Bridge of Reason

Paul's letter to Titus in the New Testament contains a remarkable and disturbing observation. Paul writes: 'One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in faith…' (1:12/13) Titus was a Greek convert to Christianity, Paul referring to him as, 'my true child in the faith.' (1:4) He had a challenging assignment, so Paul wrote words both of encouragement and of instruction, 'as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.' (2:1) This is a theme throughout this letter, indeed, in his whole ministry. The fact Titus was to appoint elders in every town tells us this was a new church plant. The above quote gives some insight into what Titus had to draw on to accomplish his task. It is a shocking thing to read, xenophobic one might think. Paul, of course, was making a generalisation, not implying every citizen of ...

The Proof of Obedience When it comes to discipleship Jesus made it clear that words are not enough. Many find the message of Jesus attractive, and are prepared to look further into it. Like the rich young man, they are curious, ask questions, but come with the baggage of assumptions we all can carry. It’s a lazy kind of curiosity that assumes the answer is going to be just the one I already decided is right. In Jesus’s day it was assumed riches were a sign of God’s blessing, a sure sign someone was heading for eternal life. Jesus put his finger on what was always going to hold back this young man and issued the challenge. ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.’ Read the whole account in Mark’s gospel to see how prevalent this thinking about riches was (Mark 10:17-27) Discipleship costs, more than riches, more than reputation, more than comfort, which is why the first test of discipleshi...