Young Man - Let No One Despise You for Your Youth
Titus 2:7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Titus was a young man appointed by the Apostle Paul to set in order the new churches on the island of Crete. Titus was to travel from city to city where disciples had been made and appoint elders among those fledgling congregations. In addition to appointing elders, Titus was charged by the Apostle Paul with the task of teaching the new churches how their faith in Jesus should transform their interaction with the unbelieving culture all around them.
In our passage, Paul gives Titus instruction to be passed on to the various demographic groups in the churches. He gives instruction for older men, older women, younger women, and to younger men. Before Paul gives instructions for slaves who had been converted on the island, he first turns to Titus himself and says:
Titus 2:7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Paul addresses Titus immediately after giving instruction for young men because Titus himself was a young man. If Titus were to rise to the occasion and carry out the important spiritual responsibilities which Paul had entrusted to him, he would need Paul’s encouragement. Paul understood that youthfulness often attracts judgment, negative stereotypes and low expectations - especially in the case of young men. Titus’ youth could have been a real obstacle to his ministry in Crete. Thankfully, he had an older, wiser, and more spiritually mature mentor in the Apostle Paul to encourage him. We know this was Paul’s thinking because he gave similar encouragement to another young Pastor named Timothy.
1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
There was potential for some to despise young Timothy as he pastored in Ephesus and young Titus as he set the churches in order in Crete. The way to counter this, Paul says, is for these young men to exceed all expectations and disprove the stereotypes, by becoming examples which every believer could follow. This was the only way that their teaching could be taken seriously. It is the only way the teaching of any preacher can be taken seriously. He must live what he preaches. His deeds must match his words. He should exemplify the doctrine, and ethics which he calls others to embrace.
What we are talking about here is the ethos of the preacher. This is that character and credibility and compassion which should complement his teaching. Without these things, he will have very little chance of gaining a hearing with his listeners, nor would he deserve one.
Titus and Timothy already had strikes against them because of the assumptions and suspicions which often target young men. They would have to allow their integrity, their dignity and their sound speech to shine so brightly that it left no room for others to dismiss or despise them.
The question arises then, if Titus and Timothy’s youthfulness were liabilities which they would have to work to overcome, why would Paul entrust such spiritual responsibilities to them? Why not seek out older men to do the task?
Obviously, Paul felt the benefits of youthfulness in ministry far outweighed the liabilities. Paul understood that young men brought a zeal, conviction, energy, and resoluteness to ministry work. He understood that young men had endurance and could persevere through difficulty. Paul understood that the natural characteristics of young men, when harnessed by the Holy Spirit, were an incredible asset to the Kingdom of God.
For Paul, a teachable young man was the perfect vessel into which he could pour himself. He could teach, train and disciple such a person and thus reproduce himself in him. This is exactly what he did with young Timothy. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about Timothy this way:
1 Corinthians 4:17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
Paul had so discipled Timothy, that he could send him to the churches with the confidence that he would be able to teach them exactly what Paul himself would teach if he were able to be there himself. Some years later, Paul would write to the believers in Philippi:
Philippians 2:22 But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.
Paul was an exceptional older man with the boldness, conviction, energy, and endurance that generally characterizes men many years his younger. It’s for this reason that Paul surrounded himself with young men. He knew the toll that ministry work took and the energy that it required. He knew that young men, if they could overcome the natural temptations and limitations of their youthfulness, were ideal for the work. It’s for this reason that Paul entrusted young Titus and young Timothy which such tremendous spiritual responsibility while also labouring to train them to never allow their youth to be despised or disregarded.
What stereotypes do you often hear applied to young men?
In what ways do you feel the low expectations set upon young men have served to discourage them from pursuing excellence?
Paul was calling Titus and Timothy to take upon themselves weighty spiritual responsibility at a young age. What do you think prevents many young men in our day from serving like this?
Consider your own life, could it be said that you are living as an example that even those older than you could follow?
Have you used your youth as an excuse to not be busy serving the Lord?
If you are an older man, are you guilty of criticizing younger men instead of looking at them as possessing great potential for ministry work?
