January 5, 2012 – Titus 1-3

Here we have the short letter to Titus. It appears to be a short instruction manual on how to handle a new Christian community. A couple of things that are pointed out and I believe are important. There is an established authority. There is a hierarchy set up, there is an understood Truth coming from the top to the community through sources, Titus is called to set up others who will continue to teach this Truth and there is a call to admonish those that are not teaching the Truth. I have talked at length about authority and Truth and the disconnect non-Catholics have to this understanding, but here is just one more example that disagreements in teachings on faith and morals is not something that is Biblical. It is against such division that Paul is writing to Titus to stop and avoid. Yet we have 30,000 denominations teaching different varieties of Christianity and all believing they are following Christ commands. There is not 30,000 different Truths, but only one. This is what Paul knew and instructed.

We see that the instruction for a leader in the community has its foundation in self-control. How true this is today and yet the world teaches to indulge. We are in the midst of an election in which it seems every candidate has skeleton’s popping up. We want a leader that has self-control over themselves. How else can you trust them to make sound decisions. How else can you trust them to not just go with the flow and react on emotions. Self-control is such a lost characteristic and is viewed by some (thanks Freud) as harmful. Yet, if we give in to whatever we want (some would call this freedom), are we really in any kind of control or are we being controlled (opposite of freedom). If we cannot say no, our yes means nothing. I thought it was interesting that the first thing to look for in a leader of the Church is someone who shows self-control in their own life and actions. Maybe we should look for that in our leaders.