Precious In His Sight

Precious In His Sight

To the pure, all things are pure. Titus 1:15

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Titus 1

1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,

4To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Titus' Task on Crete

5The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

10For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. 11They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." 13This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. 15To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

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I was standing in a small living room. The room was crowded with local
townspeople who were concerned about a home in their immediate neighbourhood
being purchased to enable five adults with developmental challenges
to live as a little family.

Several of the new residents were coming directly from their family homes where
they had lived peacefully for years. Others would be leaving a government
facility where they had spent many years of their lives.

You would have thought that we were setting up shop for a group of criminal
bikers or a house of ill repute. Parents were wondering if their children would be
safe on the street. Another had already made his judgement and informed us that
he would shoot any of the residents who might dare step on his property.

Those were interesting days. After a short time of question and answer, most of
the people realized that the vulnerable people would not be the neighbours but the
people who would be living in this new home. The people that they would be
welcoming into their neighbourhood were ill-equipped to cause any grief to others.

As soon as the people arrived, things began to happen. Two of the men attended the
local church. Being unfamiliar with our habits, they marched up in their new suits and
took their seats front and centre. Following the second week, the minister was asked
if he were considering a calling to another church. He immediately responded that
this was not on his mind and wondered where the person had got such an idea. T h e
parishioner responded that some had noticed the two men, obviously from another
church, and assumed that they were there to evaluate the minister for a call to a new
church. These men had each lived in a government facility for over 30 years!

About a year later, these same two men were walking home from work at the local
arena. An elderly driver had a heart attack and drove his car into them. One was
seriously hurt, the other was killed. The entire town turned out for the funeral.

We make so many needless mistakes by expecting the worst and prejudging
people we don’t really know or understand. A twisted face does not indicate a
twisted character. Shabby clothes do not reflect a person’s worth. Jesus knew what
was in a person’s heart. Titus tells the people of Crete to dismiss those who would
speak lies based on a person’s nationality. He goes on to tell us that it is good to be
pure minded and to expect the best. We all face new situations. Titus has
shown us how we should approach each one.

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Heavenly Father, help me to see beyond the colour of a person’s skin, his
nationality, or anything unique that might cause me to prejudge his value. Help me
to see with the eyes of Jesus. Jesus helped blind people to see. I want to see,
really see. I want to hear, really hear. I want to be more like Jesus. Amen.

- Noel Churchman

Noel was the Executive Director of Christian Horizons form 1976 to 2001. The devotionals we will be using are from a book he wrote in 2005 called “Walking with God”. Noel’s reflections are grounded in his experiences as an educator, and provider of supports for individuals with exceptional needs as well as his life as a dedicated follower of Christ.