Unpleasant but necessary: Confronting Insubordinates

The Book of Titus: A Sound Church

Article 4: An unpleasant but necessary duty

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Verse 10: For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision

Now consider the content of their teaching. It’s not just their approach to authority that is problematic; their approach to teaching is also bad. Paul says that they are teaching things that they shouldn’t be teaching. Their teaching isn’t sound doctrine. Paul isn’t concerned with their ability to captivate an audience or their ability to appear loving. These qualities can be the mechanisms by which heresy enters the church. What’s important is that their teaching lacks sound doctrine. In other words, it consists of ideas that have no place in the Church. In essence, these people depart from the purest form of the Gospel by adding all sorts of things to it.

Paul specifically mentions “idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision“. He’s not saying all of those of the circumcision, but highlighting a particular group, probably of Jewish background, who were causing problems in the church. These people might have emphasised their lineage or ancestry, suggesting that faith alone wasn’t enough. They might also have imposed restrictions, claiming that certain freedoms were unclean. Paul describes these teachings as Jewish fables, things that are just made up. Possibly involving competing genealogies related to Christ and the commandments of men.

Paul calls them “idle talkers“, indicating that their words are empty and vain. They talk a lot but offer little substance. As described in the letter of Jude, these people are like clouds without water, appearing genuine but lacking any real value. Their words don’t build up or edify; they are just empty rhetoric. True teaching should be filled with doctrinal substance and leave you feeling equipped and edified, not empty. Because empty talk can’t fill hearts.

These people probably sounded very smart, very spiritual, charismatic and emotional, using these traits to appear righteous. The danger is that they become the centre of attention rather than Jesus Christ. Their idle talk draws attention away from the Lord and makes them the heroes.

It’s quite possible that you’ll walk away thinking, “Wow, this person is impressive, he’s got it all together, he’s a Class A+  type of Christian”. You may even wonder if you could ever achieve such spiritual maturity. And then you’re walking away thinking about the greatness of the preacher and not the greatness of Christ and that’s a dangerous thing. There is no gospel substance because it fails to emphasise the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Instead, it often consists of mere flattery and pandering. That’s why Paul calls it “idle talk” – there’s no substance to it.

As if that weren’t bad enough, Paul goes on to say that these people are deceivers – outright liars. They’re not being truthful about themselves, their spirituality, or the content of their teachings. They are deliberately presenting a false picture of reality. So Paul is determined: “their mouths must be stopped”. He’s not willing to consider any other approach.

Paul is not suggesting that a church meeting be called where these people can present their views and then have a long discussion to sort things out. No, Paul’s message to Titus is clear: this is a dangerous thing, ultimately satanic in nature, and it needs to be addressed, confronted and stopped.

In the life of a local church, you’ll always encounter times and instances when this happens. As Jude explains, these deceivers come in through the back door, gather followers and gain power over them. This must be fought and confronted; it must be stopped.

A few years ago, around 2009, there was a person in our church who was telling everyone that the Trinity didn’t exist. I had to talk to him and make it clear that such talk was unacceptable here. I refused to delve into church history or discuss past incidents involving overzealous preachers in Geneva. To be clear, I said I wasn’t going to burn him at the stake, but it was still damnable stuff he was spouting.

Heresy cannot coexist in the Church. If your church leadership tolerates heresy, my advice is to run as fast as you can from such a place.

When we follow Paul’s words to Titus, we may face criticism and accusations. Some may say that it’s unloving or unkind to be so direct and assertive. However, such actions are necessary for the integrity and health of the church.

Moreover, these people often add to the gospel. To illustrate this, Kent Hughes, an insightful commentator, writes of this verse: “in their desire to exceed the goodness of other people, they discovered the need to tear down others in order to build themselves up.” Simply put, they want to look better and feel superior, which requires making others look inferior.

This behaviour leads to harmful actions such as gossip, backbiting and power struggles. Sadly, these problems can and do occur in churches today. And then he goes on to say: “Because they want to avoid negative assessments of themselves, to justify themselves they become driven and they exert inappropriate control of employees subordinates spouses or children.”

In essence, they become control freaks, people who, as Paul has already pointed out, are disobedient, unable to respect authority over themselves but who persistently seek authority over others. This behavior is a way of hiding and minimizing their own sins because they have not dealt adequately with their guilt and shame.

Paul then says that these people “subvert whole households”. This means that they have disrupted whole households. Perhaps that’s a picture of a of a house group. These men have managed to gain followers and create a small kingdom, ultimately corrupting the purity of these communities.

Why is Paul talking about households? The household matters in the economy of God. Strong households contribute to strong churches, and strong churches support strong households as we grow together in the knowledge and love of Christ. This situation has implications for both the doctrine and the functioning of the household, and leads to the destabilisation of both.

Paul uses the phrase “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” to illustrate how a small amount of corruption can spread and affect not only the parents but also the children, resulting in an entire household being led astray from sound doctrine.

This situation parallels the events described in Genesis chapter 3, where Satan’s actions were aimed at corrupting Adam and Eve’s understanding of God’s words. He did this by twisting and deliberately undermining their interpretation of what God had said. “Did God say that?” and “Surely that’s not going to happen!”

This underlines the urgency of Paul’s instruction to stop the mouths of these deceivers, for this matter has great implications for both the church and the household. Paul uses the word “subverted”, he says this is intentional. No wonder that he says: “their mouths must be stopped” if you care about the church.

Go to next page: Unpleasant but necessary – Verse 11: Rebuke them sharply