A Middle-Way Church: Good Works and Gentleness

Titus speaks from the moment when the first Christians had begun to realize that the church might be here for the long haul. The first generation had vision, passion, and the expectation that Christ could return at any moment, but later generations had to figure out who would pay the bills, clean the restrooms, and keep the whole thing going day by day. Titus asks what the church’s priorities should be once it becomes an established part of society.

The text’s first answer is simple: do good. Titus calls believers to be ready for every good work and to devote themselves to work that is excellent and profitable to everyone. The early church made itself visible by caring for abandoned babies, widows, orphans, and plague victims when others left. Good works were not merely ethical advice; they made society better, and they gave the government reason to hesitate before persecuting Christians. The church should leave its neighbors saying, “I’m so glad those people are here.”

The text’s second answer is almost as simple: at least do not be jerks. Titus tells Christians to speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle, and show courtesy to everyone. Christ saved people not because they had been good, but because God loved them in spite of their foolishness, envy, passions, and quarrels. Christ chose not to quarrel with sinners, and his people ought to follow that example. Moronic controversies, dissensions, and quarrels about rules are unprofitable and worthless.

The contrast between Titus’s vision and Christianity’s public image is hard to miss. Conservative evangelicals are often seen as judgmental, self-righteous, trivial, and tied to MAGA politics. Mainline liberals are often seen as tepid, irrelevant, vague, distracted by their own pointless issues, and tied to Democratic politics. Both pictures are unfair caricatures of many actual Christians, but both groups often accept the caricature of the other and speak nastily about each other.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is too important to be watered down to generic niceness, and too compassionate and fiercely loving to become hateful or indifferent to human need. Christ does not look like either caricature. Titus points toward another way: a church that is passionate and thoughtful, firm in conviction and respectful toward others, known for doing good, gentleness, courtesy, and a refusal to waste its life on pointless debates.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Do good that everyone can see Titus does not imagine good works as private religious decoration. Goodness becomes public when it relieves suffering, protects vulnerable people, and makes a real difference in the life of a neighborhood. The church’s credibility grows when its presence is experienced as a gift rather than a threat. [45:00]
• 2. Christ ended the quarrel first Christ did not save sinners because they had won an argument or achieved moral superiority. God acted in mercy toward people who were foolish, envious, and captive to destructive desires. Christian gentleness rests on remembering that grace came before deserving. [46:07]
• 3. Moronic controversies waste the church’s life Titus does not treat every disagreement as equally worthy of attention. Some arguments consume energy without feeding anyone, healing anyone, or making anyone more faithful. Discernment means refusing to let trivial disputes become the church’s public witness. [46:25]
• 4. The gospel exceeds both Christian caricatures The gospel cannot be reduced to vague niceness, partisan loyalty, condemnation, or cultural resentment. Christ’s love is both compassionate and demanding, both thoughtful and passionate. A faithful church must resist being claimed by the political tribes that want to define it. [52:21]
• 5. Gentleness can be a distinctive witness Titus names courtesy toward everyone as a mark of a church changed by Christ. Gentleness does not mean weakness or lack of conviction. It means that conviction is no longer used as permission to despise people.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [34:11] - Titus 3:1-11
• [41:29] - The Church Settles in for the Long Haul
• [42:37] - Vision, Passion, and Day-to-Day Leadership
• [43:26] - Titus Asks What the Church Should Be
• [44:13] - First Priority: Do Good
• [45:00] - The Early Church Cared for the Vulnerable
• [45:24] - Second Priority: Do Not Be Jerks
• [46:07] - Christ Chose Not to Quarrel With Us
• [46:47] - What Should People See in the Church?
• [47:45] - The Public Image of Evangelical Christianity
• [49:11] - The Public Image of Mainline Christianity
• [50:48] - Caricatures and Christian Nastiness
• [51:31] - Why Interest in Christianity Is Declining
• [52:21] - A Better Way Than Either Caricature
• [53:31] - The Church Titus Describes

Bible Reading

Titus 3:1–11

Verse 1: “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,” [39:30]

Verse 2: “to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone.” [39:39]

Verse 3: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.” [39:49]

Verse 4: “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,” [40:06]

Verse 5: “he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” [40:12]

Verse 6: “This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,” [40:27]

Verse 7: “so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” [40:32]

Verse 8: “The saying is sure. I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone.” [40:41]

Verse 9: “But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” [41:00]

Verse 10: “After a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions,” [41:12]

Verse 11: “since you know that such a person is perverted and sinful, being self-condemned.” [41:20]

Observation questions

1. What positive actions does Titus 3:1–2 call Christians to practice, both in public life and in their treatment of other people?
2. What does Titus say Christians were like before God’s kindness appeared, and what contrast does that create with the behavior commanded in verses 1–2? [45:53]
3. According to verses 5–7, why did God save his people, and what gifts or new identity does he give them?
4. What kinds of arguments does Titus specifically call “unprofitable and worthless,” and what response does he prescribe for a person who repeatedly causes division? [46:21]

Interpretation questions

1. Titus connects God’s mercy toward sinners with the call to be gentle and courteous toward everyone. How does remembering that salvation is undeserved change the way Christians should speak to people they strongly disagree with? [46:07]
2. Titus says good works are “profitable to everyone.” What makes a good work beneficial not only to church members, but also to neighbors who may not share Christian faith? [44:13]
3. Does avoiding foolish controversies mean Christians should never disagree or speak firmly about truth? How can a group tell the difference between a necessary disagreement and a quarrel that is merely feeding pride or division? [53:00]
4. Titus gives a serious warning about someone who repeatedly stirs up division. What might patient first and second admonitions look like before a church decides it can no longer keep participating in that person’s conflict?

Application questions

1. If people in this neighborhood described this church’s presence, what would they say it contributes? What is one real need—such as hunger, loneliness, housing, children, older adults, or illness—where the group could help make the community say, “I’m glad those people are here”? [45:00]
2. Think about a recent disagreement in person, online, at work, or in family life. Were you tempted to speak evil, assume the worst, or win the quarrel? What might gentleness and courtesy have looked like in that particular situation? [45:43]
3. Christians are called to be ready for every good work, not merely to approve of good things in principle. What is one concrete act of service you are already doing, or could begin doing, that would tangibly help someone else this month?
4. Which kinds of debates most easily pull you in: political arguments, conflicts within the church, social-media outrage, arguments about words, or something else? How can you recognize when a conversation has stopped being fruitful and it is time to step away? [54:09]
5. It is possible to be firm in conviction without treating another person with contempt. Where do you find that balance difficult—especially with people whose politics, beliefs, or behavior trouble you? [53:20]
6. Both vague niceness and harsh indifference fail to show the full character of Christ. Is there a place in your life where you need more courage to speak truth, or more compassion to meet human need? What would a faithful next step look like? [52:34]
7. Titus calls believers to remember that they too were once foolish, led astray, and caught in destructive patterns. How might that memory make you slower to judge someone who is struggling or behaving badly right now?