DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- SPEAKING THE TRUTH WITH HUMILITY

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – SPEAKING THE TRUTH WITH HUMILITY

"Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable gentle, showing all humility to all men." (Titus 3:1-2)

All right, Paul, you've stepped over the boundaries. You've quit teaching and gone to meddling. Actually, this is a very convicting word to me personally.

Remember the culture that Paul and Titus were in. The Roman emperors were dictators and demanded allegiance. They did a lot of evil things. Yet, in spite of this, Paul urges Titus to tell his congregations to be subject and obedient to them. Not only that, they were advise against speaking evil of them.

That is a difficult assignment in the culture we live in today. It is so easy to bad-mouth those in authority, whether the President or Vice President, the Speaker of the House and Senate, local government officials, or even church leaders.

It is as though Paul was reinforcing his words when he wrote, "speak evil of no one showing all humility to all men." He doesn't give much wiggle room. This includes those with whom I disagree)

I am not convinced that this means that we should be mealy mouthed, just accepting whatever people do in their ungodly ways. I think there is a difference between speaking out against unrighteousness, and badmouthing people. In the mudhole of our culture, we can be clean and stand strong for what is right and true without throwing mud at other people. The person who throws mud inevitably gets dirty himself.

I think we need to be careful about how we speak about those who are in authority over us. For sure, we need to stand for what is right and true, but we don't need to bad-mouth them by calling them names and assassinating their character. May God help us to speak the truth with humility without castigating those we disagree with.

Love, Dad