Encounter the Truth

Jonathan Griffiths: We can't imagine that we are immune to the dangers of false teachers who infiltrate the church, immune to the influences of a toxic culture. We would be very, very naive to think that. And so we need to ask, are we as a church, are we individually, are we exercising proper discernment?

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. Today we're continuing a message that we began last time from the book of Titus, where we began to look at the dangers all around us. And Jonathan, as you said, one of the things that we need to do, both as a church and as individuals, is to make sure that we're exercising proper discernment. But how would we actually know if we are?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, I think if we asked the Apostle Paul that question, he would begin his answer by saying you need to know the truth which is set down in the Scriptures. So if you want to be able to discern truth from error, legitimate, authentic Christian teaching from falsehood—and there's plenty of falsehood around the place, of course—you need to know the Bible because God has given us His word that we might know Him and know truth.

I think that's the starting place. But I think if we allowed Paul to continue as he does in the letter to Titus, what he will also highlight for us is the importance of being part of a church where there is a godly and discerning leadership and eldership. And if we're just go-it-alone Christians trying to find our way in the world, we are vulnerable. We need to be part of a church where there is faithful teaching and godly leadership, and that's a protection for us. That's God's design for the believer.

Steve Hiller: Well, join us in God's word as we look at this further. We're in the book of Titus, as you just heard, verses 10 through 16 of chapter one is where we're going to be camping out today. So join us there as we continue Dangers All Around. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: False teaching, it hasn't gone away. And that takes us back then to the godly elders of character and conviction that we thought about last time. These elders need to be ready to take active steps to protect the church, to silence these ungodly influencers. They need to be silenced because people like this can cause immense trouble. That was the case in Crete. They were upsetting whole families or whole households, and that could be family units or even house churches. They are upsetting them by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

Now, that shameful gain could be the gain of money, as we spoke about just a moment ago, or it could be the promotion of another self-serving agenda, boosting rather their own personal reputation, flattering their ego by building a following—a kind of narcissism—or it could be about sowing discord, driving a wedge through the fellowship, seeking to break off a faction. Whatever the agenda is, whatever the shameful gain, it is shameful, and the elders need to be on the lookout. They need to be ready to do that unpopular, painful work of silencing such people, putting a stop to their activity. And that takes courage, doesn't it? But how very, very necessary that is.

Now, we might at this point pause and just ask why. You know, why this obsessive concern with sound teaching and with shutting down the false teacher? Why not just leave it be and let people form their own opinions and kind of self-regulate in this? You might be actually listening in here as someone who is not a Christian. You're just trying to figure things out, get a sense of what it is we're about here, and perhaps you're slightly rolling your eyes at the thought of these Bible people getting so upset at the thought of some alternative ideas doing the rounds. Why not just live and let live? I mean, come on, relax a little bit here.

Well, the reason this matters, the reason Paul cares, and the reason we care, it's simply this. False teaching is deception, verse 10. False teaching upsets people in their faith, verse 11. Whole households, whole house churches are being upset here, being disturbed in the foundations of their faith. And Paul knows, and we know, that nothing matters more than a person's faith in Jesus Christ. There's nothing more precious. The very best thing we can do for anyone is to help them trust in Jesus and find life in His name, life eternal.

And the worst thing we could ever do to harm someone is to disturb a believer's faith in Jesus or to allow someone else to disturb it. Eternity rests on true gospel faith. This isn't about personal preference or kind of lifestyle choice. This is about heaven and hell. This is about eternal gain and eternal loss. This is about joy and this is about suffering. It is about life and it's about death. Nothing matters more than this. And so Paul says, going back to the false ungodly teachers, these insubordinate people, such people must be silenced.

The church is at risk from ungodly false teachers. It's at risk next from a toxic culture, and that's verse 12. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Cities and communities do develop their own character and their own reputation over time, and some generate a bad name for themselves that they find hard to shake.

The evangelist Billy Graham once famously likened the city of New York to Sodom and Gomorrah, I think that was probably back in the 1950s, expressing his hesitation to attempt evangelistic meetings in such a tough environment. Las Vegas, it's almost universally known, isn't it, as Sin City? And the validity of the name is rarely disputed, even by those who enjoy visiting there. In the ancient world, the island of Crete was notorious for its low standards of ethics and of conduct. A source from the third century BC says this, and I quote, "Cretans are thieves from way back, pirates. They never think along legal lines."

In fact, in the ancient world, the word "cretanize" meant to lie. It was a kind of shorthand, a colloquial term for lying. If you acted like a Cretan, it meant to be dishonest. And of course then there is the prophetic saying that Paul quotes here in the passage, which evidently originated with a man named Epimenides from the sixth or seventh century BC. It affirms just how bad the island's reputation had been and for how very long it had been bad. Now, this was the culture into which this young church was planted. This was the world in which these young believers were living and developing. It was just normal to lie and to deceive.

You couldn't expect for sellers in the marketplace to use accurate weights and measures. It was all slanted. You couldn't anticipate a person in business to actually keep their word. You would always be on guard for fraud, for swindling, for being taken for a bit of a ride. It was a culture of lies. It was a culture marked by evil and beastly behavior, not dignity of conduct, respect for persons, civility, order. I guess it was probably fairly common to see drunks in the street, to observe people overindulging in food, practicing gluttony with little embarrassment.

And all that was acceptable. All that was seen as normal. That was the culture in which these young believers were learning what it meant to follow Christ, and it was toxic. It was the spiritual equivalent of trying to raise a family in a town where the water supply was poisoned or a town where a nuclear disaster had contaminated the ground. The environment itself was toxic to spiritual health and vitality. Now, Crete was notorious, but it was hardly unique. We actually see elements of all these things in our culture today.

Lying, dishonesty, we all know that we have to watch our back in the marketplace. We all know we have to be on the lookout in transactions and relationships. It's so easy to be deceived and defrauded. We're now entirely accustomed, aren't we, to picking up the telephone and expecting that the caller on the other end will be there to deceive us, to swindle us? Phone scams are so common that many of us are just cutting the phone line altogether. A landline is now more of a headache than it's worth. It's shameless, but it's so common. It's now unremarkable.

Evil, beastly behavior, we only need to look on the news and read reports of gun violence in our communities, of lewd behavior, of gross immorality. Laziness, gluttony, those things have hardly disappeared, have they? Crete was a toxic culture, and in many ways ours is too. I don't think I need to do too much work to convince you of that. I think we know. A little while ago, a picture did the rounds in media and online of a copperhead snake, a poisonous pit viper, that was lying atop a bed of dry leaves.

And the brown pattern of the snake's skin and the leaves, the color and the pattern blended so perfectly that the snake was nearly impossible to spot. You could stare at the picture for quite a long time and not see the snake at all. But of course, its blending with its surroundings didn't make it any less dangerous. In fact, you were more likely to tread on it and be bitten by it because it blended in so well. The cultural backdrop of Crete was of such a murky color that these false teachers blended right in. The snakes in the grass were practically invisible.

And the church wasn't ready to spot them. Probably the church was far too much like the culture too. It was blending. And so the danger was very, very real. And the danger, I think, remains just the same today. A toxic culture, a murky background, a church at risk.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. Our message is called Dangers All Around, part of our series, Transformed by Truth. Now we're going to pause here, but we'll get back to the message in just a moment. Earlier this month, we were taking a look at the life of Abraham on the radio. Jonathan's actually written a book where we're looking at Abraham's life and seeing how that can enrich our lives. The book is called Strangers and Exiles, and it's all about pursuing faithfulness as pilgrims in a faithless world.

Jonathan's taking a look at how God decided to choose Abraham. He took hold of this sinner. He gave Abraham privilege and promises, and then He used Abraham in His service and sustained him till the end. We'd love to send you a copy of Jonathan's new book, Strangers and Exiles, as our way of saying thank you for your financial support this month. You can give a gift online at encounterthetruth.org or call us at 1-833-99-TRUTH.

Because it truly is your financial generosity that allows us to put together this radio program, to get it on this radio station, to make it available online and through the app. So again, for your gift of any amount, we want to send you Jonathan's brand-new book, Strangers and Exiles. Our phone number is 1-833-998-7884 and the website is encounterthetruth.org. If you joined us a little bit later, we're in the book of Titus, chapter one, looking at verses 10 to 16 today. Back to the message, again here's Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: Added to the dangers posed by false teachers in a toxic culture is the risk posed finally by an undiscerning flock, verse 13. This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. Here Paul seems to be turning his attention to people within the church who are listening to the false teachers, listening to their myths and their erroneous commands. And he tells Titus how to handle the situation. He is to rebuke them sharply.

The present situation doesn't call for a gentle and a measured word of response; it actually calls for a sharp rebuke. And at this point, we kind of say, "Hey now, Paul. That's not very pastoral. We want soft words and gentle speech. We want an arm around the shoulder, kind encouragement, affirmation, comfort. But a sharp rebuke? That's not what we're really looking for, Paul." But Paul insists this is exactly what's needed, and here's why. Some within the church family are actually listening to these false teachers, to people, verse 14, who have turned away from the truth.

They are influenced enough by the culture that they don't recognize the ungodly teachers for who they actually are. They don't see what's really going on here. They haven't noticed the unpleasant behavior. They haven't recognized the false teaching. They have been thoroughly undiscerning. And Paul has very, very good reason to be concerned. He sees that what is at stake, verse 13, is the very faith of the flock. He wants them, his longing for them is that they should be sound in the faith, not following the teaching of those who turn away from the truth, verse 14.

He cares about this because the end result of following false teaching is spiritual ruin. And here I think Paul has in view the false teachers and all who follow them. Look where this leads in verse 15. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their minds and consciences are defiled. Paul has in mind here the particular heresy of the circumcision party. They dealt, as you remember, in Old Testament law and the idea that certain things under the law were either pure or impure on a ceremonial level.

And he's saying that those who have been made truly pure by the gospel of Jesus Christ, they don't need to worry now about which foods or objects are ceremonially pure or impure according to religious law. No, all of that is out the window now because of Jesus and His fulfillment of the law. It's all been fulfilled through Jesus's life, death, and resurrection. The Christian is now free of all that. But if you buy into the myths of the false teachers, suddenly you're in the trap of worrying about these things again because you don't have the freedom of the gospel, the freedom of knowing that Jesus has made you clean by His blood, He's set you free through His death.

People who have bought into the lie have defiled minds and consciences now because they've rejected the only message that will make them truly clean: the message of the gospel. And so comes this terrible verdict, and it's quite arresting, verse 16. They, the ungodly teachers and all who follow them in their error, they profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Ungodly false teachers who peddle lies from bad motives, the people who undiscerningly follow them, they close the door on the gospel.

They deny God by their behavior, and they demonstrate that they do not truly belong to Him. And at this point, Paul just doesn't hold back. He doesn't say teachers like this and their followers, they're sadly a little bit misdirected, a little misguided, regrettably they are slightly confused. No, that's not what he says. Claiming to know God but turning away from Him in life and in doctrine, this is an ugly thing. Teachers like this and their disciples are detestable, disobedient, and that takes us back to the essence of sin once more. This is an ugly insubordination.

They are unfit for any good work. There's not a kind of middle ground here where we find a quiet role in the church for people like this, perhaps a lower profile role but we just smooth it all over. We take them perhaps out of teaching Sunday School and we get them to help with some administration in the back office. No, there's not a way to sugarcoat this. Gospel denial by doctrine and life, it renders teacher and disciple alike useless for the work of the gospel. And remember, the stakes are very, very high here.

Paul's message, we saw verse 2, it holds out the hope of eternal life. He will tell us later, chapter 2 and verse 11, that the grace of God in Jesus brings salvation to people. This isn't something that we trifle with. The gospel deals with issues of eternal importance, of eternal significance. And so seeing things with this clarity, Paul feels the urgency. This isn't a moment for quiet words, soft speech. This is danger, this is a crisis, this is a time for sharp rebuke. Now, at this point, we've got to stand back and ask some hard questions.

We can't imagine that we are immune to the dangers of false teachers who infiltrate the church, immune to the influences of a toxic culture. We would be very, very naive to think that. And so we need to ask, are we as a church, are we individually, are we exercising proper discernment? The discernment that is actually needed and called for. When impressive-sounding teaching comes along, when impressive-sounding teachers come along, smooth talkers, perhaps teachers who are a little bit edgy, maybe a little unconventional, a little rebellious, and they capture our attention, how careful are we being to check their message, to look at their lives?

You see, the sobering thing is that the people at Crete had Paul's agent there. They had Titus in their midst. They had the apostolic message from the apostolic agent. But they were drawn, many of them, to the false teachers instead. That's the shock here in the passage. They were ready to obey the commands, Paul tells us, of the infiltrators. It seems absurd, but it was actually happening. Are we checking what we are hearing against the apostolic message? Let me ask you, are you careful about the teaching you consume online, on radio, on TV, on podcasts?

Do you give careful consideration to it, to see if the speaker is of good reputation, of good character from all you know, if the message lines up with apostolic truth? The main protection Paul wanted to set up at Crete was a godly eldership. You remember that from last week, who could shield the church from teaching like this. And so our greatest protection in these things is to be part of a church with a godly eldership. And let me ask, is that your particular situation? Or are you kind of floating, maybe visiting, listening in as a kind of sole agent, flitting from teacher to teacher, from church to church?

Be careful if that's what you're doing. Because the leadership structure of elders in the local church is there for your protection. Each one of us needs to be part of a healthy, well-led, biblically led local church. If you're new to Christian things, if you're exploring Christian things, ultimately this is where you need to land: in the safety of a biblically structured local church. And for those of us within the local church, can I say how important it is to take seriously the protection of the elders over the teaching of the church, not to kind of brush that aside when there is a choice as to whether a resource would be used or a speaker would be welcomed?

When there is direction from the elders on a matter of doctrine, it could be easy to dismiss their direction as a little bit narrow-minded, we know they're a little bit fussy, they're a little bit restrictive. Nice guys but a bit judgmental. Clearly at Crete, not everyone was actually willing to listen to Titus. But there is safety within the local church and under the eldership, the leadership that God has provided. Are you being discerning in that way, and am I? The perils are very real: false teachers, a toxic culture. The stakes, they're very, very high. It is a matter of truth and deception, of purity and defilement before God. It is a matter of faith and of loss, it is a matter even of life and of death. May God make us discerning and keep us safe, sound in the faith, grounded in the truth.

Steve Hiller: Jonathan Griffiths here on Encounter the Truth, a helpful message today taking a look at some of the key dangers facing the church both then and now. If you want to go back and listen to this message, you can always do that by coming to our website. It is encounterthetruth.org, and you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen if you have the Encounter the Truth app. That's a great way to listen on the go, whenever it fits your schedule.

Again, just look for Encounter the Truth at your favorite app store. Well, Encounter the Truth is listener-supported, and that means we're able to bring you Jonathan's teaching each day on this station because of your generosity. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a copy of Jonathan's newest book. It's called Strangers and Exiles. It's a look at the life and the story of Abraham, and Jonathan, who do you say that you wrote this book for?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, I really had two sorts of reader in mind, Steve. On the one hand, I think this is for any disciple who wants to grow in their trust and develop their walk with Christ. The story of Abraham is the story of a believer in the promises of God, who kept trusting through the ups and downs of life, through challenges of faith, through being an outsider really in the society and culture of his day, a believer who stumbled in sin and who failed, but who knew the grace of God and the forgiveness of God.

And I think it's a wonderful story to learn and to study for the sake of our own discipleship, and I trust it will be an encouragement to many on that level. I had in mind as well anyone who has the privilege of handling and teaching the word of God and who would really like some help in thinking through how to teach and apply this section of the book of Genesis, this story of Abraham, and to do so as Christian Scripture. To see how this section of the word of God from the Old Testament speaks to Christian believers and points us to Christ, and I hope there will be some helpful pointers and some guidance for the Bible teacher within this book as well. So I had that kind of dual readership in mind.

Steve Hiller: Well, the name of the book is Strangers and Exiles. It's about pursuing faithfulness as pilgrims in a faithless world, and we'd love to send you a copy as our way of saying thank you for your financial support. You can give a gift over the phone when you call us at 1-833-99-TRUTH, or come to our website encounterthetruth.org. Again, the phone number is 1-833-998-7884 or encounterthetruth.org. You can also write us at Encounter the Truth, 2176 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K2E 0A1 or in the US at Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, number 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths and our producer Mark Breda, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time.