Read with Me
Titus 2:6-8 (HCSB)
In the same way, encourage the young men to be self-controlled in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching. Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.
Listen with Me
Paul has given instructions about how the older men and women were to live as people of the kingdom. Now he turns his attention to the younger men. In Cretan society, as in most societies, the younger men, teens and twenty-somethings, tended to run amok as they tried to find their place in society and to make a name for themselves. But among the young people who were part of the Church, this was not to be the case. The younger men were to be taught self-control. The Greek word actually means that they are to be taught to be sensible, operating out of their mind and their intellect instead of out of their feelings.
The mind and intellect are far less susceptible to manipulation than the emotional parts of our mind. Having worked for decades among many Christians of all ages, Paul had seen the havoc that had been caused among the young people when a charismatic speaker appealed to their emotions and led them far from the truth. Often, those false teachings were directed toward encouraging or excusing sensuality, teaching that there was a disconnect between the body and the soul. Thus, sins committed by the body, such as engaging in sexual misconduct, did not affect the soul, and thus did not affect once salvation.
Paul knew that no matter how passionately these Gnostic ideas were presented, no matter how reasonable the arguments were made to sound, they were false. He knew that all throughout the Scriptures and throughout all the clear teachings of Jesus, the truth was presented that body and soul are intimately joined together making a complete person, and that sinful behaviors arise from sinful hearts and further corrupt the soul.
Paul wanted to ensure that the eternal souls of these young people were safeguarded by clear teaching that would help them to behave rationally, in a way that was self-controlled instead of allowing their emotions to hold sway over their behavior. This was especially important because not only were there young people the future leaders of the Church, but they were also some of the most visible parts of the Church. Thus bad, reckless, lawless behavior on their part cast a shadow on the whole Church, and weakened its ability to do its work. But when the young people come especially the young men, were not only well behaved but productive and noted for their good deeds, that cast the whole Church in a much more positive light.
Pray with Me
Father, thank you for this small and useful piece of wisdom. Even today our young people, especially our young men, are being led astray, not necessarily by false teachers within the church, but by many elements in our society that encourage them to respond with their emotions rather than with their intellect and rational thought. And, especially when the hormones of young people are raging, it is easy for them to be manipulated and to give in. The corrective, as Paul prescribes, is not to try to isolate those young people from the world, but to teach them well and clearly about what is true, and to help them develop the tools and skillsets that will help them to be able to react rationally instead of emotionally, and to thus preserve and strengthen their souls, even in the midst of temptation. Help me, Lord, to do my part in helping strengthen our young people in precisely these ways. Amen.