Have you ever noticed that when something is your idea, and you are doing something for someone else, you're happy to help them? But if somebody tells you to do the exact same thing, then suddenly you don’t feel like doing it. The thing you’re doing hasn't changed. The person you're doing it for hasn't changed. What's changed is that somebody else is telling you what to do.
You see this in kids, right? You can ask them to clean their room, and you would think you just asked them to do the hardest thing imaginable. But they'll spend two hours rearranging that same room if it's their idea. And really, we don't really grow out of that. We just get better at hiding it. We do the work, but everybody around us knows we don't want to do it.
So, what we’re going to see today is what following Jesus has to do with the way we respond when we're under someone else's authority. How we work when nobody's watching, or the way we speak about the people we have to answer to. That's what Paul’s touching on in our passage today.
Titus 2:9–10: 9 Bondservantsare to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.
I love that last phrase. Paul says the way we live can actually adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. But to understand why that's so important, we have to start with who we belong to.
We are to be slaves to God.
We've already seen this language in the very first verse of Titus. Paul introduces himself as a servant of God. In Titus 1:1, Paul starts out his letter, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ…” Remember, that word “servant” can also be translated “slave.”[1] Paul was making known that his life belonged to somebody else. Jesus had saved him, and now he lived for Jesus.
Now, before we go any further, we need to talk about slavery for a minute. When we hear that word, we naturally think about slavery in American history. And we should remember how evil that was. Our own Southern Baptist Convention was formed in 1845 in a dispute that involved whether slaveholders could serve as missionaries. That's part of our dark history, just like slavery is part of America’s dark history. Praise the Lord that’s part of our past and we see from Scripture that all people have equal dignity before God their Creator![2]
But we also need to understand the world the Apostle Paul was writing in. Slavery in the Roman Empire wasn't the same as the race-based slavery that we think of that happened in America. For their slavery, people could become enslaved through war, debt, birth, kidnapping, or other situations. Some worked in households or served as skilled laborers and administrators. Others suffered in fields and mines. Slaves still didn’t have the freedoms that we rightly recognize that should belong to all human beings, though.
Paul is speaking to real people in the churches on Crete who lived under that system. And we need to see something about them here. Though they are the least in society, he doesn't treat them as people who have nothing to contribute to the church. He speaks to them as Christians whose lives matter to God and for the witness of the gospel. Even if you have no standing in society, you matter to Jesus.
Now, we could easily see the word slaves here and see someone else, but we need to see ourselves in this passage. Now that doesn't mean pretending our jobs or our family duties are the same thing as being enslaved. They're not. But we all live under authority in some part of our lives, and all of us are called to serve. So we must get this part right here right.
Colossians 3:24 says, “You are serving the Lord Christ.” Think about that. Whatever other responsibilities you have, if you are a Christian, your life belongs to Jesus. You are not ultimately living for your boss or your reputation or even your own personal satisfaction. You are living for Jesus. And once you understand that you are a servant of God, it changes how you serve everyone else.
Think about it like this: there are things we would never say to Jesus that we will say to somebody at work. There are ways we would never treat Jesus that we will treat somebody in our own home. And yet Jesus is the One we're supposed to be serving in the way we treat them. So as we go through these verses, don't just picture a slave somewhere. Ask how all of this applies to you.
We are to be submissive to those in authority over us. (9a)
Verse 9 says, “Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything.” Paul speaks here of being under someone’s authority. And this isn't the only place Scripture speaks this way. It talks about instruction about authority in the home between husbands and wives and kids and the church with leaders and in society.[3] We aren't all in charge of everything, and you know, that's probably a good thing!
Of course, Paul isn't saying that human authority is absolute and we should follow everything they say always. If someone tells you to sin, of course you don't have to obey them. In Acts 5:29, when the authorities told them not to evangelize anymore, Peter and the apostles said, “We must obey God rather than men.” God is always the highest authority. But we shouldn’t use the exceptions as excuses to avoid what the text here is actually telling us. Most of our struggles with authority aren't because somebody is asking us to deny Jesus or sin against Him. They're because we don't like being told what to do or what they are telling us to do or we don’t like the person that is telling us. We don't like the way somebody asked. We don't like the person asking. Or we think we know a better way to do it. Right?
In Danny Akin’s commentary, he points out that when you're serving under authority, you have an opportunity for evangelism right in front of you. Think about that. We usually think of evangelism as something we do when we're off work, when we're at church, or when we've set aside time to talk to somebody. But the way you respond to people in authority may be one of the things that makes somebody willing to listen when you do talk to them about Jesus.
That's why Paul isn't just interested in whether we follow instructions. He's interested in what the way we serve says about the Jesus we claim to follow.
We should serve with good actions and a good attitude. (9–10a)
Look at the rest of verse 9 and the beginning of verse 10. Paul says they are “to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith.” He's getting specific here. He's talking about the actual things people do, AND the attitude they have while they're doing them.
First, he says “well-pleasing.” This means trying to do your work in a way that serves the person you're responsible to. It doesn't mean being a brown noser and sucking up, and it doesn't mean you have to make everyone happy. You can't. But it does mean you shouldn't be trying to get by with as little effort as possible.
There's a difference between doing enough to keep somebody from complaining and doing a job well because it's worth doing well. Think about somebody who fixes something at your house. You don't just want them to make it look fixed until they pull out of the driveway. You want them to do the job right. You want to know you can trust what they've done. That's the kind of “well-pleasing” Paul's talking about.
Then he says “not argumentative.” Now that one can be hard. You know what we can tend to do? We can do everything somebody asked us to do and complain about it the whole time. Our hands are doing the work, but our mouth is making sure everyone knows we’re not happy about it.
We normally think of kids doing this with chores, but adults do the same thing. We've just learned to make our complaining sound a little more respectable. You know what we call it? We call it venting. Sometimes there really is a problem that needs to be addressed. But sometimes we're just complaining because we didn't get our way or we lack humility.
Jesus says in Luke 6:45, “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” That's why this matters. Our words reveal something deeper about what's going on inside us. You can tell people you're serving about Jesus, but if all they ever hear from you is bitterness or gossip or complaining, they're going to have a hard time seeing that in your life.
Then Paul says “not pilfering.” That's another word for stealing. It's easy to hear that and think, “Well, I'm not a thief.” But think of the small ways you can convince yourself something isn't really stealing. Maybe it's supplies from work. Maybe it's time you’re being paid for but aren't actually working. Maybe it's using somebody else's resources like they're yours. Paul's point is that a Christian ought to be trustworthy in the things nobody is likely to notice.
That's what he says next. “But showing all good faith.” In other words, be dependable. If you are a Christian, you should be the person people can trust. If you say you'll do something, do it. If you've been entrusted with something, take care of it. If you make a mistake, own it. Don't make somebody else pay for your dishonesty.
Ephesians 6:6–7 says, “6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.” Don't only serve when somebody notices. Do it from the heart because you're serving Who? You’re serving Jesus.
We shouldn’t miss the order here. We don't serve faithfully so that Jesus will save us. We serve because He has saved us. Throughout Titus, Paul has been connecting sound doctrine to godly living. What we believe should change how we live. So when our actions and attitudes don't match what we say we believe, we don't just need a better work ethic. We need to bring our hearts and lives back under the gospel.
Our lives should adorn the gospel of Jesus. (10b)
Now here's where Paul brings all of this together. Look at the end of verse 10. He says, “so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.” Think about that. Paul's talking to people who had very little power or control over their circumstances. And yet he tells them that their lives can do something absolutely incredible and beautiful. They can adorn the gospel.
That word “adorn” is important. John Stott points out that the word was used for arranging jewels so that their beauty could be seen. Think about a jeweler placing a diamond in a setting. The setting doesn't make the diamond valuable. A diamond already has its incredible intrinsic value. But the setting helps display its beauty. That's kind of the picture Paul is giving us. The gospel is the jewel. Our lives are the setting. And the question is whether the way we live helps people see the beauty of the gospel or makes it harder for them to see.
We can't make the gospel more true. We can't make Jesus more glorious than He already is. There's nothing missing from His death and resurrection that our good behavior can supply. But people are watching our lives, and they're making connections between what we say about Jesus and what they see in us. If we say Jesus is gracious but we're rude, something doesn't fit. If we say He's truthful but we're dishonest, something doesn't line up. If we say He humbled Himself to serve others but we think we're too important to help anybody, something’s not working here.
Remember what Paul said back in Titus 1:16 about the false teachers? “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.” Here he's showing us the other side of that. Our lives can demonstrate the truth we profess. And notice what we're adorning. Not our own reputation. Not the reputation of First Baptist. Paul says “the doctrine of God our Savior.” It's the gospel itself.
Think about the beauty of that gospel. The God who made us is the God we've sinned against. We've turned away from Him, and we can't make ourselves right with Him. Yet the very God we've sinned against has come to save us. Jesus came into this world, lived the perfect life we haven't lived, died on the cross for our sins, and rose from the dead. God our Savior has done for us what we could never do for ourselves.
And think about the One who saved us. Jesus is Lord of all with ultimate authority of the cosmos. Nobody has greater authority than He does. Yet in Mark 10:45, He says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” In John 13, Jesus kneels down and washes His disciples' feet. These are men who are going to fail Him. One of them is going to betray Him. Jesus knows all of this, yet He serves them. He serves because He loves them. And then He goes to the cross to serve you and me in the ultimate sacrifice.
Now bring all that back to Titus. When you're willing to do the work nobody wants to do, when you treat somebody with respect even though they haven't treated you well, when you're honest even when dishonesty would be easier, you are showing something of the character of the Savior you belong to.
Think about the people who see you every day. Your coworkers know whether you are honest when nobody's watching. Your spouse and kids know whether your kindness exists only on Sundays. They know whether you're willing to apologize, whether you serve without complaining, and whether you treat people the way you say Jesus has treated you.
Sometimes we think we need a bigger platform or more influence to make a difference for the gospel. But Paul gives this instruction to, of all people, slaves in Crete. They didn't have to become important in the world's eyes for their lives to matter. Right where they were, their faithfulness could put the beauty of the gospel on display.
And if you're here today and you don't know Jesus, don't hear this sermon and think Christianity is just about being a better employee or a nicer person. Those things can't save you. Jesus can. He died for sinners, and He rose again. Turn from your sin and trust in Him.
For those of us who belong to Him, think about where you're going tomorrow and the people you're going to see. Tell the truth when a lie would be easier. Do your work well when nobody's watching. Speak respectfully when you're frustrated. Serve your family without keeping score. And when you fail, own it and repent.
None of those things earn your salvation. But they can show others what the grace of God is doing in your life.
I want us to leave with that phrase in our minds. “Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.” The gospel is already beautiful. And what a privilege that God would use ordinary people like us, in ordinary places, doing ordinary things, to help somebody else see just how beautiful our Savior is.
[1] https://biblehub.com/greek/1401.htm
[2] https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/resolution-on-racial-reconciliation-on-the-150th-anniversary-of-the-southern-baptist-convention
[3] Ephesians 5:22–24; Colossians 3:18–21; 1 Peter 3:1–6; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5; 1 Timothy 5:17; Romans 13:1–7; 1 Peter 2:13–17; Titus 3:1
