Let’s start by taking a little quiz. Don’t worry, you don’t have to write anything down. Just answer these questions in your head.
- How many hours a week do you go to school?
- How many hours a week do you sleep?
- How many hours a week do you eat?
- How many hours a week are you a Christian?
Now hopefully, the answer to that last question is 24/7. You should be a Christian everyday. It’s not like being a Christian is only for Sundays or when you are at youth group. God wants you to live like a Christian every moment of your life. God is honored when you spend every moment following him. But your life as a Christian also affects other people. This is what Jesus taught.
Matthew 5:15-16 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
God wants you to live a life that points people to him. If you are a Christian your life should show people who God is. This is one of the reasons why God wants you to do good works. It points people to God. So, in this last lesson from Titus let’s look at a couple of ways that you can point people to God.
You Point People to God Through Humility
Towards the end of the letter to Titus, Paul gives these commands:
Titus 3:2 They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.
If you are humble, then you will be pointing people to Jesus. You can be humble in the way you talk to others, and humble in the way you interact with your friends.
Imagine you were playing soccer against someone, and the whole game he kept talking trash. And he started saying things about your mom and your sister. And you kept thinking, “This guy is such a jerk.” And then after the game was over he invited you to his church. You’d probably be like, “Yeah right. I would never want to go to your church.”
If people don’t like you in general then you aren’t a good reflection of God to others.
You Point People to God Through Honest Work
There is another section in Titus that talks about doing good, and this section is addressed to slaves. Now, normally when we think about slavery we might think of American slavery, but that’s not what slavery was like in the time of the Bible. Most slaves in the Bible were more like extended family members. They had rights and protections under the law. So, when you read the passages about slaves you can apply it to your own life at school and work.
Titus 2:9-10 Slaves must always obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal, but must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way.
When it comes to school and work you need to do a good job. You need to be honest. This means cheating at school is out of the question for Christians, and so is being dishonest with your time at work.
If all your friends cheat on a test and you go right along with them, then they aren’t going to think Christians are any different than anyone else. But if you stand out from others because of the good you do, then you are pointing people to God.
As it said in that last verse, when you live with integrity and humility, you are making God attractive to people. Based on how you live, you can make people want to learn about God.
Think about how you live your life and how you talk to your friends who aren’t Christians. Are you living as a hypocrite or do you think people would want to follow God because of you?
God expects you to follow him every moment. And as you do this, you will point people to him.
Discussion Questions:
- Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
- What is your initial reaction to this video? Do you disagree with any of it? What jumped out at you?
- What do you spend the most time doing during a normal week? What do you spend the second most amount of time doing in a week?
- Who is the most humble person you know? What do people think of this person?
- Read Titus 3:2. Why is humility an important quality for Christians to have?
- Read Titus 2:9-10. What do lazy Christians teach people about God? What do honest, hard working Christians teach people about God?
- How can you honor God among your friends without being arrogant or a jerk?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
