My wife woke me up early this morning talking in her sleep from a dream. She spoke clearly and calmly about a little boy she was talking to on the beach in Los Angeles. She woke me up (without bothering to wake herself) to let me know that the little boy's name was Ivan. That was before 6am. I couldn't go back to sleep and so I've been reading Titus this morning.
My housemate's ESV version was sitting on the coffee table and this particular line stood out to me. The way it was worded struck me.
"Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior." (2:9-10)
Adorning the doctrine really grabbed me. Doctrine means 'the teachings' of God our Savior. I looked up Adorn and it can mean something like to add luster (which means to add light or sparkle), embellish (which means to make 'belle' or beautiful). So basically, we live in such a way as to show forth the beautiful sparkle of the teachings of Jesus so that they would catch the eye of the world and attract those who hunger to know True Good News.
We are called to make our very lives an adornment on the teachings of Christ. We don't adorn ourselves with worldly wealth, status and power. In Titus folks were being mislead into false teachings. Paul instructs Titus in strong terms to 'rebuke sharply' those who are in the wrong so that they may be 'healthy' or sound in the faith.
That uniting of grace and truth is always a challenge to me. We submit, but we also speak up. We accept, but we also correct. We love, but we are called to dispel deceit with the Gospel and teachings of Jesus. From the same teacher come sharp rebuke and gentle adornment. Jesus came full of grace and truth. That combination struggles to unite in me.
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