"9 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect."
Welcome to worship this Lord's Day! We are grateful for our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ who have joined us today, we are glad that you are here.
In his book called, The City of God, Augustine described two different cities: the city of God and the city of man. The city of man is temporal and capable of being destroyed, while the city of God is eternal. Christians understand the fact that while we are citizens of the city of man; our true citizenship is in heaven. As such, we must set our sights on the unseen spiritual world, and when we do, our behavior as earthly citizens should reflect the fact that we are but passing through this place. The fact is, we are resident aliens.
And, because we are citizens of both heaven and earth, we therefore, must live with a certain amount of tension. When the Apostle Paul wrote to Titus, on the island of Crete, he instructed him to teach Christians everywhere, who must learn to live among Cretans. We will discover some truths that will stabilize us as we live in uncertain times. During the last several messages, we have learned that older men and women are to mentor those who are younger as Paul taught about the home and family relationships. He taught how younger men are to conduct themselves, now Paul moves to the work world, then has us gaze on grace, and finally teaches us how to respond to rulers and authorities in our government.
The only thing that matters is that you live as citizens of heaven in a manner worthy of the gospel.
Father, we thank You for Your Word today, we are so grateful for these truth we are about to receive. Lord, help us to understand, that if we live as You have commanded us in Your Word, living a life that demonstrates true Christianity, if we would live as show the world, that we are sinners who were transformed into saints by the saving grace of a loving God, the power of the gospel will be undeniable. May our lights shine, reflecting Your glory in a dark, crooked world and perverse generation. Help us to be the godly people that You have created us to be, that other will see what an amazing God we serve. May it be for Your glory.
Today's Message: Wear It Well..To Work!
It is my honor and great privilege to share with all of you, this portion of God's Word. As I was preparing for our message today, I was thinking about all the gimmicks and techniques used by many modern day preachers, to capture the attention of both Christians and unbelievers. The elaborate media programs on television and radio, billboards, mass mailings et cetera. And, then I began to think that in all my years of studying the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, I have not discovered any type of "gimmick," or strategy for evangelizing the world. The New Testament plan for evangelizing the lost, while it certainly involves the preaching of the gospel, apart from proclaiming the Word of God, the plan is through personal witness.
I believe that is exactly what the Apostle Paul is conveying in the text, the importance of evangelism through personal witness. The majority of the Christians that I have known, over the course of my lifetime, came to know Jesus Christ through the personal witness of someone they encountered. And, that witness, had some profound impact on the life of the unbeliever.
However, allow me to also point, that the majority of those that I have known who did not come to Christ, was due to the ineffective, negative witness demonstrated by someone who proclaimed the name of Christ, who were involved in some verbal confrontation or behavior, some public scandal or sin, that was unbecoming a Christian.
Certainly, one of the most startling, most disturbing things that I have noticed in the modern day Christian, is there is little or no significant difference between the churched and the un-churched in their ethics, behavior and values on the job. They were just as guilty when it came to calling in sick, when in fact, they were not, cheating on income tax returns, and stealing company supplies for personal use. In essence, many Christians are leading double lives. At church, they are praising God, singing hymns and at work, they lives and follow in the ways of the world.
Since most people, both Christians and non-Christians alike, spend a good part of their day at work, more time there than most anywhere else and they are also around more people at work than anywhere else, when Christians do not honor Christ in the workplace , their witness for Christ loses its effectiveness! In contrast, when a Christian honors God on the job, they encounter many wonderful opportunities to point others to Jesus Christ. So, before we begin our lesson for today, I'd like to have you think about these questions, to
answer only in our minds... Does your behavior at work, show your coworkers a positive reflection of God, the saving work of the Living Savior, in
your work ethic? Do you faithfully obey those in authority over you or
do you complain and rebel against their authority? Are you submissive or are you
insubordinate?
Allow me, as Christian, we are required to submit to authority. God has commanded us to submit to human authority on many different levels. And in several other scriptures we see the importance of slaves submitting to their masters. In Ephesians 6:5-8, "Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free."
If I were to make an educated guess, I would say, that the doctrine of submission is perhaps the least liked doctrines
in the Bible, however, allow me to be so bold as to say, that it is clear that God expects His children to submit to
authority. During His earthly ministry, one of the most prevalent
characteristics of Jesus, was His willingness to be a humble servant.
In Philippians 2:7-8, Paul tells us that "but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
In verse 9, The Apostle Paul instructs Titus, "Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,"
I believe that is important that I address the context of these scriptures. Many of the
English Bibles translate the word slave. as the word "servant." The
Greek word Paul uses is "doulous" which refers to a literal "slave". For the
sake of time we will not debate the horrible institution of slavery. It
happened for thousands of years throughout history all over the world.
We don't like it, we can't change it but we can learn from it.
In the book of Titus, the principle of submission has come up time and again and it is often a theme throughout the New Testament. To "be subject" means
to line up under someone and focuses on function, not essence. As I have stated before, it
does not mean that you are inferior but rather that in order to function
well in your job, you must be subject to your superiors. That’s the
order that God has set forth for us to follow. A good Christian employee, should look for ways to please the employer. I am not talking about falsifying an allegiance just to score a promotion. While there is nothing wrong with trying to do a good job in order to get
a promotion or raise, our primary objective always should be to please
Jesus Christ. Paul goes on to write, "not argumentative," the point Paul is making is that Christians are not to talk back, or speaking rudely towards their employer. In other words, the Christian employee must resist the urge to be argumentative or complain about the boss to others.
Ephesians 6:6 teaches us, "not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart."
In verse 10, he says "not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect." Not Pilfering, literally means not to steal, it conveys the idea of stealing in small quantities. In other words, we are not to cheat our employers by not working as hard as we should and we also
deceive them when we take things that don’t belong to us. A slave could
cut off a small piece of steak for himself and the Master would never
know. Likewise, employees have multiple opportunities to steal. The
Christian must avoid this type of behavior.
"But showing all good faith," the Christian employee must prove himself by showing good faith. In I Corinthians 4:2 Paul said "In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy."
In Closing..
Now, I know that many of you will claim that these instructions that the Apostle Paul gives us in our behavior at work are outdated. These deep theological truths are timeless and correspond with the past, present and future. I am also sure that a number of you are asking "Why should we follow these principals when no one else does?" Allow me to direct your attention to the end of verse 10, which says "so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect." When we live and work like as we are supposed to, the Gospel message will become attractive to others and Christ will be glorified.When we work for our employer as we would work for Christ, the world will take notice.
As a Christian employee, Scripture would permit you to go through proper channels to
seek justice in resolving a difficult situation. However, you may decide to take
another job. Before you tell off the boss and slamming the door,
and walking out, I'd like you to remember that the testimony of Christ is at stake. Bear in mind, that even those of us in lower positions, can still have a great impact for the kingdom and the cause of Christ!
Christ wants to give His church a makeover. And, Hewants you to beautify your life by godly behavior so as to attract
others to Him. God’s beautification program starts when you repent of
your sins and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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