.

Father, your Word is powerful, but my words are not.

So, please empower me through your Holy Spirit to preach your Word.

Cause it to change us into the likeness of your Son, Jesus.

It’s in his name we pray all of this. Amen.

Intro

We’re continuing in our series through the book of Titus, Paul’s letter to his true child in the faith to establish healthy churches.

We saw in chapter one the picture and pursuit of healthy leadership in the church as leaders are focused on faith, hope, and fellowship in Christ.

Now we’re moving on to chapter two where we’re going to see the picture and pursuit of healthy discipleship in the church.

Discipleship is an interesting concept.

When I was growing up all the way through college, I thought discipleship was some special relationship between an older super-Christian and a younger person who wanted to become a super-Christian.

I heard people talking about those who had discipled them, and I thought, “I want to be discipled… but who do I get to disciple me?… or should I wait for someone to come and offer to disciple me?”

Maybe you’ve had similar thoughts, or maybe not.

But I think its super important that we get a good picture of what discipleship actually is.

That’s what Titus 2:1-10 is all about.

The Picture of Healthy Discipleship.

You see discipleship is simply how we influence each other to follow different people or things.

The concept that I thought of as discipleship when I was growing up was actually a concept called mentorship.

Mentorship is important when raising up leaders, or as a part of healthy discipleship in the church.

But discipleship is more than mentorship.

Every single one of us is discipling everyone we interact with, and we are discipled by everyone we interact with.

We all have a massive impact on each other’s lives, but most of the time we are unaware of just how much of an impact we have.

We tend to downplay or dismiss the impact we have in each other’s lives.

Because we tend to do this, God, through the Apostle Paul, has shown us here in Titus 2:1-10 that everyone has a massive impact on each other’s lives.

Whether you are young or old, male or female, you have an impact on the character and lifestyle of everyone else in the church in all areas of life: the home, the church, and the workplace.

This impact is discipleship, and it’s important for us to make sure we’re following Christ and influencing others to follow Christ as well.

We live as examples and teach each other to do this, to live in light of Christ.

But if we’re not careful, we’ll end up discipling each other to follow the world in sin rather than following Christ.

So, what does healthy discipleship look like, discipleship that follows Christ instead of the world?

We’re going to look at each area of life as Paul unfolds this passage.

And we are going to start with what healthy discipleship looks like in the home in verses 1-5.

Titus 2:1–2 ESV

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

Titus 2:3–5 ESV

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

So, here, Paul depicts…

Healthy Discipleship in the Home (1-5)

Paul starts off this chapter with a contrast.

The unhealthy teaching of the disqualified leaders is not what Titus ought to teach, and it’s not what a healthy leader in the church ought to teach.

They teach lies that destroy the church, but as for you Titus, as for you healthy church leader, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

Paul has in mind here, not only the doctrine itself, but also the implications of that doctrine in the character and lifestyle of all believers.

What accords with sound doctrine.

The behavior and thinking that goes along with and results from healthy teaching of the gospel.

And the healthy teaching of the gospel has massive implications in how we think and behave in the home.

Now, in this picture of healthy discipleship some of the aspects can be attributed to any area of life, but some are specifically found in the home.

Because of the specifics of some aspects in the home and the generality of the others applied in all areas, I am inclined to think that all of these aspects of healthy discipleship in verses 1-5 are intended to be understood in the context of the home.

Now, some of these aspects are gender specific, but most of them can be applied to anyone in the church regardless of gender or age.

I think that Paul mentions these aspects specifically regarding particular genders and ages because in the cultural context he was writing to these demographic groups had a particular problem with these specific aspects.

But don’t think that just because you don’t fit the demographic group that you can just ignore the aspect of discipleship he identifies.

Remember, all of us ought to be striving for the qualifications of an elder, and Paul simply identifies here some other aspects of that same concept.

Also, many of these aspects refer to the relationship between a husband and wife and their children, and if you are single, then you can still exhibit the heart behind these aspects in other ways.

The home is the primary arena of discipleship both where discipleship happens and where its results are seen the most.

This is because God created us to fulfill the creation mandate in the context of the nuclear family.

The creation mandate is from Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

God gave that command to both Adam and Eve to be pursued together.

And it’s assumed that they would continue pursuing that with their kids as a family, who would also pursue it with their spouses and children as a family, and so on.

To be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the rest of God’s creation.

We were created to steward God’s creation to his glory.

But sin got in the way, and now we need a savior from God’s wrath, a savior from our sin.

And Jesus Christ is our Savior.

He’s God who became a man so that he could live a perfect life, die in our place, and rise again on the third day all so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life by putting our faith in him.

Now, the best way to accomplish the creation mandate is by trying our hardest in the power of the Holy Spirit to be as much like Jesus as we can, since he’s perfect and exactly the way God wants us to be as we multiply and steward his creation as a family.

Alright, we’re going to quickly hop through these aspects, these goals of healthy discipleship in the home.

In verse 2, Paul brings up the character and lifestyle that every older man in the church should aspire to in his home life, in his interactions with those in his home.

He lists six aspects or goals of a healthy home life for an older man.

First, be sober-minded, clear-headed.

Make good choices, be wise.

Second, be dignified, honorable, respectable.

Act in a way that deserves respect.

Third, be self-controlled.

This is self explanatory, and as we’re going to see, it’s applicable to all demographics.

Control yourself to avoid sinful patterns of behavior.

Fourth, be sound or healthy in faith.

Make sure your faith is in Christ and nowhere else, especially not your own merit or effort.

Fifth, be sound or healthy in love.

Make sure your love is healthy by following your God-given love priorities.

Make sure you are loving Christ above all by first loving your wife, then loving your kids, then loving your brothers and sisters in Christ, then loving all of humanity.

Sixth, be sound or healthy in steadfastness or patience.

Take as much time as is necessary to make sure you and your family are all growing in Christ-likeness.

Be more influenced by your wife and your kids hearts than you are by your schedule.

Now, after explaining the goal of healthy discipleship of older men, Paul turns to the same topic regarding women.

He lists four aspects of a healthy home life for older women.

First, be reverent in behavior.

This is behaving in a way that is holy, set apart for God’s purposes.

Second, don’t slander.

This is the Greek word di-AB-o-lous, the name more often than not given to the Devil in the New Testament.

He’s a slanderer, he lies to us about God and about ourselves in order to put us down and make us doubt God’s goodness and love for us.

Don’t do the Devil’s work for him.

Third, don’t be enslaved to alcohol.

This is really an apt description of the dangers of alcohol.

It enslaves those who are given to abuse it.

Ironically, most people become enslaved to it because they’re seeking some sort of escape or freedom from the cares of life.

You become enslaved to the very thing you sought freedom through because you can only really be free in Christ, not at the bottom of a bottle.

Fourth, teach what is good.

Women, you are commanded by God through Paul here to teach.

You have the Scriptures, you have the mind of Christ, you have godly wisdom, so teach it, teach what is good, teach the sufficiency of Christ and how to live in a way that honors him.

Specifically, teach your kids, and teach other young women to do likewise.

And that brings us to the next group, because the result of older women living like this in their homes is teaching younger women by precept and encouraging them by example to live the same way.

Paul lists six aspects of a healthy home life that older women are to encourage the younger women to emulate as the result of their own healthy home life.

First, love your husband and children.

This is the same thing as the older men being sound or healthy in love.

Make sure your priorities are straight.

Love Christ above all by first loving your husband, then loving your kids, then loving others.

It’s easy to neglect loving your husband and your kids when ministries in the church demand your time, or you might be tempted to simply spend most of your time on your hobbies, or social media, or any other time-wasters.

Second, be self-controlled.

Again, it’s self-explanatory and applicable to any and every demographic.

Control yourself so you don’t fall into sinful habits.

Third, be pure.

In this context this refers to moral purity much like Peter mentioned in 1 Peter 3:1–2 “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.”

Fourth, work at home.

This is not to say that wives cannot work outside the home since there are plenty of examples of honorable wives working outside the home.

The most notable is Proverbs 31:14–16 “She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.”

That sure sounds to me like the excellent wife described here works outside the home.

But what Paul is getting at here is that it’s very easy to get distracted with working outside the home and end up neglecting the home.

The wife’s role and privilege is to care for her household.

If we read a little farther in Proverbs chapter 31 we come to verses 27 and 28 which describes the excellent wife saying, “She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:”

So, wives, feel free to work outside the home, but take care that you do not neglect caring for your husband and your children, loving them, by caring for your home.

Fifth, be kind or good.

This attribute is so vague that some of Paul’s other writing may shed light on what exactly he’s getting at here.

Paul describes a virtuous widow In 1 Timothy 5:10 “and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.”

I think the good Paul has in mind in our passage in Titus is similar, identifying child-rearing as good, hospitality as good, and selfless service for other believers as good, especially when they’re in need.

This may be why the translators for the ESV rendered this word as kind instead of the more common translation of the Greek word as good.

Sixth, submit to your own husband.

Wives are not commanded to submit to all men, but to their own husband.

Your husband is God’s gift to you so that you can submit to him as the Church submits to Christ, and as Christ submits to the Father.

Submission is not inferiority, it’s willingly putting yourself under another’s authority.

And it’s a Christ-like characteristic to submit to your own husband, the husband he has given you.

Now after explaining these aspects of healthy discipleship in the home, Paul explains the reason for pursuing it.

He says that the reason for pursuing this picture of healthy discipleship in the home, is so that the Word of God may not be reviled.

You see healthy discipleship results in evangelism.

This whole pattern is that healthy leadership results in healthy discipleship which results in healthy evangelism.

The world is watching, and when our character and lifestyle don’t match with our doctrine from our own perspective it’s called a cognitive dissonance, and from the perspective of others it’s commonly called hypocrisy.

Not practicing what you preach makes the watching world revile the Word of God.

In the Old Testament, Israel as a nation was doing this and God judged them by sending them into exile.

God said in Ezekiel 36:20–21 “But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.”

All the nations profaned God’s name because Israel was disobedient, they didn’t follow God, and we can cause the same thing if we behave in a way that’s contrary to God’s Word.

So, as a means of evangelism, through discipleship, strive to live according to your faith, hope, and fellowship in Christ, so that the Word of God may not be reviled.

Now, ending our first section here might seem to exclude young men from discipleship in the home, but if the pattern is applied to all demographics, then they are not excluded.

Just like older women are to teach and encourage younger women to live in light of their faith, hope, and fellowship in Christ in their unique role as wife and mother…

So also older men are to teach and encourage younger men to do the same in their unique role as husband and father.

Alright, we saw how Paul depicted healthy discipleship in the home, encouraging faith, hope, and fellowship in the home of every believer both young and old, so that the Word of God may not be reviled.

Next we’re going to see what healthy discipleship looks like in the local church in verses 6-8.

Titus 2:6–8 ESV

Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

So, here Paul’s depicts…

Healthy Discipleship in the Church (6-8)

In verse six we get our second command, to urge the young men, just like the previous demographic groups, to be self-controlled.

I’m inclined to think that this demographic group, the young men, is attached with what follows rather than with what came before simply because of how the Greek grammar is structured.

Each section ends with a reason or result for doing what was described previously.

Discipleship in the home results in the word of God not being reviled in verse 5.

Discipleship in the church results in enemies having nothing evil to say about us in verse 8.

And discipleship in the workplace results in the doctrine of God our Savior being adorned in verse 10.

Also, Peter uses the same term for younger men to refer to non-elders in the church in 1 Peter 5:5 “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders…”

This is not definitive proof that Paul used this term to refer to non-elders, but it opens up that possibility.

And with the grammatical structure and context it seems likely to me that Paul is switching from the home to the church and referring to non-elders in the church being urged to be self-controlled in the church just like in the home.

In the home, it’s the older men and women who teach and example discipleship in the context of the marriage relationship and child-rearing, and the creation mandate pursued as a family.

In the church, it’s the church leaders who teach and example discipleship in the context of our relationships with other believers.

In verse 7 Paul tells Titus to be a model or example in everything, in all respects.

And what he’s supposed to example is good works very similar to the good works of 1 Timothy 5:10 that we looked at earlier.

Hospitality, and selfless service for others, especially those in need.

Back in Titus 1:8 Paul identified two of the qualifications for elders as being hospitable, and a lover of good.

This is how all of us in the church ought to be, but the elders, the leaders in the church need to model this for the rest.

Also, when a leader in the church shows selfless service and hospitality, he ought to specifically call others in the church to do likewise, to follow his example as he follows Christ, and it ought to be the deacons of the church who facilitate this hospitality and selfless service.

This is one of the results of focusing on our faith, hope, and fellowship in Christ.

When we see our leaders loving the brothers and sisters in Christ because of their faith, hope, and fellowship in Him… we ought to be compelled to do likewise because of our common faith, hope, and fellowship in Christ.

Next, Paul shifts from actions to words in the second half of verse 7 and verse 8.

At the end of verse 7 he talks about Titus’ teaching, and really the teaching of all elders in the church.

He already described healthy teaching from healthy elders back in Titus 1:9 “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

Healthy teaching is based on God’s Word alone.

But now he explains how that teaching based on God’s Word ought to be conveyed in a Christ-honoring way.

He says it should be done in integrity and dignity.

No manipulation, no gimmicks, no shortcuts.

Church leaders, in their study of God’s Word to preach or teach cannot take unscrupulous shortcuts like purchasing already prepared sermons, or using AI to write sermons.

Study with integrity as an example of how to study God’s Word for the rest of the church.

And church leaders, in their delivery of God’s Word in preaching or teaching should not stoop to manipulative tactics or gimmicks to try and please their hearers.

Church leaders are not comedians, and we are not here to make you feel good, we are here to point you to Jesus through the preaching and teaching of his Word, not ear-tickling none-sense.

Sometimes it’s uncomfortable, but that’s ok as long as its done in integrity and dignity and based on the authoritative Word of God alone.

In verse 8 Paul moves from teaching to speech in general.

Church leaders must be examples of sound or healthy speech.

Paul gave a bit more of an explanation of this concept in Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

The use of crass language, profanity, crude jokes, and the like from church leaders gives opportunity to enemies of the church to condemn believers and Christianity as a whole.

So, as an example for the rest of the church, leaders must make sure all of their words are good for building up, giving grace to those who hear, healthy, and focused on faith, hope, and fellowship in Christ.

And just like before, Paul ends this section with another statement of what results from proper discipleship, specifically in the church.

He says that the result is that an enemy or opponent may be put to shame having nothing evil to say about us.

It’s shameful to be found opposing something that’s wholesome and beneficial.

Usually, if there is something legitimately wrong or evil with something, even though it may be otherwise wholesome, it’s not shameful to oppose it.

But if there’s nothing objectively evil, and opponents only resist Christ because of their opinions and wrong thinking, then we have done well in following Christ.

So, we saw how Paul depicted healthy discipleship in the home, encouraging faith, hope, and fellowship in the home of every believer both young and old, so that the Word of God may not be reviled.

And we just saw how he depicted healthy discipleship in the church as believers are encouraged toward self-control, and the teachers model faith, hope, and fellowship in our interactions in the local church, so that nothing evil would be said about us.

Next, we’re going to see what healthy discipleship looks like in the workplace in verses 9-10.

Titus 2:9–10 ESV

Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

So, here Paul depicts…

Healthy Discipleship in the Workplace (9-10)

Paul speaks directly to Bondservants and how discipleship looks in that capacity.

The Greek word simply means slaves, but in America that term has picked up some very negative connotations that weren’t there in the first century Roman empire.

Slaves in that culture were often considered nearly family, and they were also given a lot of responsibility in the family business.

Because of the cultural context of slaves and masters in which Paul was writing, I think it’s best to jump straight to the application for our culture.

When Paul writes about slaves and masters, it most closely correlates with employees and employers or bosses.

It’s not a direct correlation because there are a lot of differences between first century Roman empire slavery and modern Western employment.

But this is the closest cultural context we have, so we’re going to apply it as closely as we can without taking this out of context.

Paul says that slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything.

This is very similar wording to how wives are to submit to their own husbands back in verse 5.

In the cultural context, slaves were only told to submit to their own master, not to submit to all non-slaves.

And they were to submit to their own master in everything.

Their submission didn’t have a limit, all aspects of their life were under the authority of their master.

This is how we all must submit to Jesus as our master.

He has authority over every single aspect of our lives.

Now, in our context of employment rather than slavery, we do not submit to our boss in everything, only in certain things and only while we’re on the clock.

Your boss has no authority over how you spend your free time, though some employment requires you to not talk about your work even in your free time.

And employment in our culture is called at-will employment.

That means that you are only under the authority of your employer so far as you both want to remain in that employment arrangement.

But the principle is that while you are under the authority of your boss, you ought to submit to their authority over you as much as is appropriate.

Paul lists four specific ways that slaves are to submit to their master in everything, and the first two go together and the second two go together.

First, be well-pleasing, not argumentative.

When you are told to do something, do it, don’t argue about it.

Obviously, if what you are told to do is morally wrong then you can refuse and explain why it’s wrong.

But most of the time your boss isn’t going to tell you to do something morally wrong, or against God’s Word.

Most of the time they’re going to tell you to do something that’s hard work for the benefit of the business.

And you might feel compelled to argue to do things differently, in a way that’s not so hard for you.

The point is this, in your interactions with your boss at work, strive to make them pleased with how you work and the results of your work.

And don’t try to get your way or lighten your load by arguing with them.

Next, don’t pilfer, but show all good faith.

Remember, slaves in that culture usually had access to a lot of their master’s money and possessions, so it was easy to embezzle some of it.

Some of our employment is similar.

Maybe you have access to a company credit card or a company car.

Or maybe you’re in charge of accounting for your boss.

Whether you have been entrusted with the entire cash-flow of the business, or just the allotted office supplies for your cubicle, the principle is the same.

Don’t steal from your boss, prove yourselves to be faithful employees.

Jesus gave an example of this concept to teach the importance of doing what God wants you to do all the time, to be faithful to him.

He said in Matthew 24:45–51 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

And just like the previous two sections, Paul ends this one by describing the result of doing these things.

He says that the result is so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

Discipleship as seen in the workplace results in the adornment of the gospel.

When we treat our bosses well, when we are faithful with company time and assets, our bosses and our coworkers and everyone we interact with at work will notice.

And when we tell them about the gospel, the doctrine of God our Savior, our conduct at work will highlight its beauty.

The word translated adorn is the Greek word cos-ME-oh, which gave us our English word cosmetic.

Cosmetics, make-up, isn’t supposed to add beauty to someone, it’s supposed to highlight the beauty that’s already there.

The gospel is beautiful in and of itself, we don’t add any beauty to it by our conduct.

But often, people need to see our conduct as influenced by the gospel in order for them to notice its beauty.

Conclusion

Now, we’ve been talking about the picture of healthy discipleship, what it looks like in the home, in the church, and in the workplace.

But I don’t want you to think that these areas a where the learning and transforming of discipleship necessarily takes place.

These three areas are where the results of our discipleship are seen, in our interactions with our family, with other believers, and with the world.

The method of discipleship, how discipleship happens, is interwoven throughout this description as we encourage each other to Christ-likeness through teaching and example.

Older men and older women discipling younger men and younger women through teaching God’s Word and exampling how to live in light of God’s Word.

Parents discipling their children, and elders in the church discipling everyone else in the church including those who are under the authority of worldly bosses.

Discipleship happens every moment of every day in every area of life whether we realize it or not.

If we aren’t intentional about it we will be discipled to follow the latest tick-tock trends, or political outcries, or fear-mongering news reports, or the poor work ethics of our worldly coworkers, or the inappropriate language and jokes of our worldly friends.

We need to make sure that we’re following Christ influenced by the gospel and not following the world influenced by sin.

And we do this by constantly reminding each other of our faith, hope, and fellowship in Christ as often as we can, whenever and wherever we can.

So that in our homes, in our church, and in our workplaces, we are intentionally impacting each other to live in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, if you haven’t put your faith in Jesus yet, then please do so right now.

Putting your faith in him is the only way to be saved, the only way to be forgiven of your sin so that you can live free of the power of sin in your life and free of the ultimate consequence of sin, eternal punishment in hell.

He’s the only way because he alone is God who became a man, died in your place, and rose again three days later all so that you could be saved by simply putting your faith in him.

If you believe all of that, then tell God that you believe in prayer, and tell us so that we can rejoice with you and so that we can help you live in light of the gospel like I’ve been talking about.

Pray

Father, thank you for your Word.

Thank you for saving us by sending your Son to die for us and rise again.

And thank you for this reminder of what it looks like to live in light of that, to live in light of our salvation, in light of the gospel.

I pray that you would help us all to be intentionally impacting each other to live this way.

Help us to remind each other of the glory and sufficiency of Christ.

Help us to remind each other who we are following and what life in Christ looks like.

Help us to do this in our homes, in our church, and in our workplace.

Help us to live in light of the gospel in every area of our lives.

And Lord, I pray that as the world looks at our lives, that they would see the glory of Christ.

I pray that they would have no reason or ground for reviling your Word, or for speaking evil of any of us.

I pray that our lives would cause the world to see the beauty of the gospel.

I pray that they would see our good works and glorify you.

Because you are worthy of all glory.

We thank you and praise you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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