Healthy Discipleship Matters

Intro

Hey Y’all, everybody good? Great. How is being back to normal school schedule? like it? hate it? Okay cool.

Who in here loves food? What s your favorite food? Or favorite fast food place? See I love me some food, and I know that it shows.

So most of you probably haven’t experienced this yet, but most of you at some point on your life will. I know I said I was never going to have to do this. Then I stopped playing soccer, and now I’m thirty and trying to back in to some shape other than round. You know you go to the doctor’s office and they ask what kind of shape are you in? “What ever shape a box combo is?” But how many of you have ever tried to drop some weight of just be healthier? Me. i have. but it is hard, because waffle house and cookout, Mexican, and cfa exist.

But I’ve been trying this new thing out, where it isn’t super restrictive and i’ve lost some weight doing it, but more importantly it has made me think more about what I’m eating, what I’m putting in my body. And for the most part I’ve felt better and have had more energy. I’m able to run around a little more and not be as tired. I started eating more fruit and more green things. I get more vegetables in my meals, I for the most part feel better.

i know I used to do this, y’all are going to do this the first time you’re like, “i should drop some weight” But how many of you are like, im gonna run my weight off? but then when you get done working out you have to pass the zaxby’s on the way home and youre like, “well, I deserve a little treat.” And your deep in a 6 finger meal with extra fries, cause slaw is gross. How many of you have done that? You leave the gym or conditioning practice and its dr pepper time. That is gonna catch up ith you.

And that’s kinda where we are going to be tonight. Remember Titus the book is about the church pointing toward Christ, and how the church is supposed to go about doing that. How it is supposed to go about carrying out the mission of the church. And one of the things Titus is charged with doing is making the churches in Crete Healthy.

So that is where i want our heads to be tonight. Thinking about what a healthy church looks like and what makes up a healthy church.

Main Idea

So the main idea for tonight is going to be “Healthy discipleship matters” If you remember anything from tonight, remember that healthy discipleship matters.

Context

So tonight we are going to be in Titus. we are going to do all of chapter 2. it is only 15 verses. So if you have a bible go a head and flip over to chapter 2 of Titus. If you don’t have a bible, and would like a bible, throw a hand up and let us get you a bible. If you don’t have one at home, you can take that with you.

But while you turning over there, let me give you a little bit of context as to what is going on.

Remember Titus is put in charge of the churches in Crete by Paul. Titus was a disciple of Paul, he was a student of Paul. I’m going to use the word disciple a lot tonight, and so, I want go ahead and define this word for you. Remember is, and next week, first one to tell me what the word means gets a DQ gift Card. Which reminds me, I have a gift card to give out tonight

GIft Card

Great, good Job. So let’s look at what disciple means.

Disciple just means students. The word in the original language is the word for student. it is someone who devotes life ling study to something. So a disciple is a life long student. So a disciple of Christ would be a life long student of Christ.

And the thing that is super important about this is, we are all disciples of something. It may be Christ, if you are truly in Christ, you are a lifelong student of Christ you are first and foremost a student of Christ.. But all of us are being discipled by something. You might not be a great student of something, but you are a student of something.

So I want to look at this passage in that context. In the Churches that Titus has been put in Charge of in Crete, false teaching has sprung up. The churches have started to be come unhealthy churches, no long pointing toward Christ, but toward themselves. The churches have had unhealthy discipleship take place in the church. Remember what out main point is tonight, Healthy Discipleship matters.

So with that, let me pray for our time in the word tonight.

pray

Healthy Discipleship, is Built on Healthy Doctrine

So lets get in to it, read with me, the whole chapter.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

okay cool, there is a lot going on in that passage that we aren’t going to try and solve tonight. But what I want you to remember is, our main point tonight, Healthy Discipleship matters. Remember just like eating, what we eat is going to determine our over all health. High School boys who drank those cokes before we played football Sunday, how’d that go over? Not well.

Look at me in verse 1, “teach sound doctrine” What does that mean? What is paul getting at here by saying, teach “sound doctrine.”

Do any of y’all like to build stuff? Or watched any home renovation show? We’ve been watching Home Town ever since we had to go in to quarantine, you know the show where they fix up and restore old houses, and apparently Lauralee and I look like those two people on the show. But it seems like every time we watch the show, they run in to flooring issues, or some sort of issue a part of the house trying to fall apart. Like this one house they were ripping up the floor and every beam up under the house was rotten, and just not doing it’s job. The foundation of the house was unstable. it was eaten up with rot. it was falling apart. And so what they had to do was rip every bit of flooring up, basically take the foundation out, and put all new wood back in, and that way the floor and house isn’t going to fall down. Before, Ben, who is a big dude, would walk over parts of the floor, and you could see it sag, and he’d be like, well that part of the floor isn’t sound, we have to see whats going on up under there. they’d go fix it and then you’d see him walk back over the floor again and he’d be like, yeah that’s sound.

So what is Paul saying here in verse 1 before anything else, teach sound doctrine. and what is interesting is if you look at the word that Paul uses, and is normally translated in to sound. The word is ὑγιαίνω, hygino, which is the word that we get our word for hygiene, cleanliness. You know you can tell when someone doesn’t have good hygiene. Like, i know we are going to be going to camp soon, and middle school boys i’m gonna be coming for you with deodorant, cause if you don’t put that on, you’re gonna be stankin’.

So if you’re writting things down, write this down. Healthy Discipleship, is built on Healthy Doctrine.

What Paul is saying here, before anything else in this chapter is, teach what is sound, teach healthy doctrine, teach doctrine that is pure, doctrine that is clean. Doctrine that has not been defiled. So what is the sound doctrine that we are supposed to teach? Look ahead with me at verse 11, these verse actually go together.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people

This is the what and why, Christ has come, and taken your place on the cross for you. Christ has come to redeem the world from sin and death. Christ has come and made salvation possible.

So Paul is saying Teach Christ, it all starts with Christ. For we preach Christ crucified in our place. Christ cleans us from our sin. Paul is saying teach a doctrine that will not rot, that you can stand on in confidence, that doctrine is Christ. What Paul is saying here is what one of my favorite authors wrote in probably my favorite book, The Great Divorce, he says:

“We know nothing of religion here: We think only of Christ”

Remember Titus is called to disciple the churches, and the church leaders, Titus is called to come in and cut the rot out of the church, so that it can heal. He is supposed to come in a replicate what Paul did for him. He is called to teach and we are called to learn. But what does that look like? We have to be taught. In theory, you could go and learn theology and doctrine all on your own, but if you are not taught how to read the bible properly, not taught how to understand theology or any sort of doctrine you can get it wrong.

it’s like trying to learn how to play cricket, that weird english game that is like there version of baseball? idk, there are no foul balls, the umpires wear giant beach hats and the batters look they are wearing hockey gear. You might be able to get the rules, but that doesn't mean you are going to be able to go our there and get a game of cricket up, let alone know what to do.

and that is what we mean. We have to be taught this doctrine this sound teaching by someone who knows what is going on.

Discipleship is a life long pursuit

So let’s keep going, look at verse 2 through 9 with me, and i’ll read them again.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,

So looking at this, what do we notice? It looks like a bunch of rules, basically telling people how to act. And on the surface it is that. Just on the surface, it is just a bunch of rules that make life easier if you follow them. But is that the point of the church? to make good people? No! Do we want good people to come out of the church, yes, but we aren’t out to make good people for the sake of being good. The goal of the church is to point people to Christ. if we do that, people being made more like Christ will by default produce good people.

Look at verses 10-12

English Standard Version Chapter 2

not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

So what is going on here if it isn’t a bunch of rules? This is showing a relationship. This is showing how the church does it’s teaching. And that is through discipleship. The reason we are to do this this way is to make healthy disciples.

The first two groups it mentions is older men and women teaching younger men and women. Bringing them along side them in their life. This is why we have meetings outside of Wednesday nights. This is why we gather in small groups on Sunday mornings and Sunday Nights, your small group leaders are not just there to hangout with you for a couple hours. I hope you do hangout with your small group leaders, but they’re job in teaching you is not just so that you would know something about the bible, but so they can point you to christ. the age you are at right now is weird, i was your age, i remember it being weird. i also remember those who took the time to pull me in to their lives and point me towards Christ. This is why most of you have LL and mines phone number, not just so that we can communicate with you, but so that you know you can call someone when life goes sideways, or when you don’t know what to do. Some of y’all have taken us up on that, and that is kinda what we live for.

But what is this telling us, it is that, Discipleship does not end, Discipleship is a life long pursuit. If you are writing things down, write that down. Discipleship is a life long pursuit.

In this passage we see older men and women, teaching, which means at one point in time, they were younger men and women being taught.

When the gospel is involved this process works as intended, to not make people good people for the sake of being good, but make people life long followers of Christ.

We are all looking toward eternity

So lets keep going, why does this matter, why are we talking about this? Read with me verse 13-15 again.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

We are all look at eternity, if your writing things down, write that down. We are all looking at eternity. Every on of us in this room, on this planet, are looking at eternity.

one of my favorite authors puts it this way.

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

Christ has come and made salvation possible for all people. Christ has come and given us a choice, to follow Him or not. Every single one of us is going to die and be faced with ultimate reality, that this was not all there actually is, that eternity is real. All of us will come to see either everlasting splendor, or immortal horror.

But Christ has come to to make a way, and make salvation possible. We are to make disciples and point to people to christ until that final day comes.

Pray with me.