Shona Neff

Avoid Stupid Controversies

I am convinced that some people think controversy make the world go round. Why else would it be so prevalent these days?

When my boys were small they often picked at each other. One of their favorite “stages” was the backseat of my Suburban. . . . the longer the trip, the better the venue in their little minds. “Mom, he looked at me!” “Mommmmm, his hand is on my side of the seat!” And who hasn’t experienced this classic, “Mom, he TOUCHED me!”

“But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because they are unprofitable and useless” (Titus 3:9 NIV).

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We Ourselves Were Once Foolish

No one knows everything except for God, but we’ve all probably acted like know-it-alls at some point in our lives. There was a time in my ignorance of biblical matters when I professed that no one knows how God is going to judge. On the surface that may not sound so bad, but as my knowledge increased there were two significant changes in my attitude: 1) those in Christ Jesus are not going to be judged, and 2) those NOT in Christ Jesus will be judged according to Jesus’ Word (John 12:44-50). My original thoughts could be considered foolish.

My own example helped form the backdrop in which I look now at other Christians. I used to be critical of those who did not understand or pursue the things of God’s kingdom with the same knowledge base as me, but then I learned of my own foolishness: (more…)

Exhort and Reprove with All Authority

“Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority” ( Titus 2:15 NRSV)

What a can of worms Christian exhortation and reproof is these day! There are many words and phrases that describe that which Christians are to declare: not politically correct, narrow-minded, hater, extremist, and wacko, just to name a few.

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Be Trainable

My son’s have a phrase they love to tease me with: I do what I want. They periodically toss it my way with devious grins when I ask them to do something. I usually have a mommy comeback that yields the desired results because my boys are trainable.

Trainable. Many people, whether they are 2 or 92, resist training because, as my son’s phrase indicates, we do what we want to do. Being self-centered comes natural to the human heart, but Christians need to remember this:

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly” (Titus 2:11-12 NRSV).

By his grace, God brought salvation to the world. Not everyone accepts it, but for those who do we need to be trainable in the ways of the Lord. That is what it means to mature as Christians. (more…)

Models of Good Work

Seems that Titus does not only single out older men and women for sound instruction (Sound Doctrine, Seriously?) . . . he has plenty to say to young men. Parents and young men . . . please keep reading.

I am not that old, but I am old enough to see a big change in our society’s males population. Before I go any further let me say I am not a young man hater; I have two sons of my own. But, being the only representative of estrogen in my home, I know from first-hand experience that the male species requires polishing in order to properly morph from boys to men. I’m not an advocate for creating sissies (the world has plenty as it is), but I am for turning them into real men.

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Sound Doctrine! Seriously?

You’ve gotta love Titus! Lots of Christians, however, see the exhortation of this leader as a screeching halt to the things that define their daily life style and overall approach to life.

“Teach what is consistent with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1 NRSV).

Sound doctrine? That doesn’t sound like fun…..

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Denied By Your Actions?

Do you “walk the walk, or just talk the talk”?  I’d like to answer yes, but I’m not sure I can. How about you? As Christians, it is important that we don’t just talk up a good game in our daily walk with God.

Paul presented a concept to Titus that stopped me dead in my tracks when I read it:

“To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and the unbelieving nothing is pure. Their minds and consciences are corrupt. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions” (NRSV).

As I ponder those verses I drift back in time to my freshman year in college when I was a little sister to the Kappa Sigma fraternity at Eastern New Mexico University. The Kappa Sig brothers loved my best friend and me because we were so innocent. Being “hot” and “desired-of-men” was reserved for . . . well, hot and desirable girls, of which we were not. The brothers considered us, literally, their little sisters. To them, we were perfect pictures of purity. (Well, maybe except in enjoying “strong drink” a little more than we should have, but that is another post.) (more…)

Be Hospitable . . . and then Some

There are good leaders and bad ones. Certainly we want to be good ones!

In the New Testament book of Titus, the Apostle Paul provides his disciple, Titus, with guidelines on how appoint  leaders for the churches strewn across the Mediterranean island of Crete:

“. . . he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:8-9 NRSV).

Although these are great guidelines for church leaders, lay-people benefit from heeding them as well. After all, every  Christian is a leader within their realm of influence such as their homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces. The list comprising verse 8 is obtainable by every Christian. However, the guidelines spelled out in verse 9 are more daunting. All of us need to be able to share and defend sound doctrine to an extent, but there are many believers who have that gift and move into roles requiring those traits on a regular basis. They often end up the official leaders in our churches and ministries. (more…)

For This Reason

“Let your desires be ruled by reason” (Cicero 106 BC-43 BC)

The word ‘reason’ can be use in many ways. We reason things out looking for solutions. There are reasons we do what we do. And, as Marcus Tullius Cicero points out: it is good to let our desires be ruled by reason.

I like what the Roman philosopher and politician says because it gives me a sense of having my desires line up with why God put me here; there is a reason. God put all of us here for a purpose. Paul made this premise abundantly clear in a letter he wrote to Titus, a Greek believer that Paul nurtured in the Faith and into a position of leadership:

“I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remains to be done” (Titus 1:5 NRSV).

Titus had a reason – to help oversee the churches in Crete. That was not a cushy job since the Cretans were described by Paul as “liars, vicious brutes, [and] lazy gluttons” in Titus 1:12. There are not many people who would seek out such a ministry “opportunity” unless there was a reason. Titus did; it was “for this reason” that God put him on earth. It was the call for that servant’s life. (more…)