Titus 2:10 … in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. (NIV)
There’s an old saying that has some validity, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Not everyone agrees on what is beautiful or attractive. Michelle and I don’t always agree on what is attractive. Married guys; have you ever watched a movie with your wife and she asked you that dangerous question, “Do you think she’s pretty?” Be careful brothers how you answer!
On our way to Lake Tahoe a couple of days ago (for a much needed vacation) we passed a line of low-riders. These cars were beautiful, obviously the owners put in a lot of time and money fixing up these cars. But Michelle was not impressed one bit. To her old cars are unattractive (okay, she says they’re ugly). How could two people who are so close have such diverse opinions about what is or is not attractive?
People have differing views on the attractiveness of churches. We have so many different churches with different shapes, sizes, music, preaching styles. How do we, or more importantly, how should we determine the attractiveness of a church? I think we need to have some rules to follow in order to determine what is attractive and what is not. Paul lays it all out in the second chapter of Titus how we make church attractive. (Unfortunately most people use a different set of rules than Paul)
The first rule Paul gives Titus is this, you must teach sound doctrine (Titus 2:1). That may seem obvious to you but the reality is sound doctrine is not the most important thing in many, if not most churches. But in the following verses Paul makes it abundantly clear why sound doctrine must be on the top of the list of what makes church attractive; sound doctrine changes lives.
Paul starts with older men. If the church is to be attractive to people without Christ we need older men to have their act together. Why would Paul start with older men? Older men that are self-controlled, serious, wise, strong in faith, in love, and in patience give stability to a church. If there is any group of people that should be showing stability it is the church. We live in a very unstable world. People need to feel safe and secure. When older men are standing strong in the most difficult of circumstances, that is very attractive to people that are hurting.
Next Paul teaches that older women to live their lives in a way that shows they are dedicated to God. They must not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of what a godly woman is. (Titus 2:3) When older women realize that God has called them to be examples the younger women will have a great opportunity to learn about Christ and have the biblical tools to live in happiness and power. When young women learn to be sensible and kind, as well as a good homemaker, who puts her own husband first, then no one will be able to criticize the teaching God gave us. (Titus 2:5)
Paul teaches young men to live self-controlled lives. I think this is more important than most people realize. Most young men think they are in control of their lives and their future. The reality is our culture controls young men (sports, music, music, movies, video games, etc.) more than they control themselves. That’s why Paul told Titus to be an example to younger men. We older men need to get involved with the younger men to set a godly example to them.
Finally Paul addresses slaves. Let me take a little stretch here… how do you feel on the job? Just kidding, but the advice Paul gives definitely applies to the job place. Christians should be the best employees, doing our job to the best of our ability, not talking back to our supervisors, not taking stuff home from the job (that’s stealing), having such a godly character that we are fully trusted on the job.
The Word of God is clear, this is how to make the teaching of God attractive to people who don’t have a relationship with God. All the other things we do to attract people to our church are fine, but if we aren’t committed to these godly concepts we will be in danger of offering people a church that is not the church that God designed it to be.
PEACE
Great word David! We should be attractive to those who are seeking God (aka those God is seeking), not the non-seeker! Your subject-line question is a good one! What does GOD find attractive? The thing that thrills His heart is when we recognize what HE has done for us in Christ and rely upon it! That kind of faith is what God finds attractive! When we understand all that Christ accomplished in HIS work and we rest in HIS efforts on our behalf, that is attractive to God. It also becomes the source of our power for transformation which, in reality, is the Spirit’s fruit produced in us, not our fruit produced by us. As someone has said, “The fruit of the Spirit is just as supernatural as the gifts of the Spirit.” So, the older men, the older women, the young men, and the young women who understand their true identity in Christ find themselves desiring and being drawn toward self-control because that’s what’s natural for the new creature God made when we became “genuine children of God.”
Great insight brother! Thanks for sharing! k