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THE GOSPEL OF TRUTH IN A
LAND OF HOSTILITY
Recently I’ve been
spending some time studying
the book of Titus. Did you
know that the gospel does
very well in caustic
environments? Do you realize
that it may even do best in
environments that are evil
to the core? Going into this
study, I must admit that I
was kind of thinking that
places like the United
States are ideal for the
growth of the church and
passion for Christ. Titus
has made me re-think this.
Titus was a young pastor
whom Paul mentored in his
early years of ministry.
Remember with me where Paul
sent this young man—he sent
him to Corinth…twice. We
know this from 2
Corinthians. And Corinth was
a feisty congregation. There
was a faith healer at
Corinth who was spreading
the word that Paul was not
even a true Christian, and
Paul had to send Titus there
to work with that church. It
was a tough assignment, but
evidently Titus did a pretty
good job, because later Paul
sent Titus back to Corinth.
Corinth, famous for having
40,000 male and female
prostitutes at the temple of
Aphrodite.
From 2 Timothy, we also
know that Paul sent Titus to
Dalmatia, or modern day
Albania. As far as we know,
this is the farthest any
disciple traveled. Paul also
sent Titus to Crete, as we
read in the book of Titus.
Crete was not a nice place,
either. It was full of
liars, vicious brutes, and
lazy gluttons.
Why does Paul send young
Titus to such tough places?
Because he is sure that the
gospel of Christ can triumph
in those places. He sends
Titus to a bunch of liars in
the power of a God who does
not lie (1:2). I believe
that this is the power of
the gospel in the midst of
evil.
If you listen to the
words of Paul as he advises
Titus, he emphasizes that in
the midst of those who are
liars, evil brutes, and lazy
gluttons (1:12), Titus and
the church leaders are to
live godly lives.
First, Paul gives a list
of negatives, and then a
list of positives. The
positives are most powerful
because Paul tells Titus
that in the midst of the
Cretan lifestyle, “I want
you and the church leaders
to be friendly; I want you
to be holy and to love
goodness; I want you to be
self-controlled, to be an
example of what it means to
do good; I want you to be
disciplined.” And then he
says next, “I want you to
have a firm grasp on the
Word so that you are able to
share it with this
generation.”
The strategy is clear:
live a life that will stand
in stark contrast against
the lives of the Cretans who
are liars, evil brutes, and
lazy gluttons. Secondly, go
with God’s word in hand.
Isn’t it interesting that
Paul did not tell Titus to
start a program? He did not
tell him to raise money,
build a structure, and to
reach a certain growth rate
by the end of the first
year. He told Titus and
those within the church
simply to “BE.”
The core principle here
is that the gospel of Christ
is so true and powerful that
it does not need a
hospitable environment to
thrive. It can thrive in a
hostile setting. Model
Christ, and go with God’s
Word in hand.
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“The degree to which we do
not set our heart and
mind on things above is
the degree to which we will
stall and grow bitter,
become bored or afraid
down here. Without a
magnificent obsession,
holiness is not a garden,
but a tundra: an austere
land of weariness and
drivenness, heartache and
hard-heartedness, loopholes
and rules. Without looking
up, we’re of little earthly
good, and we find little
good on earth.
“But take heart. Christ
has overcome the world, and
thus freed us to live in it
with joy and vigor. Look
up and see Him, reigning
and interceding, and do not
grow weary or lose heart.
Fix your eyes on Jesus.
Paradoxically, the things of
earth will not only grow
strangely dim in that light,
but strangely beautiful
too.”
- Mark
Buchanan, in Things
Unseen
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Things Unseen: Living in
Light of Forever by
Mark Buchanan
2002 Multnomah Publishers
(Reviewed by Suzanne
Johnson)
Since, then, you have
been raised with Christ,
set your hearts on things
above, where Christ is
seated at the right hand of
God.
Set your minds on things
above, not on earthly
things.
Colossians 3:1-2
In Things Unseen,
Canadian pastor Mark
Buchanan (Your God is Too
Safe, The Holy Wild,
The Rest of God)
seeks to encourage weary and
restless Christians by
inspiring them with heaven.
Following the example of
Jesus, John, the apostle
Paul, and the writer of
Hebrews, Buchanan challenges
believers to fixate on
heaven, that they might be
of some earthly good.
The book’s back cover
explains simply, “This book
is about heaven, and yet
not. It is about our longing
for heaven, our instinct for
it. It is about eternity in
our hearts. It is about the
yearning inside us that is
both an acknowledgement of
and a protest against death,
and at the same time a cry
for something else, for that
which is beyond the grave,
stronger and larger than
it—more enduring. It is
about our yearning for
things unseen. It is about
you and me longing for
heaven…and about living here
on earth now in light of
that longing.”
Buchanan writes from a
pastor’s tender heart and is
well-versed in the craft of
storytelling. The prose is
refreshingly engaging and
easy to read, though some
readers might grow weary of
his adjective-laden,
multi-clause descriptions of
just about everything.
Matters of verbosity aside,
this book will cause you to
become more aware of the
singular ache and
homesickness that is
eternity in your heart and
will stir up your hunger for
heaven.
The End of Poverty
by Jeffrey Sachs, 2005
Penguin Press
The White Man’s Burden
by William Easterly, 2006
Penguin Press
(Reviewed by David Korb)
Lately, I’ve been chewing
on the ideas and opinion
presented in two hefty
volumes. The first book,
The End of Poverty,
talks in very positive terms
about a top-down approach to
solving the problem of
poverty in our world. It
describes how the world can
achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) of
eradicating extreme poverty
and hunger; achieving
universal primary school
enrollment; promoting gender
equality and empowering
women; reducing child
mortality; improving
maternal health; combating
HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases; ensuring
environment sustainability;
and developing a global
partnership for development.
The discussion specifically
addressing the MDGs covers
only a small portion of the
book, but this UN program is
an example of what Sachs
sees as an answer to these
issues, or as the book’s
subtitle suggests, “Economic
Possibilities for Our Time.”
Conversely, from the very
first page, The White
Man’s Burden talks about
two great tragedies: first,
that extreme poverty
afflicts billions of people,
with millions of children
dying from preventable
diseases; second, that the
West has “spent $2.3
trillion on foreign aid over
the last five decades and
still has not managed to get
twelve-cent medicines to
children to prevent half of
all malaria deaths.” The
book’s subtitle: “Why the
West’s Efforts to Aid the
Rest Have Done So Much Ill
and So Little Good.”
I believe that those of
us who engage in and partner
with ministries that deal
with issues such as those
listed above must come to
terms with what both of
these authors are saying.
Our positions may not be as
polar as these authors
represent, but nonetheless I
believe we must always be
carefully thinking through
our approaches to these
incredibly important issues.
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