Willing to speak and willing to shut up

Numbers 1; Psalm 35; Ecclesiastes 11; Titus 3

There are many sayings for a certain principle. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” “You cannot get a goal if you don’t take a shot.” “Better to aim for the stars and hit the woodpile than aim for the woodpile and hit your foot.” And this one from Solomon:

He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. (Ecclesiastes 11:4)

I once had an art teacher who said that if he let the weather determine whether he should go out to paint, soon he would never go out. He realized that making excuses was a form of procrastination, even a disobedience to his giftedness. After a time it didn’t matter if it was -40 degrees with a wind or sunny and mild with a breeze — he went out anyway. He refused to always find something wrong with the weather.

Christians have a similar problem or at least I do when it comes to sharing my faith. “The words didn’t come to me.” “That person doesn’t seem interested.” “I’m afraid she will reject me.” The list goes on. But as the saying goes, I cannot expect others come to faith in Christ if they are not given opportunity to hear about Him and what He has done.

When Paul wrote to Titus, he told him to “Declare these things” referring to the gospel about Jesus Christ, and to “exhort and rebuke with all authority.” He added, “Let no one disregard you.” Then he goes on to outline what this pastor was supposed to say and what not to say:

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. (Titus 3:1–11)

I’m not a pastor, but this passage wipes out all those excuses that I’ve made. It tells me what to say, who to say it to, how to say it, and what not to say and who to avoid!

Remind them to obey authorities. Romans 13 describes how this applies to governing bodies even those that we don’t like. These days, this means follow the guidelines for Covid-19. We may not like them or agree, but they are for our protection. God may not rescue those who resist His commands!

Obey them myself, not putting others down or fighting with them. Be polite and gentle, remembering all my own struggles and resistance to God. I’ve been there, but He showed mercy. Share my own story including both ‘before and after’ yet backing up my words with the way I live.

I’m not to get into disputes or discussions that stir up division and warn those who do this. It is not like God to argue! If speaking to others about Jesus is going to bring me into an argument, it is wise to keep my mouth shut.

APPLY: Some days are very quiet in this self-isolation mode. Other days, I call people or the phone rings off the hook and people want to talk. I need to say whatever the Lord prompts me to say — with truth and in love. As the Word of God says, I cannot expect any kind of life and growth unless I am willing to plant seeds and water them, and practice what I preach.

Phrasing verses makes them more convicting

One of the more helpful things my Greek professor has taught is how to “phrase” a passage of Scripture. This isn’t the same as parsing, nor is it like the diagramming we used to do in high school English. I like this better because it forces me to slow down and really look at the passage I’m reading.

Also, I used Bible software that has the capacity to show me the Greek sentence structure with the English words (I’ll never be able to read Greek). That structure shows where the proper emphasis goes, and in some cases, this avoids a flawed interpretation.

Today, I didn’t use the software, but tried phrasing according to the English structure. The professor says that each person might do it a bit differently, so the rules are not too rigid. The passage is from Titus, a letter Paul wrote to a young pastor who may have had an unruly congregation. Since I like to make to-do lists, this came out looking a bit like one, with a “to-not-do list” included as a play-by-play reminder of what life was like before Christ. (Tabs don't work in Blogger, sorry.)

Remind them               to be submissive to rulers and authorities,

                                   to be obedient,

                                   to be ready for every good work,

                                   to speak evil of no one,

                                   to avoid quarreling,

                                   to be gentle, and

                                   to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

For we ourselves were once foolish,

                                           disobedient,

                                           led astray,

                                           slaves to various passions and pleasures,

                                           passing our days in malice and envy,

                                           hated by others and

                                           hating one another.

But                  when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

                       he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness,

but                  according to his own mercy,

                       by the washing of regeneration and

                       renewal of the Holy Spirit, 

                              whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

so that            being justified by his grace

                       we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

But avoid       foolish controversies,

                     genealogies,

                     dissensions, and

                     quarrels about the law,

for they are unprofitable and

                   worthless.

As for a person who stirs up division,   

                after warning him once and then twice,

                have nothing more to do with him,

                knowing that such a person is warped and sinful;

                he is self-condemned

(Titus 3:1–11)

As I read this over a few times, it is not too difficult to see the mind of Christ in those positive lists. This is how He wants me to live, because this is how He thinks.

I can remember when my life looked mostly like that “foolish, disobedient” list, but because (and notice the way that word “but” begins a few lines) I have been justified by His grace, my life has changed. 

Those who believe in God need to think like He thinks, and devote ourselves to good works. I’m to avoid arguing about things that do not matter and lest I think such spats don’t matter either, look again what He says should be done to those who are divisive. I would never want that to happen.

Jesus was not a weak, wimpy person, but neither was He feisty and argumentative. I can stand for truth and the gospel, yet not quarrel with others. To see how I measure up, I’m thinking of putting check boxes in front of those lists.