A conviction or not?

Remind your people to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey them, and to be ready to do good in every way. Tell them not to speak evil of anyone, but to be peaceful and friendly, and always to show a gentle attitude towards everyone. (verses 1,2)

Read Titus 3:1-15

I remember a challenging statement I heard some years ago. Somebody asked a disturbing question about today’s Christians. He said that if being Christian were a crime, and Christians generally were charged with it, how many would the accusers find enough evidence about to find them guilty. When I looked at my life I felt decidedly uncomfortable.

St Paul is challenging Pastor Titus’s congregation in much the same way. They are not only to be Christian, they are to be seen to be Christian in everything they do. This is not so that they can be seen as ‘holier than thou’; rather, so that people can see the effect God’s grace has had on their lives. In baptism the Holy Spirit gives us new life; we are God’s new creation. People ought to notice the difference.

The challenge is ours too. We have been saved from being willing and lawless participants in a dog-eat-dog society. We have been empowered to live in Christ, as part of his body. We know the peace and contentment of those who know they have eternal life.

People around us not only ought to see the difference; they ought to benefit from it. The world around them should be just a little better for our being in it.

Father, help me to be what you have made me to be in Jesus: a new creation. Amen.

by Robert Turnbull, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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