To Encourage You

Titus 2:9-10 “Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.”

Paul’s letter to his disciple Titus includes  instructions to this young pastor on how he was to teach Christians how to live in the midst of a world that didn’t know or love God.  He had instructions for young men, older men, young women, and older women. No one was to be left out.  In these instructions he was calling believers to live lives that were different, lives that demonstrated that God had done a mighty work in their heart. 

In the verses above, he turns to another subset of the Christians who lived in that society, i.e., Christian bondservants, i.e., Christian slaves.  While the Bible in no way condones slavery, it nevertheless had instructions for the large number of people who were slaves in that day.  It gave these people very clear commands on how they were to live. The closest parallel in our day would be employees, and how they are to conduct themselves in the work place.  They are told to be submissive to their “masters,” i.e., supervisors or bosses in our day and age.  They were to do their best for them, to be “well-pleasing.” They weren’t to be argumentative, grumbling, and otherwise resistant to their authority. They weren’t to steal from their employers. They were to “show all good faith,” i.e., to be people who could be trusted with a task, loyal, and consistently doing their best job.  Elsewhere in Scripture the following words command employees to honor their employer not just when he or she is watching them but at all times: “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free” (Ephesians 6:5-8). 

But we might ask, what if my boss is a real jerk? What if he or she treats me and others in the workplace poorly? What if they don’t deserve my respect?  Well, the Bible speaks to that situation, as well, with these words: “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God” (1 Peter 2:18-20). 

But you might then ask, why on earth would I do this?  The answer, if you are a Christian, is simply because God has told you to.  However, another reason that Paul gave Titus in the verse above is that such behavior “adorn(s) the gospel of God.”  To “adorn” means “to make more beautiful or attractive.” In other words, it is as we live in obedience to God’s Word that we make the Word of God more attractive to those who are watching our lives.  It is in obedience to God’s Word that in the mundane world of the workplace believers can live lives that glorify the gospel we say we believe.  It’s a life that is lived not to “get what we deserve” but one that is lived in gratitude to the Savior who didn’t give us what we deserved, for it was “while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  It is a life lived in a way that others can see the difference that Christ has made in it.  It’s as Jesus said in the metaphor of light to describe the believer’s life: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

So, do you want that? Do you want a life that is lived to adorn the gospel of God and makes the gospel attractive to unbelievers?  Do you want to live so that unbelievers might one day believe, and become those who are transformed to become those who “give glory to the Father Who is in heaven”?  Surely that’s what we should want as believers.

May God help us to live lives that adorn the beautiful gospel of God whether in the workplace, our home, our neighborhood, or wherever our Master has placed us. May we be instruments in God’s hand that He can use to draw those who don’t know Him to Himself.  Sure, we can resist all this and live for ourselves, but isn’t it so much higher a calling to live to adorn the message that can save a person’s soul?