Last time, we considered a verse in Titus that can sometimes cause some confusion about whether the Bible "permits" a woman to work outside the home. I mentioned that we'd look at another Scripture today, but before we do that, I want to make a further comment about Titus.
It is always valuable to understand the context in which a passage or book of the Bible was written. The book of Titus was a letter from Paul to one of his friends and associates in ministry. Titus was a young man that Paul mentored along with a few others (Timothy and Epaphroditus, for example.) After Paul helped in the establishment and strengthening of churches in the area of Crete, he left behind Titus to continue the work. One of the challenges was a group referred to as Judaizers, who went behind Paul and tried to get the Christians to believe that in addition to faith in Christ, they still had to practice Jewish customs. There were other debates as well, and Paul taught Titus how to strengthen the church in the midst of these potentially confusing temptations. So the focus of this book is really the development of a young minister who was leading a church that could be led into confusion and go off track spiritually. Chapter 2 in which we find our verses from last week, beautifully portray the various leadership roles people can play within the church, in essence keeping it from being completely pastor driven and strengthening it from within. Thus we find a focus on the roles of older men and women influencing the younger and younger people being an example of living out faith graciously.
A cross-reference to Titus 2:5 in a letter also written to a young minister, is 1 Timothy 5:11-15. In this passage, Paul specifically addresses young widows. There evidently was a tendency toward idleness and gossip, and therefore Paul said he counseled younger widows to marry, and manage their homes. He felt there was a need for them to have something on which to productively focus. This cooperates nicely with the advice Titus was to give younger women at his church...to be "busy at home." Paul could apparently see that staying at home did not automatically mean a woman was being effective, productive and God-honoring, so both Timothy and Titus were coached to teach that the home be a productive place, managed with dignity by a dedicated woman.
So, does this mean that a woman, especially a young woman, must only work at home? I think the emphasis from these passages is more about HOW a woman conducts herself at home rather than a command that she must be AT home 24/7. Starting next week, we will take a further look at yet another popular passage about the life of a godly woman to see if that is indeed what the Bible teaches.
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It is always valuable to understand the context in which a passage or book of the Bible was written. The book of Titus was a letter from Paul to one of his friends and associates in ministry. Titus was a young man that Paul mentored along with a few others (Timothy and Epaphroditus, for example.) After Paul helped in the establishment and strengthening of churches in the area of Crete, he left behind Titus to continue the work. One of the challenges was a group referred to as Judaizers, who went behind Paul and tried to get the Christians to believe that in addition to faith in Christ, they still had to practice Jewish customs. There were other debates as well, and Paul taught Titus how to strengthen the church in the midst of these potentially confusing temptations. So the focus of this book is really the development of a young minister who was leading a church that could be led into confusion and go off track spiritually. Chapter 2 in which we find our verses from last week, beautifully portray the various leadership roles people can play within the church, in essence keeping it from being completely pastor driven and strengthening it from within. Thus we find a focus on the roles of older men and women influencing the younger and younger people being an example of living out faith graciously.
A cross-reference to Titus 2:5 in a letter also written to a young minister, is 1 Timothy 5:11-15. In this passage, Paul specifically addresses young widows. There evidently was a tendency toward idleness and gossip, and therefore Paul said he counseled younger widows to marry, and manage their homes. He felt there was a need for them to have something on which to productively focus. This cooperates nicely with the advice Titus was to give younger women at his church...to be "busy at home." Paul could apparently see that staying at home did not automatically mean a woman was being effective, productive and God-honoring, so both Timothy and Titus were coached to teach that the home be a productive place, managed with dignity by a dedicated woman.
So, does this mean that a woman, especially a young woman, must only work at home? I think the emphasis from these passages is more about HOW a woman conducts herself at home rather than a command that she must be AT home 24/7. Starting next week, we will take a further look at yet another popular passage about the life of a godly woman to see if that is indeed what the Bible teaches.
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