Today’s Bible reading is Judges 20 and Titus 2.
But as for you, teach … what? Sunday’s coming. What to teach? What to preach? An opportunity has been scheduled with your name on it. What’s your target? How will you know if you’ve hit it?
The little letter of Paul (“servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ”) to Titus (“my true child in a common faith … I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order”) provides the God-breathed answer to those questions.
Titus 2:1 begins with these straightforward words…
But as for you, teach what accords with…
To “accord with” is to harmonize. By April 15, you’re expected to file your taxes “in accordance with” the IRS. When you get behind the wheel, you’re expected to drive “in accordance with” traffic laws. An authoritative standard has already been established; our responsibility is to harmonize ourselves accordingly.
But notice what Paul doesn’t say. “As for you, teach what accords with”:
- The shifting winds of popular culture
- The self-centered passions of people
- The propaganda of politicians
- The evolving practices of human tradition
What Paul does say is, “Teach what accords with sound doctrine … the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:10). Titus wasn’t expected to innovate. He certainly didn’t have authority to subtract. No one would be helped if he watered down what God had delivered. Titus’ mission was to harmonize. Harmonized teaching leads to harmonized lives and harmonized lives glorify God.
Sunday’s coming. With whom do we expect our teachers and preachers to harmonize?
Today is already here. With whom will my individual life be harmonized?
God’s melody of sound, healthy doctrine is readily available. It’s up to us–young and old, men and women–to bring our lives into harmony with it.