Titus 2:10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
If you have ever had a six-year-old guess your age, then you know what a humbling experience that can be. Recently a group of day campers were guessing my age, and the guesses covered a thirty-five to forty year span. It’s incredible! I was flattered with one guess, then in despair because of the next. One thing I have learned is that everyone is old to somebody. In Titus 2, the Bible addresses the “aged men” and the “aged women.” Paul tells us that the aged are to teach the younger how to live.
For instance, in Titus 2:5 it says that the older women are to teach the younger to do what is right in their homes “that the word of God be not blasphemed.” Paul talks to those who are servants that they are to be faithful and not to steal “that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.” I Timothy 5:14 teaches younger women to do what is right at home so as to “give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”
Again, I Timothy 6:1 says, “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.” Over and again we are instructed to do what we do and live as we live in order that the truth of the Word of God and the holiness of God are not called into question. My obedience to authority and my integrity in life is vitally important to how many people, particularly those who view me as older, view God.
It is an intense time here at camp in the summer because pastors, youth pastors, and lay leaders are very close to the young people they are leading. It is natural that young people are going to observe their elders and make some assumptions about God based on their behavior. Now it is true that a man can serve God but be a hypocrite, but a lot of young people are just going to assume that God is sanctioning the actions that their leaders take. So, when I lose my temper, have no self-control, and am not what I should be, it is a reflection on the Lord Jesus.
Today, there may be big decisions I make that affect the younger people who look to me, but it is important for me to remember that it is the little actions and reactions of my everyday life that show them who I believe God to be. Likewise, how I live oftentimes informs who others believe God to be, and that makes it mighty important.