The truth and nothing but the truth should be coming forth from our pulpits. Paul’s letter to Titus was about defending the truth and confronting false teachings. The verses of Titus were difficult teachings during confusing times. The verses are not verses you would see under the eyes of an athlete, nor tattooed on the arms of a person. One once said, “ships do not sink because of the water around them. Ships sink because of the water that gets into them.”

A church is like a ship on troubled waters, but the moment the lies of the world get into the ship it is in trouble. We are called to navigate the waters with truth. D. L Moody said, “Christians should live in the world, but not be filled with it. A ship lives in the water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship goes to the bottom. So, Christians may live in the world but if the world gets into them, they sink.

What was going on in Titus?” Paul left Titus in Crete to appoint Godly leaders. Leaders must rebuke the false teachings with the teaching of sound doctrine. The point being made is the integrity of the message and the health of the church demand that we confront the deceiver, the divisive, the disobedient and the defiled in our midst. What do we do when people are not under sound teaching?

First, love the gospel and the people. Paul mentioned the insubordinate-those against God’s Word, the empty talkers-those void of God’s Word, and the deceivers -those distorted to God’s Word. Help people see what it means to be a Christian.

Second, lead others to grow in Christlikeness. The ER has trios rules. A heart attack takes precedence over a sprained ankle. Whereby we also have the order of importance in our teachings. There are first order teachings: the humanity/divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and Salvation by Faith alone. We can not change or compromise the first order teachings. The second order teachings like baptism and church polity may divide us denominationally. But may we not negotiate the first order.