Saturday Scripture Gold with Bibi: Are You Standing Up for Truth's Sake?

Another poll sheds light on this paradox of increased religiosity and decreased morality. According to sociologist Robert Bellah, 81 percent of the American people also say they agree that "an individual should arrive at his or her own religious belief independent of any church or synagogue."

Thus, the key to the paradox is the fact that those who claim to be Christians are arriving at faith on their own terms -- terms that make no demands on behavior.  A woman named Sheila, interviewed for Bellah's Habits of the Heart, embodies this attitude. "I believe in God," she said. "I can't remember the last time I went to church. But my faith has carried me a long way. It's 'Sheila-ism.' Just my own little voice."    -Charles Colson, Against the Night, p. 98.

I know that some of you might not like what I am about to say, but I want to be honest with you. It’s hard to imagine a culture less concerned about sin, or more enamored with material goods, individual rights, and all forms of ungodliness than the one in which we find ourselves. There, I said it! And, during these dark, spiritual times, instead of our Christian way of life confronting the sinfulness around us, we have allowed worldly philosophies to find a home in our hearts and minds. As a result, the name of Christ is stained, and the testimony of believers rendered worthless.

It was into this exact kind of situation that the apostle Paul writes a very pointed and personal letter to his young disciple Titus, nearly 2000 years ago. In this letter, Paul is communicating to Titus how to live a Godly life in a godless world. The idea is this: Truth must download into the way I live, or it’s not really believed. It must show up in my Google calendar. It’s not enough to just talk about my faith, it must impact and change the way I live. Godliness must show up in our churches, in our homes and in our world.

Paul sets the tone for his letter in the opening verses Titus 1:1-4. Here, Paul makes an appeal for truth. Similarly, truth has fallen on hard times today. One of the greatest temptations the church faces today is that of watering down the truth to accommodate our culture. To that Paul says not! That’s not how the church is to live! The church is to live godly and holy lives. We are to live radically not apathetically! And it begins with standing up for truth’s sake!

So, what I'd like to do this week, is take these opening verses (Titus 1:1-4) and download them into our lives so we can take a stand for truth’s sake! First, if I am going to take a stand for truth’s sake then…I must know who I am (Titus 1:1a). The subject matter here is one of identity, and more specifically our identity in Christ. At the very core of Paul’s being he understood who he was. He could of said: Paul a brilliant scholar—the highly educated Jewish leader, or Paul the Roman citizen. He could of said any of those things but he doesn't. Instead he says: “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ…”

The word "servant" doesn't really get at it. The word Paul was using here was the word used for the lowest person in society. It describes a person who gives up their will for the will of another. Paul was saying that he had come to the place where he had humbled himself before God, and totally surrendered his will over to Him. He had become a servant of God.

But, not only that; he had submitted himself to Christ and His work in his life. For, Paul that was becoming an apostle of Jesus Christ. That was his vocation. That’s what Christ had called him to do. The power of Paul’s life, the thing that made it possible for him to take a stand for truth was that he knew who he was. He was a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ!

The question that comes back is this: Who are you? Have you come to the place in your life where you have surrendered your life totally to God and submitted yourself to Christ and his work for your life? Have you? Or, are you just going through the motions? Because if you haven’t, you won’t be able to take a stand for truth. Let's move on...

Next, I must know what I stand for (Titus 1:1b-2). Look at the end of verse one: “…for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time

The word faith here is not our confidence or trust in God as we saw it was last week in Ephesians 6, but rather, the faith Paul is referring to here is the body of truth, the doctrine, the main things that believe, the things we would die for, the things we stand for as followers of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, if you’re going to be able stand for truth’s sake, you’re going to have to know what it is you believe. Not just a "head" knowledge, but a knowledge that leads to godliness. A knowledge that changes your life. Paul goes onto say that this faith and knowledge rests on the hope of eternal life.

I don’t know what’s ahead for me this year, but I do know what’s in my future. When this whole thing is over I’m with Jesus! Knowing that enables me to stand for truth’s sake in a godless world. Before you can stand for truth, you need to know what it is you believe. Otherwise you’ll bail! Let's keep moving on...

Additionally, I must know what to do (Titus 1:3). That’s my mission! Once you know what you believe, and what you stand for, you need to figure out what it is you have to do. I must know what my mission is. Paul certainly knew what his was. His mission was to take the truth which accords with godliness and preach it to sinners and people who needed to know the Lord. Paul saw the Gospel as a precious possession given to him to share. He was fired up about it!

Are you fired up about proclaiming the gospel to those who don’t know Christ? Are you? Well, let me say this in love. Christians fail big time in this area. Here are some common excuses I've heard and even used myself at one time: It’s just not my gift—or—I think that if you just live the Christian life before people they will get the message.

Let me just say this to that. That’s the great evangelical cop out! We are commanded to proclaim the gospel to the world around us. It’s not an option—it’s not when I feel like it or when its convenient. There’s an urgency about it. And when we don’t do that which we are commanded to do, we are not taking a stand for truth’s sake. That's what I meant by: I must know my mission. Moving along...

Finally, I must know who I am doing it for (Titus 1:4). Paul was writing to a young man in the ministry who was under his authority and his care. He calls Titus a true son; probably because he had led Titus to Christ. And, definitely because he was "discipling" him. Now here’s the thing.

Paul knew who his people were. Do you? Do you know who your people are? Do you know the people God has called you to influence? Is it your family, your friends, people here at church? Sometimes I fear that the pain of the world around us numbs us to the pain of the people right next to us. I can’t do much to help the world, but I can do a lot to help the people right next to me. I believe this with all my heart.

Let me summarize our discussion this week. I used Titus 1:1-4 to touch on the following points. As a true follower of Christ, I am:

• To live out my identity as a follower of Jesus Christ;
• To stand for what I believe, even in the face of opposition;
• To do the things that God has called me to do;
• To recommit to the people God has called me to serve and live with. 

I am not talking about rocket science, here. I am simply talking about taking a stand for truth’s sake in a world that desperately needs the truth!

Scripture: John 16:13; John 14:6; John 17:17; Psalm 145:18; Psalm 119:160; 1 John 5:20; 1 John 3:18  

Now, let's pray...

O Father, give us the humility which realizes its ignorance, admits its mistakes, recognizes its need, welcomes advice, accepts rebuke. Help us always to praise rather than to criticize, to sympathize rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy, and to think of people at their best rather than at their worst. This we ask for in thy name's sake. Amen

Until next time...

Have a blessed week!

Bibi