In the opening of Paul’s letter to Titus, we get a glimpse of Paul’s overall mission in ministry. As we walk through these introductory verses, I believe we will find them instructive in seeking to live out our own missional lives.
A Man with Authority and Under Authority
“Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.”
Paul described himself with two terms: “bond-servant” and “apostle”. He holds himself to be both a slave and a man granted with authority. We cannot directly emulate these words of Paul because none of us can be apostles. We can, however, imitate his attitude. Paul held a balance between humility and boldness. We should do likewise. Like with many other subjects in Scripture, we can err too far on either side of this. Some Christians go too far in their boldness and become prideful. Others go too far in their humility and become self-loathing. What the man of God needs is a true view of both who he is before God (humility) and who he is in Christ (boldness).
Three Things Paul Seeks to Impart
“…for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness…”
There are three things that Paul is writing for. These are the three aims of his ministry. It is also important to notice the targets of these three aims. They are “those chosen of God.” Paul understood that he was an ambassador to the world. But he was an ambassador to the world for the sake of the elect. Many today view evangelism like fishing. We cast out the line and hope a fish bites. If we don’t catch any fish, we go home to evaluate our strategy. Paul’s view was a little more focused. Christ has already chosen His bride. He has sent Paul to go and call her home.
Imagine how our evangelism would change if we took Paul’s view. We are not randomly casting nets just in case people come. We are ambassadors planted strategically by the Lord. Our mission is to boldly call out to the chosen of the Lord to place their faith in Him. He has chosen His people. We don’t know who they are, but He does. And they will come.
Our evangelistic efforts cannot fail because God does not fail to save His chosen ones.
Another aspect that should change our evangelism is found here. In recent times, many churches have focused on only one piece of it. We gear almost everything toward getting people saved. Our programs, Sunday Schools, Camps, Retreats, and even our Sunday services tend to be driven toward getting conversions. But Paul’s evangelistic mission had a lifelong focus. His mission wasn’t to simply bring someone to faith, but to see them all the way home to heaven. And he did so through these three aims.
Faith. Of course, it starts with bringing people to a confession of faith and to repentance. The very first step of the Christian life is to place one’s faith in Christ as Savior and Lord.
Knowledge of the truth. Once a person comes to faith, he begins a lifelong process of growing in the knowledge of the truth. This is learning the Word of God, proper doctrine and practice, theology, and so on.
Godliness. When Paul says “according to godliness” he means that the knowledge of the truth produces godliness. In other words, the end of knowing the truth is attaining the godliness that it produces.
Proper evangelism includes all three of these things. Conversion is not the end goal. It is the beginning. So, what is the end goal? Paul goes to this next.
The Hope of Eternal Life
“…in the hope of eternal life…”
The driving force and the end goal of Paul’s evangelistic efforts was the hope of eternal life. This “hope” means, in the original language, a “hope or expectation.” It comes from the root word meaning “to anticipate.” It is not a guess or wish, as we often view it in our modern language. It is a guarantee that we anticipate and expect. It is a settled hope, not an unsure hope.
The end goal of our evangelism ought not to be a profession of faith. The end goal of our evangelism ought to be entrance into glory at the end of the person’s life. That means that our evangelism includes discipleship, training, and teaching of the saints just as much as it includes sharing the gospel with the lost.
The goal of evangelism is to call out Christ’s chosen and see them all the way home.
The Summary of Paul’s Mission
In verse three, Paul says that the proclamation of the things we have talked about was entrusted to Him by God. This means that this is the summation of his ministry. In short, I think we can summarize his mission in this way. Paul’s mission was to bring God’s elect to faith, to train them in the knowledge of the truth that they might grow in godliness, and to help them make it all the way home. Should that not be our mission too?
May we return to a full-orbed view of evangelism. Conversion is just the beginning.