Christian living in a pagan world

When we started out on Monday, we were pretty hard-nosed and intolerant, according to this world's standards. We were being realistic about the culture that we live in today. We truly live in a pagan world. So that "begs" the question, as they say: how can we believers ensure that we are living as God's holy people in this world?

Sometime after his first imprisonment in Rome, and before his final jail time, Paul visited Crete with Titus. Paul left him there in Crete to help resolve some problems in the newly established churches and to assist them in getting started in the pagan culture there.

Oh, wait a minute. Let's back up a bit. 

Crete is an island off the southern tip of Greece, in the Mediterranean Sea. It's about one hundred and sixty miles long, and it varies from seven to thirty-five miles across. There are mountains and gorges among its scenic attractions, and the climate is known for being pretty mild. Many different civilizations have claimed it, from the Minoans to the Greeks. 
Among the Romans, the people of Crete had a particularly bad reputation! The people, known as Cretans, were notorious for lying! Paul actually quotes one of their poets in the first chapter: the poet said Cretans are "always liars....evil...lazy." 

Somehow, the seed of the good news of Jesus Christ had taken root and sprouted in the pagan culture of Crete. There may have been Cretans present in Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost - they would have heard the disciples speak in their own Cretan language, telling of the mighty deeds of God. There also were "Hellenistic" Jews (these were people who believed in and practiced the Jewish faith but were not of Hebrew lineage.) scattered in the countries surrounding Palestine. They spoke Greek (hence the name "Hellenistic") and may have been converted when Peter preached. They went home, then, and some even started up fledgling churches. But as Gentiles, they brought with them a lot of baggage. Of course, they didn't have a corner on that market: the Jews who were converted and believed on Jesus had a lot of baggage, too, just different suitcases. (Grin)

Paul's buddy, Titus, had a good record of dealing with problems. He had helped out in Corinth. So, Paul left him in Crete and went on his way, telling Titus to get the church on solid footing. He wrote the letter we will study both to encourage and to instruct the younger minister and his flock. He knew that he was leaving Titus with a tough assignment: to help those new believers be people of God in a pagan culture.

Here is how Paul begins his letter:

Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, 3but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,

4To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. (Titus 1:1-4)

Three themes are going to be woven together in the letter to Titus and the church in Crete. The first will be salvation (by God's grace); the second will be good deeds (as a result of our salvation); and the last will be the authority of the local churches. This is going to be a letter full of awesome theology and down-to-earth, practical teaching, too.

Please make it a commitment to read the first chapter of the short book of Titus this week in your quiet time. Re-read it each day that you are able. Let's study and learn from the old minister, as he talks to the younger pastor!