One of the most
disappointing parts of being among people is when they are unkind to
one another. Sometimes they label one another, and try to debase each
other by calling them names. Paul the apostle had encountered this in
the island of Crete where he has left Titus to be the pastor of a
church. Because Paul is attempting to warn Titus of false teachers
and prophets who would take advantage of his church members, Paul
mentions one person who conducted himself according to this unkind
profile. Paul wrote in Titus chapter one and verse twelve:
One of themselves,
[even] a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians [are] alway liars,
evil beasts, slow bellies.
A lot
can be discovered about a person by the words of his or her mouth. In
this case, we have a specific example of one person to whom Paul is
referring. Paul wrote, “One of themselves” which refers to
the false teachers he mentioned in verse eleven, “even a prophet
of their own” which denotes that he was a person who taught
them and had some sense of authority, “said,” (This is
where we should pay particularly close attention because even as
Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaks.” Matthew 12:34.) “The Cretians are always liars,”
As we studied earlier in this book, the people of Crete had a
reputation, and unfortunately it was not a good one. Now although it
may have been true that there were those among the Cretians who were
liars, this doesn't mean that they could not be changed. For anyone
to declare that they are “always” liars does not build
them up in the least, and it certainly underestimates the power of
the gospel of Jesus Christ to change people.
Paul
continues with this prophet saying the Cretians are “evil
beasts” which means they were troublesome, injurious,
pernicious, destructive or baneful, and they were much like savage,
brutal beast who were nothing more than ferocious animals. In other
words this prophet saw the Cretians as worthless human beings, and
with this description, he must have thought them beyond salvation.
In
addition to always liars and evil beasts, Paul writes that this
prophet says the Cretians are “slow bellies” which means
lazy, shunning labor which one should perform, and he described them
as nothing more than gluttons who were gormandizers or big fat hogs
as if they were all stomach. What a description this prophet gives
these people. Not only were the Cretians liars, but they were evil
beasts, and now their description is greedy, lazy hogs? Looks like
Titus had his work cut out for him if this was true.
When we
look at this description of the Cretians, do we think of a particular
group of people who we label as though they could not be saved? Are
there characteristics which some of them employ which causes us to
cast the entire group into an evil category? We must remember, as
this prophet of which Paul speaks did not, that no matter what they
find out about mankind, they will never discover that he or she
cannot be saved. No matter how difficult or demeaning a group of
people may be, the gospel of Jesus Christ can save them. It does not
matter how mean they are, how much they lie, how evil they are or
even how lazy or greedy they are, they can be change. This is the
glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The vilest sinner can be saved,
and their reputation before salvation does not impede the power of
the Holy Spirit of God in any manner.
We must
be careful how we label people, especially when it comes to the idea
of salvation. This prophet was in error, and Paul wanted Titus to
know about him. We can learn a lot from Paul and this prophet when we
think about others whom we may have previously labeled. And after
this verse, we should now have understanding that they are merely
candidates to know the savior Jesus as we do.
Next
time we will discover what Paul says to do with this prophet, so read
ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites,
www.amazon.com
; www.barnesandnobles.com
; download
to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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